It would be fitting to, just a day after the United State’s Fourth of July celebration, to talk of independence. I'm referring a recent article from AmericanLeMans.Com which states quite boldly: "Energy Independence" message deliver. More than 100 VIPs at a gathering New York City Central Park heard from ALMS CEO Scott Atherton and EPIC Executive Tom Slunecka about the ALMS's desire to showcase its relevancy with automotive technology and consumers.

The gist of the program was that the ALMS is the first racing series to adopt multiple "street legal" fuels for all racecars and that the series is open to additional, alternative energy sources in the future. Atherton has stated before that the series is open to running any type of fuel that is available to the broad consumer market, even if that someday includes hybrid and hydrogen powered vehicles. All of this is done, of course, to maintain a close tie between the on track technology and the available vehicular product sitting on showroom floors.

It could well be a political game between the ALMS, Grand Am and various other mega-bucks racing series (NASCAR), but I'll refrain from unnecessarily trashing those other series. I will say this however, the thing that has most attracted me to the ALMS is not the close competition or the driver lineup, but the technology and the technical challenge that's presented to not only the drivers and crew but to the auto manufacturer as well. It's refreshing to see competition that focuses on engineering and problem solving as opposed to simply finding the better way to cheat and not get caught.

The other thing that has attracted me to sports car racing in general is the fact that the rules and regulations are progressively evolving. Instead of recycling plays from a 50 year old rule book, the sports car events feature the broadest collection of manufacturers, power plants and chassis designs of any other type of event. It continues to interest as well as compel me to share the experience with others.

I think Atherton and all the other guys at IMSA and the ALMS have done a great job over the past few years to both maintain relevance as well as further promote the quality and coverage of sports car racing. It may be a bit melodramatic to say but on behalf of many motor heads out there: this is our series!