| Celebration To Continue But Will Add Year Starting Today DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 1, 2019) – Following an unexpected revelation discovered from its archives in Daytona Beach, Florida, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) today has announced an early conclusion to its 50th Anniversary celebration. Race results have been discovered from the now-defunct Green Valley Raceway in Smithfield, Texas – approximately 45 miles southeast of Austin – that are believed to place the first IMSA-sanctioned race on Dec. 1, 1968. That would, unfortunately, make the 2018 IMSA season its true 50th anniversary and its current season its 51st. “As we dug through our archives to unearth unique content for our 50th anniversary celebration, Sidd the intern came across previously unseen race results from a 1968 IMSA-sanctioned race at Green Valley Raceway,” said IMSA President Scott Atherton. “Once it was brought to our attention, we quickly consulted a number of motorsports historians who each individually confirmed the validity of these results. “The mishap is understandably very embarrassing, but we poured a ton of resources into making this an iconic year for IMSA and that’s not going to change. With that said – it’s on to 51 and there’s a whole lot of celebrating to be done.” “This discovery was certainly shocking, after all I just co-authored a book alongside (IMSA competition member) Mark Raffauf titled IMSA 1969-1989,” said Mitch Bishop, son of IMSA co-founder John Bishop. “While the years may be different, the story about how IMSA grew from humble beginnings to become the most popular form of sports car racing in the world still remains the same.” Rather than make wholesale branding changes mid-season, IMSA has made slight modifications to its previous “golden anniversary” logo to signify IMSA’s 51st anniversary season, simply erasing part of the digital “0” to make it look like a “1”. In what proved to take a great deal of Photoshop work, the “1969” in that logo has been altered to make it look like “1968”. A secondary commemorative logo, with the addition of an asterisk in front of “Est. 1969,” will also be used. Fans who already purchased 50th anniversary apparel are encouraged – if they wish – to simply use black or white tape to make the appropriate modifications for the remainder of the season. The commemorative book, “IMSA: Celebrating 50 Years,” meanwhile, will continue to be sold at-track and online at IMSA.com. In one piece of good news, the book has always featured 51 drivers in the “50 Great Drivers” section so that number is now accurate. “We understand that there is going to be a lot of confusion surrounding this sudden discovery, and to be completely transparent there are still a lot of questions to be answered,” added Atherton. “Fortunately for all of us, this is all a clever hoax and come April 2 we will get back to joining our stakeholders and fans in celebrating our 50th anniversary season. April Fool’s!” |
