That’s what happened at the Infineon Raceway this weekend. The Rolex Series event featured close competition among Daytona Prototypes and a late yellow that bunched the field, which gave Alex Gurney his chance to slip past David Donohue. Alas, according to reporters for motorsport.com at the track, there were precious few fans — especially compared to Sunday’s turnout for the IRL race.

The California contest posed the age-old dilemma for the Rolex Series. The racing’s fine, but where are the fans?

From my perspective at Mosport in Canada, where I was covering the American Le Mans Series race, there couldn’t have been a better case scenario for my annual “State of Sports Car Racing in North America” address.

At Mosport’s ninth round of the American Le Mans Series, on qualifying day they were piling into the infield and lining the outside fences in the rain in anticipation of the duel between Audi’s diesels versus Porsche’s Spyders. They also turned out to see Ron Fellows, the “Mayor of Mosport,” at his home track. On Sunday, sunshine brought an even bigger crowd — one of the best Canada’s classic circuit has seen for a sports car race.

As a veteran of endurance racing wars, it suits me fine that between the Rolex Series and the ALMS there are 26 races on this year’s schedule for prototypes, including events in Mexico and Canada. In addition to keeping traditional circuits funded better than they might be otherwise, the schedule enables many people to be gainfully employed in road racing who could care less about ovals or NASCAR.

But what about the attendance conumdrum? Compared to the ALMS, the Rolex Series has had more prototypes since the early days of its Daytona Prototypes. The series sanctioned by the Grand American Road Racing Association and owned by the France family has re-built the prestige of the Daytona 24-hour due to star-studded entry list. Tracks such as the Infineon circuit at Sears Point, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City and Watkins Glen anchor a decent schedule.

No wonder Rolex Series driver Max Angelelli asked me recently at Daytona: “Why are there fewer cars in the ALMS and more fans?”

It seems to me the cars in the ALMS match up better with the expectations of that the persistent category of fans who love endurance racing. The prototypes’ performance in the ALMS is far more harrowing and palpable than the Daytona Prototypes due to greater technical sophistication. While the DP’s are old-fashioned in construction and apperance, the ALMS is pushing the envelope with diesel-powered V-12 turbo Audis and Porsche Spyders with the most sophisticated suspensions this side of a lunar landing vehicle.

By contrast, can fans identify with a Red Bull-sponsored Riley chassis powered by a Porsche engine versus the Gainsco-sponsored Riley chassis powered by a Pontiac? Even if they’re ably driven by the current generation of the Donohue and Gurney clans?

The Rolex Series is attempting to improve its formula by running separate races for the relatively numerous prototypes — cutting back on cautions from collision with GT entries and eliminating the complications of multi-class racing for fans. Given the template-like cars and single-category approach, the Rolex is moving closer to the sports car equivalent of NASCAR, not a surprising development since the ownership of those two series is the same.

Again, the ALMS matches up better with sports car tradition — the one that families apparently pass down to their children — which began early in the 20th Century at the Le Mans 24-hour. The format features the inevitably exciting prospect of prototypes whistling past GT cars, leveraging the fans’ appreciation for car performance and guaranteeing an interesting day at almost any corner. At the end of the day, a good time is had by all even if the best prototype smokes the competition. (I pause here to note that last year’s race at Mosport and the most recent race on this year’s schedule at Road America were decided by less than two seconds.)

When it comes to the GT’s, the Rolex features tube-frame, purpose-built cars. They’re easy for a manufacturer to brand, easy for a speciality manufacturer to produce and inexpensive for a team to field. You can also run a turnkey racing Porsche off the assembly line.

Once again, car count does not seem to be the most important calling card. The ALMS’s traditional formula of up-rated road cars like the Corvette and production-based cars like the 911-based Porsche RSR, Ferrari F430 GT Berlinetta and Panoz Esperante seem to have more appeal to fans who can buy and drive these cars to and from the track. (The Corvettes may not have any competition in the GT1 class, but this matters not to all those fans driving their Corvettes in the pre-race parade at Mosport.)

