# IMSA: 55 years of Motorsports Influence and History (Mark Raffauf)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/break-fix-the-motorsports-vehicle-enthusiast-variety-show-379180/imsa-55-years-of-motorsports-influence-and-history-mark-raffauf
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/break-fix-the-motorsports-vehicle-enthusiast-variety-show-379180/imsa-55-years-of-motorsports-influence-and-history-mark-raffauf.md
Podcast: [BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/break-fix-the-motorsports-vehicle-enthusiast-variety-show-379180)
Published: 2026-05-05T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.gtmotorsports.org/a-guided-tour-of-imsa-mark-raffaufs-living-history-of-american-sports-car-racing/
Audio file: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/7xn8y6upxw38nx65/gtm_breakfix_episode-S7E172.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/break-fix-the-motorsports-vehicle-enthusiast-variety-show-379180/episodes/imsa-55-years-of-motorsports-influence-and-history-mark-raffauf
Duration seconds: 3461

## Resource

In this episode of The Logbook, our History of Motorsports Series, Mark Raffauf traces IMSA’s nearly 60-year evolution from John Bishop and Bill France’s founding phone call to today’s hybrid era. Raffauf recounts IMSA’s early experiments with Formula Fords/Vees, the shift to closed-wheel GT racing, the creation of Camel GT, RS/“little car” series on street tires, and All American GT, plus innovations like road-racing stock cars, Group 5, and GTP prototypes developed with the ACO to keep cars available to private teams. He highlights major manufacturers and iconic cars (Porsche 935/962, BMW CSL, Greenwood Corvette, Mazda rotary, Audi 90 GTO, Jaguar, Nissan, Toyota, Ferrari 333 SP), the growth of street races and Firestone Firehawk, rising speeds and safety limits, ownership turmoil, the IMSA split into ALMS and Grand-Am, and the eventual merger leading to today’s booming IMSA with strong OEM support and advanced hybrid prototypes.

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## Transcript

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