Can someone help introduce me to auto racing (OTHER than NASCAR)?

[Will]

I've recently become vaguely fascinated by racing, but I don't know how to start following it since where I live the only type people follow is NASCAR (which I know has strategy and technology behind it, but I find it tedious. Personal taste.). I'm more interested in what I think may be referred to as GT racing, with the more experimental and purpose built cars. I'm fascinated by the less restricted engineering competition between companies and racing prototypes. Can someone tell me what I should look into or something? Or give me an overview yourself?

 

[Tom]

There's Formula One: The pinnacle of motorsport, with mass amounts of technology and engineering behind the cars. The championship travels all over the world sparking week-long festivities wherever they go. Amazing tracks, amazing speed, amazing drivers.

Grand-Am: multi-class road racing series known as the Rolex Grand-Am series with prototypes and GT classes. going to the race this weekend here in NJ

V8 SuperCars: Probably the most entertaining form of racing i've ever watched. So many things go wrong i find it hilarious and exciting. Almost like NASCAR, but the cars are designed for road courses. They are proof that Austrailians are fucking crazy.

Le Mans series: there's that and the American Le Mans Series, long endurance multi-class racing with 2 classes of very very very high-end prototypes and multiplie GT classes. Very cool if you're somewhat into the engineering of the cars like me

World Rally Championship: World-class Rally racing, you should know what that is. cars start one at time going through the woods over sand,dirt,gravel,tarmac trying to be the fastest on the stages. 2 people, 1 car. Co-Driver shouts pace notes while the driver turns those numbers and commands into little motions of the brakes, steering wheel, and gas pedal. Hard to follow in the US since only 1 channel covers it, " HD Theater", just google it to find the schedule.

MotoGP: World-Class motorcycle racing. Not regular motorcycles, best way i could describe it is "prototype sportbikes". incredibly physically demanding sport, most of the riders are between 15-25 years old. it maybe only 2 wheels, but there is some pretty exciting moments in it.

oh and, Rallies are fun to go to, ive been to one here in America, you're so close to the cars it's really exciting to have mud and sticks shot at you by Dave Mirra

hope this helps, there's plenty of entertaining forms of racing out there !

 

[Mitch Robinson]

IZOD IndyCar Series: American Open wheel racing, with drivers from around the world racing in the most versatile motorsports series in the world. IndyCar races on an even balance of road/street courses and ovals. IndyCar races take place from Indianapolis (the world famous Indy 500) to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. to the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil and plenty others. On the bigger ovals (i.e. Indy, Texas Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway), cars reach speeds over 220mph.
If you're looking for a series on the rise, IndyCar is definitely the way to go. Next season, the series will debut brand new chassis and engines, moving away from the spec racing it has been since 2003. These new cars will bring a renewed freshness to the IndyCar paddock. Not only will the cars look different, but the sound of turbo-charged V6 engines will ring out once more at IndyCar races, and 2012 project manager Tony Cotman is currently looking into the possibility of having these cars break speed records at places like Indianapolis, where the current record is a one-lap average of 237mph in 1996.
This weekend, IndyCar is racing at Edmonton City Centre Airport in Alberta, Canada. If you receive Versus on your TV, check out the qualifying show Saturday at 6pm ET, and the race itself at 2pm ET Sunday. The race is being run on a completely new layout, which includes multiple passing zones, so be prepared for an incredible race.

 

[D B]

Will this is Grand Am . Grand Am this is Will

 

[AirblasterLover]

Le Mans Series, Super GT, V8 Supercars, German/British Touring Cars.

Just search 'em on the internet and you should be able to find websites and information on each.

Le Mans Series: Consists of four classes, all on the track at one time. The Classes are labeled as follows: LMP (Le Mans Prototype), LMPC (Le Mans Prototype Challenge), GT (Grand Touring), and GTC (Grand Touring Challenge). While these four classes may be on the track all at once, they are only racing against other cars within their class.

Super GT: A Japenese-run series consisting of Asian-built cars, heavily modified for Super GT racing. Much like Le Mans, there are multiple classes on the track at once, but rather than 4, there are only 2. GT500, and GT300. The two classes run the same as Le Mans, where they compete only with cars in their own class. Super GT has an added twist, where the winner of each race is required to add weight in the next race, almost always assuring that the same driver does not win consistently.

British/German Touring Cars: This series consists of standard coupe or full size sedans tuned for racing. Some series' such as DTM, use purpose built touring cars.

V8 Supercars: Essentialy, these are the same as NASCAR, however they are built specifically for road course racing. These cars are very powerful and heavy, and are very entertaining to watch. This series is Australian, and runs only in Australia.