When the economy ran out of gas a few years ago and Detroit went cap in hand to Washington, motor-sports leviathan Chevrolet cut all but two of its 13 racing programs. The first survivor, NASCAR, was expected to make the cut. The other, the much lesser known American Le Mans Series , not so much. But there was a solid rationale.
“Corvette sales tracked directly to customer leads at ALMS races doubled from 2005 to 2009,” says John Fitzpatrick, Chevrolet Performance Cars marketing manager.
Though much younger and lower in the motor-sports pecking order than NASCAR and IndyCar , the American Le Mans Series, currently on break as several of its teams head to France in preparation for the namesake 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in June, may nonetheless be the most significant racing circuit in the U.S.
