The penultimate round of the ALMS at Laguna Seca was action packed and exciting, as ALMS events seem to be these days. In LMP, Audi was well represented with the two factory-Infineon R8s, along with cars fielded by privateer teams Champion and Johansson. Panoz was running a pair of rejuvenated LMP1 cars that have been very fast in recent events. Cadillac was running strong with a two-car effort. In GTS a great battle between the two Corvettes and the Saleen S7R and an improving American Viper Racing Team was the order of the day. In GT the day belonged to BMW with their new factory Schnitzer team M3s with 4.0L V8 power.

The race began when Jan Magnussen made a great start from his fourth spot on the grid taking the lead into turn two. But, this was not to last as on lap 58 there was contact between the Panoz and the Champion Audi R8 of Johnny Herbert that ended Magnussen's day and resulted in a stop-and-go penalty for Herbert. Meanwhile the Number 1 Infineon Audi R8 of Tom Kristensen had coasted to a stop with clutch failure. As the race wound down to the 2 hour and 45 minute time limit, the top three spots were all Audis. The #2 Infineon Audi R8 of Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro in the lead, the Champion Audi R8 of Johnny Herbert and Andy Wallace making a very strong run at the end in second spot, and the Johansson Audi R8 of Stefan Johannson and Patrick Lemarie coming home in third. The result handed Audi the Manufacturer's Championship for the second straight year and locked up the Driver's Championship for an Audi driver to be determined at Petite Le Mans (the season finale).

In GTS, the Saleen S7R of Terry Borcheller of Franz Konrad edged out the number 2 Corvette of Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell with the number 3 Corvette of Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins coming home in third. In GT, the race win went to J.J. Lehto and Jörg Müller in the number 42 BMW M3 GTR, followed by Fredrik Ekblom and Dirk Müller in the number 43 BMW M3 GTR, with Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr coming home third in the number 23 Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

Sportscar racing is alive and well in the US again thanks to Don Panoz and his American Le Mans Series.

SCCA Pro Trans Am
The action packed ALMS weekend at Laguna Seca featured the oldest continuous professional road racing series in the US - Trans Am. Trans Am cars have evolved quite a bit of late and the series has gained momentum in producing some great racing and exciting shows. This race featured series regulars along with a guest appearance by former Trans Am Champion and ex-CART and NASCAR driver Scott Pruett. In 2000 a rookie driver in the series gave team owner Jim Derhaag his team's first victory in the series. This year Jim Derhaag's team was back with another rookie driver in the form of Justin Bell, son of endurance racing legend and 5-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell in the No. 40 Justin Bell GT Motorsport Experience Chevy Corvette.

Justin started sixth but quickly made it to the front of the field to challenge Scott Pruett for the race lead. Justin Bell took the lead for good on lap 26 of the 56 lap (125 mile) event. Brian Simo, who started at the back of the field in the number 88 Tommy Bahama Qvale Mangusta, charged through the field to take second spot only 1.405 seconds behind race winner Bell. Rounding out the top three was the always-strong Lou Gigliotti, who started fourth in the No. 28 LG Motorsports/G2 Performance Parts Chevy Corvette. A great race and a great win for second-generation driver Justin Bell with a proud father looking on from the roof of the Media Building.

Speedvision World Challenge Touring
Speedvision World Challenge Touring keeps getting better and better. This series is fast becoming regarded as one of the premier touring car series in the world. Car counts upwards of 40 cars and exciting competition are the order of the day. This weekend was very special for local driver Roger Foo. It was his birthday and he had never won a World Challenge Touring event before. But, he also was not feeling well being sick with the flu.

Roger is always a strong and exciting runner towards the front of the pack in his little Honda Civic but never quite at the front. Today would be Roger's day to shine as he worked his way quickly to the front of the field starting second against ex-BTCC ace David Leslie's pole sitting Mazda. Foo held off Leslie, ex-ALMS BMW LMP factory driver Bill Auberlin's BMW 328 along with the usual plethora of Real Time Racing Acuras that are always strong, and several BMWs to take the race win. Also of special note was Paul Lambert driving the Stasis Engineering Audi A4 from 34th to 15th in only his third time out, which earned him the coveted Borla Performance Award for improving more positions than any other driver in the race. "This is pretty remarkable. I'm basically speechless," said rookie Foo, who had a previous best finish of fifth at Sears Point this year. "At the start, I made sure I didn't spin the tires and was able to pull away. This is a great way to reward myself and my team for a lot of hard work this season." Rounding out the top there were Ken Dobson in a BMW 328 and Terry McCarthy, also in a BMW 328.

Speedvision World Challenge GT
With three rounds remaining, 1999 World Challenge Touring Champion Michael Galati was hoping for a good result in his Champion Audi S4 Competition. After making his usual great start, exploiting his Quattro AWD to vault him into the lead from his fourth place starting position. By lap four, pole sitter Peter Cunningham in his Real Time Racing (supercharged) Acura NSX took Galati for the race lead.

Galati's day went downhill from there after a spin sent him backwards finally finishing in tenth. Second and third spots were the Porsche 911s of Johannes van Overbeek, and Jimmy Adams. Galati maintained his driver's point lead going into the final two rounds but found that lead chopped in half by Cunningham. The manufacturer's points lead was taken up by Porsche over Audi due to Galati's unusually poor result and a struggling finish by team-mate Derek Bell in the Legends of Motorsport Champion Audi S4.