That is precisely the formula that ALMS founder Don Panoz touted after licensing the Le Mans name and rulebook. It doesn’t hurt that the French race is now in the forefront of the green movement with purebred racing cars like the Audi R10 TDI and Peugeot’s new V-12 diesel. This improvement of the breed is a development which even has Formula 1 administrators scratching their heads.

Given that the fan turnout to see the high-tech entries that also run at Le Mans has been quite good despite Audi’s dominance in past seasons, the arrival of competition from the Penske Porsche Spyders has obviously upped the pace at the turnstiles. Joint weekends with Champ Car at Road America and Long Beach (where the Rolex failed miserably with too many cautions in 2006) have also proven quite successful at the gate for the ALMS, which added two events to this year’s schedule including next week’s race in Detroit.

The addition of the Dyson Racing Porsches, Honda’s Acuras and two Creation entries have brought the ALMS to 13 prototypes for the Mosport weekend (versus 18 Daytona Prototypes at Infineon). The word on the street has additions to the ALMS in both the bigger LMP1 category and the LMP2 that are likely to mean at least 15 prototypes next year, maybe more. The ALMS is thus gaining on car count as well as fan count.

According to Rolex Series owner Jim France, racing series are built from the paddock out (hence the low-cost technology of the Daytona Prototypes). If that’s true, then both the ALMS and Rolex are quite healthy.

All too often, I’m not even sure the casual racing fan really knows the difference between these series. In any event, take a flyer, get out and see a race based on the world’s greatest endurance events at Daytona or Le Mans. If you live in North America, there’s sure to be one happening somewhere near you in the years ahead.

You’d think if Chevy was in front on this deal, an announcement would have been forthcoming this past weekend at the Michigan International Speedway, the home track for Motor City. Instead, the Gibbs team concentrated on the official confirmation of Kyle Busch’s move to the squad next year.

Regardless of which manufacturer Gibbs ends up with, enough moves have already been made to determine who has gained or lost an advantage. If all the teams were sitting around the same poker table, here’s one writer’s rundown of those holding the top hands going into the 2008 season.

Royal Straight Flush — Joe Gibbs Racing.

If Joe Gibbs accepts Toyota’s offer reputed to be $25 million per year, he’ll have his biggest war chest since entering NASCAR in 1992. Toyota would expect Gibbs to move to four cars and performance might suffer in the short term. But the Japanese will succeed sooner than later. Should the choice be Chevy, its competing offer could put Gibbs even or ahead of Hendrick Motorsports in the GM stable when it comes to financial assistance. In any event, Gibbs has two-time champion Tony Stewart, arguably NASCAR’s most valuable player, and the two best young guns in the sport in Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.

Four of a Kind — Hendrick Motorsports

The four-man driving line-up at Hendrick comprises a powerhouse and enough charisma to light up any sponsor. The addition of Dale Earnhardt Jr. should bring in more sponsorship dollars, if not a championship. The only thing now missing from Chevy’s most advanced technical team is a twenty-something youngster capable of following in the championship footsteps of Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson.

Straight Flush — Richard Childress Racing

Who’d have thunk this team would go from two drivers in the Chase to three this year? The driver team owner Childress scouted from a telecast of an ARCA race, Clint Bowyer, has joined the veterans Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton in this year’s Top 12. Childress was ahead of other “in-house” team owners by bringing in partner Charter Financial and he was ahead technically of most teams by purchasing the seven-post shake rig from Dan Gurney four years ago.

Full House — Roush Fenway Racing

NASCAR’s first five-car team is likely to remain one, with all the inherent advantages, whether Greg Biffle tries to get out of his contract or not. The alignment with Robert Yates on engines has greatly accelerated the Roush program, which has been admittedly behind on its Cars of Tomorrow. There are hints that the team owner’s constant shuffling of personnel is counter-productive, witness Biffle’s unhappiness and Crew Chief Pat Tryson’s departure for Penske Racing South. But it’s hard to argue with a re-enforced budget from John Henry, Roush’s longterm success and two guys named Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards.

