American Le Mans Series

American Le Mans Series (ALMS) is a championship car race which takes place in United States and Canada. This championship consists of endurance racing and sprint racing, and was built with enthusiasm Le Mans 24 Hours. The team followed one of four classes: LMP and LMPC (Le Mans Prototype), and GT2 and GTC ( Grand Touring). This championship was founded in 1999. This race time lasts for 1 hour 40 minutes, up to 12 hours.

In 2013, the championship joined the Rolex Sports Car Series under the name United SportsCar Championship which began in 2014.

History
This series was created by a Georgia-based businessman named Don Panoz and did his first season in 1999. Panoz created a collaboration with Automobile Club de L'Ouest (ACO), organizer of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, to start the 10 hour race in the spirit of Le Mans, called Petit Petit Mans. The first Petit Le Mans was held in 1998 as part of the Professional SportsCar Racing series, in which Panoz was one of its investors. In 1999, the series was renamed the American Le Mans Series, and adopted the ACO rulebook.

The collaboration with ACO allows the ALMS team to get automatic invitations to attend Le Mans 24 Hours. This trial begins with the opening of Petit Le Mans, a thing carried out until now, where the first and second ranks of each class will receive an invitation to take part in the 24 hour championship the following year. ALMS races at the Adelaide in 2000 also received automatic invitations. An invitation was also given to the champions of the series starting in 2003, for the 2004 race. ACO always gives high appreciation to the teams participating in ALMS, and many ALMS teams have achieved success in 24-hour racing.

The series began with eight races in the 1999 racing season, started with 12 Hours of Sebring, and ended at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The schedule was extended with 12 races in the 2000 season, including two races in Europe, and one in Australia. In the following year, the European race was eliminated, by making a short series of European Le Mans Series, which later became Le Mans Series. The series also began to move from oval circuits and street circuits inside large oval circuits such as Charlotte Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, and Texas Motor Speedway. Finally, this series enters more into the street circuit, which is shared with the Indy Racing League, in cities like St. Petersburg, Florida and Long Beach, California. This series uses the Laguna Seca] circuit, [[Mosport, Road Atlanta and  Sebring every year.

This series is the first race in North America recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA), the United States Department of Energy, and the Automotive Technicians Association (SAE International) as a green race series, and planned to hold a special class called "Green Racing Series ", and it is planned to hold a new series dedicated to the environment by holding a  Green Challenge  during the Petit Le Mans 2008 and will be carried out in all races in the 2009 racing season.

In 2010 the American Le Mans Series signed the main sponsor of the first race, with Tequila Patrón being the main sponsor for three seasons.

On September 5, 2012, the American Le Mans Series announced the merger with the Grand-Am Road Racing with the championship which was named the United Sports Car Championship under the auspices of the International Motor Sports Association starting in 2014.

Overview
The American Le Mans Series uses the same essential essence as 24 Hours of Le Mans. equal to 24 Hours, the car is divided into four classes. Special vehicles built for racing competed in the "Prototype" class (LMP1 and LMP2) and modified products from the sportport competed in the "Grand Touring" class (GT1 and GT2, formerly GTS and GT). Each car is driven by several drivers alternately (2 or 3, depending on the length of the race), and all cars compete simultaneously at one time and place.

Team points and second place champions from each class at the end of the season receive automatic invitations from 24 Hours of Le Mans the following year. Plus, independent teams (teams not supported by the manufacturer) compete for the IMSA Cup along with special prizes for each race. The manufacturing team will fight in all classes in 2009, with Acura and Audi in LMP1, Acura and Mazda in LMP2, Chevrolet in GT1, and Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, and Porsche in GT2. Other manufacturers include Dodge, Ford and Panoz. The Cadillac and Chrysler manufacturing teams entered the competition in previous seasons.

Green Challenge
In January 2008, the American Le Mans Series announced it would hold the first "Green Challenge" competition at the Petit Le Mans on Road Atlanta in October, then the Green Challenge would be implemented on all ALMS races in the 2009 racing season. In collaboration with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA), United States Department of Energy, and the Automotive Engineers Association (SAE International), series it launched the rules and regulations for the Green Challenge. The class leader who produced low CO2 emissions and green engines in the 2008 season was GT1 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R fueled with E85 ethanol cellulose with 7.0 liter V8 engine and LMP1 Audi R10 TDI with a 5.5 liter engine turbodiesel V12.