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Our friend Tony Dowe is a racing legend, having wrenched for Brabham, Chaparral, and Carl Haas’ CanAm team. He was team manager at the beginning for Newman-Haas, taking Mario to his 1984 championship, then directed TWR Jaguars to Daytona and Le Mans wins, before running Ligier, and Arrows in F1.
In 1997, went to work for Panoz Motorsports, then in 1999 became vice president operations and technical director for Professional Sports Car Racing (PSCR), the organization known before and since as IMSA. He’s run Porsches and Ferrari’s in the American Le Mans Series. Along the way, he was not only a mechanic, technical director, and team manager, but responsible for marketing, race car and parts importing (Haas), and running the precursor of today’s ALMS/IMSA. A bit of a curmudgeon, no doubt, but we respect his experience and knowledge. Here, in his own puckish way, he comments on what he believes is the real problem at the core of sports car racing in 2009, with a parable of clowns.-Editor-
The American Le Mans Series has struggled to maintain reasonably sized grids from its inception. If it faces problems now, they are not simply the result of a recently weakened national economy, but rather are due to a fundamentally flawed business structure.
This show is a circus. The big top are the tracks. The clowns are the teams. The ringmaster is the American Le Mans Series.
The clowns are paying the ringmaster to be in the show! The Big Top is paying the ringmaster to put on the show! There’s something very wrong with our circus.
Until the clowns and the big top start getting a return on being in the show, or put another way, receive some compensation for putting on the show, clowns and the tents they play in will continue to disappear. It is wrong for the ring master to make all of the money. No one objects to a ringmaster getting paid for what he does, but when none of the performers are getting paid, something has to change.
Do the fans realize the money they’ve paid to watch the clowns has not been going to the clowns? Is that acceptable to them if it means their favorite clowns are disappearing?
Perhaps they don't care as long as when they go into the Big Top there are clowns to watch?
Now the ringmaster has decided he needs another set of clowns, because the old clowns can’t afford to keep turning up to the Big Top. He's not only introduced a new bunch, he's going to sell the costumes to the clowns and make even more money. These new clowns are not as good as the originals, but one custard pie in the face looks much like another from the grandstands!
Until the ringmaster starts sharing the fan’s money with the clowns and the Big Top, the show will continue to suffer.
Don't you love farce?
My fault I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.
Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer,
Losing my timing this late
In my career?
And where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns.
Well, maybe next year.
Lyrics from "Send in the Clowns," from the Broadway musical A Little Night Music |
American Le Mans Series 
