GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Attracts Large Audience on SPEED

Competition, talent on both sides of camera help GRAND-AM Series outdraw open-wheel audience

Indianapolis, IN The GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) championship has long been touted as one of the most competitive sports car categories on offer. And some recent viewership figures seem to show that race fans have taken notice by tuning in.

The CTSCC championship is staged on a ten race schedule that stretches from Florida to California to Wisconsin. The races, which run as part of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series event weekends, are dual-class events as the top Grand Sports (GS) entries run for overall honors, as the Street Tuner (ST) racers target class victories and contest a separate championship.

The fields, which swell to up to nearly 80 machines, are comprised of production-based racers that bring a familiar look race fans as the machines all once started life on a dealership floor somewhere.

During the most recent SPEED telecast, the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race boasted an average viewership of 380,000, marking a 72% increase from 2010’s broadcast of the same event one year earlier according to Nielsen.

For comparison, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, long recognized as the crown jewel road event of the IZOD IndyCar circuit, was broadcast live on Versus and netted an average viewership of 323,000. The previous IndyCar event, staged at the beautiful Barber Motorsports Park facility, was also shown live on Versus with an average audience of 304,000 viewers.

With at nearly 15 different manufacturers–from BMW to Mini to Dodge to Ford–represented, the CTCSS fields provide something for nearly everyone to identify with. There is no shortage of talent behind the wheel as well, with heavy weights like Joey Hand and Bill Auberlen taking on the likes of Guy Cosmo, Scotty Maxwell, and Jon Edwards.

Also keeping viewers interested is the SPEED broadcast crew-usually anchored by the engaging combo of Leigh Diffey, Brian Till, Dorsey Schroeder, and Calvin Fish, bolstered by a pit lane crew that includes Chris Neville and Jamie Howe.

The next round of Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge on SPEED is slated for another Saturday show as the Bosch Engineering 250 at VIR will air Saturday, May 22nd at 2:00 PM ET.