ALMS to debut at Road America on CBS

BRASELTON, Ga. (July 1, 2002) - Sunday's Road America 500 presented by the Chicago Tribune will mark a pair of debuts for the American Le Mans Series.

The series, which started in 1999, will be racing for the first time at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., considered to be one of the premier road racing facilities in the world.

And, for the first time in series history, the CBS Television Network will televise an American Le Mans Series race. The network will have two hours of live coverage of the Road America 500 beginning at 4 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday.

The CBS coverage will be anchored by veteran and versatile motorsports announcer Ralph Sheheen, joined in the booth by former sports car racing standout Bill Adam for expert analysis.

Pit reporters at Road America will be Scott Pruett, a class winner last year in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a longtime veteran driver in many forms of racing, and former CART competitor Brian Till. Andy Goldberg will be the coordinating producer for the telecast.

The American Le Mans Series is a series of North American sports car races based on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's most famous endurance race. American Le Mans Series races feature four classes of race cars competing for class wins and the overall win, with the fields including many of the same drivers and cars that compete at Le Mans. The series holds events at many of North America's premier permanent road racing facilities as well as at temporary circuits in key major markets.

The series motto is "For the Fans" and all events feature driver autograph sessions and open paddocks. All events are on live television in the United States. Well-known automotive brand names such as Audi, Cadillac, Corvette, Dodge, Ferrari, MG, Nissan, Panoz, Porsche and Saleen are represented on the series. The series, which has its headquarters in Braselton, Ga., was founded in 1999 by entrepreneur Don Panoz and is sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA).

American Le Mans Series races also appear on NBC Sports and the SPEED Channel.

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