Doonan sends thanks to IMSA fans

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emailBy Marshall Pruett | March 17, 2020 11:21 AM

New IMSA president John Doonan has thanked the series’ fans for remaining steadfast and committed to its various championships while the sport takes a backseat to national efforts involved with halting the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Dear IMSA Fans,

Thank you. For more than five decades, you have filled the hillsides, seating areas and campgrounds around our racetracks and tuned into broadcasts of our events. You’ve supported our race teams and drivers, our manufacturers and partners, our event promoters and the communities in which we race, and for that, we are forever grateful.

We are enthusiastically awaiting the next opportunity to get together once again and do what we do best. However, guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and safety protocols have led IMSA to postpone all events through May 3.

You’ve likely seen already that we’ve rescheduled the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts, as well as the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 and our IMSA Prototype Challenge races at Sebring International Raceway to the weekend of Nov. 11-14, 2020. This will be a spectacular event, and we hope you’re already making plans to join us at Sebring in the fall.

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We continue to work with our promoter partners to reschedule other affected events, and more information will be provided as soon as it is available. Our goal is to conduct complete seasons for all of our sanctioned series.

Alongside our partners at NASCAR and throughout the professional motorsports industry, this decision was made to ensure the health and safety of our entire community – including fans, competitors, stakeholders, event staff and our IMSA team. As a global community, our number one goal must be to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible. The only way to effectively do that is to join our counterparts in the sports and entertainment industries and postpone our events until it is safe to return.

In addition to working with our promoters to reschedule races, we are actively pursuing appropriate and creative ways for IMSA competitors and partners to keep you entertained as we wait for the coronavirus to pass. Stay tuned to our social media channels and IMSA.com for more on that shortly.

Once again, thank you for your unwavering support of IMSA racing. The racing community is a large family and you’re an important part of it. Please stay safe and we will see you back at the racetrack before you know it.

Most sincerely,

John Doonan

IMSA President

John Doonan, IMSA

 

IMSA’s Doonan explains Sebring decision-making

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emailBy Marshall Pruett | March 12, 2020 11:57 AM

In his first three months on the job, new IMSA president John Doonan has experienced the highs of taking prototype convergence across the finish line with the ACO to the lows of postponing one of the series’ biggest events, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Having spent more than a decade leading Mazda’s sports car programs in the series he now runs, being on the inside — especially during the crisis meetings that led to the Sebring decision — has given the Illinois native a new appreciation for the NASCAR-owned organization and its parent company.

“As I said prior to getting here, and then when I first got here, I always knew the level of professionalism with which the IMSA team operated was phenomenal,” he told RACER. “And in moments like these that we’re all facing, the team rises and that level of professionalism becomes extremely evident. The methodical approach, and the patience, and the thoughtfulness with which the team operated as the coronavirus containment needs grew and became more and more of a challenge was impressive to behold. I’m proud of everyone who assisted in getting us to where we are now with the postponement of Sebring in such a short period of time. Our ultimate decision to postpone was because one-third of our teams were not able to get all necessary personnel here due to the travel ban.”

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It’s believed NASCAR has been holding virus-related meetings on almost an hourly basis to gauge the correct response to implement for the various events throughout the myriad series it oversees. As an important property founded by NASCAR president Jim France in 1969 with John and Peggy Bishop, IMSA’s needs have been at the center of the stock car organization’s COVID-19 strategies.

“I think the other thing that has become abundantly clear is NASCAR and IMSA working together on the technical side is one thing, but the collaboration that I have seen and felt with my NASCAR colleagues with the virus concerns to manage has been something really special to be part of,” Doonan added.

“Obviously we’re all in the business of putting on top-level professional motorsports events, but a lot of collaboration and thought went into making sure that we were aligned in that with our NASCAR colleagues, with the overarching theme that we wanted to do the right thing for our fans, our participants, the communities in which they were traveling. The decisions we’ve made come after consultation with all of the proper medical professionals, so that’s of the utmost importance. That’s priority number one.

“And with their guidance, you need to lock arms with your teammates and make the best decisions that you can. We were fortunate in the case of being able to postpone the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, so we’re very excited that we can still keep that historical event on the calendar for November 11-14.”

Coronavirus, John Doonan, Sebring, IMSA