TTL. I WISH they had a series like that in North America. The idea of the Bridgestone Supercar Series is to provide both a way to promote the cars and Bridgestone but also provide a cheap and fairly easy way to get into semi-pro road racing. Many of the best road racers of modern times in North America began their racing careers in this series.
Road Racing in America has, roughly in terms of series prestige (sanctioning body in brackets):
1) Indycar World Series (CART/Indycar)
2) Red Bull American Sports Car Championship (IMSA)
3) Continental Tires Indycar Challenge Series (CART/Indycar)
4) Mobil 1 Trans-Am Series (SCCA)
5) North American Touring Car Championship (IMSA)
6) North American Formula Three Championship (IMSA)
7) Escort Endurance Series (SCCA/NASA)
8) Bridgestone Potenza Supercar Series (SCCA)
Continental Tires Indycar Challenge Series
The Continental Tires Indycar Challenge Series is the biggest below-Indycar open wheel racing series in North America, with smaller race cars to the Indycars, powered by E85-fueled production-based 3.5-liter V6 and V8 engines of roughly 500 horsepower. The dominant chassis in the 2010s have been made by Swift, Mygale and Fabcar, with the best engines being the Ford Duratec 35, Chrysler Pentastar, Nissan VQ35 and Alfa Romeo Generation 3A. Tires in this series are, of course, spec Continental Conti SportContact racing slicks. Junior teams of the Indycar series are common in the Indycar Challenge series, but the 2012 and 2013 seasons were dominated by Sam Schmidt Motorsports, Rocafella Motorsports Group, Compass360 Racing, Team Moore Racing and Jensen Autosports. Rocafella were the 2013 champs, and their champion, Danaya Washington, promptly signed with Andretti-Green Racing in the Indycar series. In terms of driver background, the Indycar Challenge series is probably as diverse as any racing series in the world, and this series provides lots of talented guys for other series.
Mobil 1 Trans Am Series
The Mobil 1 Trans Am Series is one of the older series in North America, and it has a unique distinction in one other regard - its rules have not been completely overhauled since 1980. The series has been dominated by tube-frame cars with silhouette-style bodies since then. The rules include a handicap system with regards to weight, engine displacement (and forced induction) and tire size. Dominated by Detroit in the 1980s until first the Porsche 928 S4 won the series in 1987 and then the Audi 200 Quattro in 1988 and 1989, the mighty racers got toned down some in the 1990s before the late 1990s and 2000s took them back to their fire-breathing days. Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Chevrolet Corvette chassis are most common in numbers, but there are also Jaguar XKR, Audi A6, Panoz Esperante, BMW 6-series, Cadillac CTS-V, Dodge Challenger and Toyota Camry racers. The cars are all tube-frame chassis with fiberglass bodywork, and the rules limit the racers to production-based engines (GM LS-series V8, Cadillac Northstar XV12, Ford Coyote V8 and Ecoboost V6, Jaguar AJ V8, Volkswagen-Audi VR6 Turbo, BMW S85 and S63, Chrysler 392 Hemi, Toyota 1LR-GUE), off-the-shelf engine management systems, manual gearboxes and no driver aids whatsoever, as well as series-equalized aerodynamics. Cars for 2011 gained fatter fender flares and the ability to use massive (albeit single-element) wings. All cars run on spec Goodyear Eagle tires of various specific sizes (though with the same compound for all). As power outputs in this series start at 700 horsepower and go up from there, the series isn't easy to drive in, but the drivers who do love it to bits, and the use of penalty weights, equalized cars, production-based engines and relatively low-tech chassis makes sure that the cost keeps down to reasonable levels. The 2013 champs were HKS Pro Team North America's Toyota Camry, powered by the Toyota 1LR-GUE V10 engine from the Lexus LFA.
Autozone North American Touring Car Championship
The North American Touring Car Championship has two sets of rules - TC1 cars are run to 2014 World Touring Car Championship rules, while TC2 cars run to British Touring Car Championship rules, but with more powerful engines than the BTCC. TC1 cars in the NATCC are dominated by the BMW 1 Series, Nissan Versa Note and Ford Focus ST, while the TC2 category is dominated by the Dodge Dart, Buick Regal Grand National, Volkswagen CC, Rover 55 and Lexus IS250, with the Chevrolet Cruze and Honda Civic having versions in both categories. Both classes run pretty much even speeds, though the TC1 cars are better in the corners and on the brakes while the TC2 cars run faster in a straight line owing to more power (450 hp against 380-400 hp). Racing in both categories is known to be intense, with close racing genuinely encouraged. All events have three races, with two 75-mile sprint races (where pitstops are not required) and a 125-mile feature race (where they are), and the results from the feature race contribute 50% more points for each position to the championship. The 2013 champion was Karl Wittmer for Protosport Racing in a Buick Regal Grand National, who won the title on a tiebreaker from Pierre Kleinubing and his RealTime Racing Honda Civic WTCC.
Shell V-Power North American Formula Three Championship
The third North American open-wheel racing series on pavement, the F3 North American series is, unlike Indy Lights, an all road and street course series and runs to worldwide F3 rules, though with spec Continental Tires. Most competitors run Dallara F312 and Swift 024.i chassis, though Dome F118 and Fabcar FCR05 chassis also see service. The dominant engines in North America are those provided by Honda (tuned by Mugen), Chevrolet (tuned by Hendrick Motorsports) and Mercedes-Benz (tuned by HWA), while units made by Volkswagen, Nissan and Toyota see usage. As the cars used here are identical in most cases to those used in F3 events around the world, its often said that the North American F3 series is a good comparison of what American drivers can do. The 2013 champ is Puerto Rican driver Félix Serrallés, who won the title by one point over 18-year-old model-turned-racer Ashley Stavaner. Two notable 2014 competitors in this series are Taylor Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt's youngest daughter (Dale Jr's half-sister) and Tanner Woodley, the younger brother of Hollywood starlet Shailene Woodley, both still teenagers. The North American F3 Championship's premiere event is the Savannah F3 International held in Savannah, Georgia, which after its founding in 1997 grew to become one of the world's premiere Formula Three events, with it being the first in the late-season F3 events, it getting such success in this that the Indy Lights left the event in 2003, making it F3 only.
I really don't know how that would work outside of superspeedways and the longer road courses.
