The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) has moved to the International Motorsports Centre, IMSA announced today.
IMSA and International Speedway Corporation (ISC) chairman Jim France, son of NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. joined IMSA CEO Ed Bennett and NASCAR President Mike Helton to unveil the addition of IMSA logos outside the eight-story IMC building, the headquarters of NASCAR, ISC and now IMSA.
The ‘new’ IMSA is the result of a merger between the previous iteration of IMSA, based in Braselton, Georgia and ran the American Le Mans Series, and Daytona-based Grand-Am Road Racing, which operated and sanctioned the Rolex Sports Car Series. Both the Rolex and ALMS merged to create the new Tudor United SportsCar Championship, with its inaugural race running on January 25-26 at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
“It’s been an exciting year merging GRAND-AM with the American Le Mans Series, so it’s an honor today to unveil the new IMSA logo that has united us all,” said Bennett. “One of the first things we needed to do was establish the sanctioning body for our new venture, and based on a great deal of feedback, the obvious choice was to return to IMSA. Today was made possible by the great vision of the France family, the important relationship between Jim France and Don Panoz (founder of the ALMS), and the tireless effort and cooperation from our industry partners and employees.”
“Daytona never lost its connection to sports car racing and the passion Jim France has for it was instrumental in IMSA’s return to Daytona in the International Motorsports Center along with NASCAR and the International Speedway Corporation,” added Helton. “Jim’s father, Bill France, Sr., and mother, Annie B. France, and John and Peggy Bishop first created IMSA back in 1969 because of the passion the France family had for motorsports beginning even before NASCAR’s inception in 1948. Today’s unveiling is as much symbolic and fun as it is a business announcement because it’s like IMSA has come back home after all these years. The opportunity and the excitement that we can collectively contribute to more motorsports under our umbrella is right before us.”