Straight — Penske Racing

He may be drawing to an inside straight, but I wouldn’t bet against Roger Penske persuading Ryan Newman to stay after 2008 and a new sponsor to back a third car for Sam Hornish next year. The house that Roger re-built in Mooresville is an incredible racing factory that once was an electric engine plant owned by Matsushita. The team privately acknowledges that coordinating the move of the Indy Car group from Reading, Pa. and expanding in Mooresville has hurt the supporting cast for its teams. But the winning culture remains in full bloom, witness the Penske Porsches domination of the mighty Audis in the American LeMans Series. The entire budget behind the IRL, Porsche and NASCAR team, where former champion Kurt Busch once again has proved himself a winner, presently stands at $100 million. Again, I wouldn’t bet against Penske, whose deal with Dodge runs through 2008.

Flush — Dale Earnhardt Inc.

The team members may be red in the face (or flush — arghhh!) over the loss of the sport’s most popular driver. But ultimately the change will clear the air for the first time since founder Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s fatal crash in 2001. Much-needed leadership has arrived with Max Siegel, enabling those charged with car development and fielding cars to concentrate on their jobs in the new facility that came in the merger with Ginn Racing. Martin Truex Jr. has proved he can get the job done in and out of the car. The merger provides an instant four-car Chevy entry, brings Mark Martin’s charisma and experience (possibly driving a car numbered . Plus, Martin’s son Matt can be expected to fill the driver development pipeline after Aric Almirola.

Three Of A Kind — Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates

Led by Juan Pablo Montoya, Ganassi’s three-man driving line-up may be the most intriguing in NASCAR’s premier league. Reed Sorenson is a diamond in the rough and David Stremme could also surprise some people. Will Montoya ever get that win on an oval? Si. Is he championship material? Por favor!

Two Pair — Ray Evernham and Robert Yates Racing

Both have needed a partner, each has got one lined up for 2008. Now it’s time to re-build.

One Pair — The former Ginn Racing.

I have to admire Bobby Ginn’s giant pair of you-know-whats for spending so much money on racing from a real estate empire that evidently has some serious cash flow problems.

Ace, King High — Michael Waltrip Racing, Red Bull Racing, Bill Davis Racing, Robby Gordon Racing

Well, they all have good financial backing from Toyota except for Gordon, who has Robby. That’s saying something on Gordon’s behalf, although I’m never quite sure what.

Ace High — Hall of Fame Racing

Racing veteran Bill Saunders and his former Cowboy quarterback partners have a solid relationship with three-time Super Bowl winner Joe Gibbs. (If Gibbs goes Toyota, for instance, HOF goes Toyota.) So far, they’ve been savvy and relatively successful for one-car, rookie team owners.

Draw Three Cards — Petty Enterprises, Wood Brothers

Nobody wants to lose these legacy teams. But they really are best described as looking for a lucky break. For Petty, that might mean Kyle getting an offer he can’t refuse to move to a broadcasting career, enabling him to buckle down to run his team and keep sponsors happy. For the Wood Brothers, it may mean keeping heroic substitute Bill Elliott to share the ride with Jon Wood.

Draw Four Cards — Haas CNC, BAM Racing, Morgan-McClure Motorsports

These three rely heavily on their lone face cards, or drivers — now including John Andretti at BAM. If they don’t merge with another team in the near future, they’ll be pushed out when the inevitable expansions to four cars occur among the big boys.

To his left on the podium, meanwhile, was Graham Rahal, the teenager more than a few consider the next American headed into F-1. In a recent private study of American prospects conducted by BMW, in fact, Rahal was rated at the top of the list. The other leading contender, Marco Andretti, is now rumored to be looking to replace Bourdais on the Newman/Haas/Lanigan team next year with help from a sponsor search by father Michael.

I spoke to one obviously capable employe at Champ Car who said “I’ve had eight or nine bosses since I’ve been here.” That would seem to underscore instability in the front office of the series owned by Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe. But one gets the impression presently that there are a lot of the right people in the right places and that the changes — much like push to pass, red lines to show tire choice and, more recently, standing starts — are for the better.

Then there’s the flourishing understudy Atlantic series, where Champ Car’s ownership has not meddled and at the same time given it the budget to succeed. That includes a $2 million “scholarship” to the champion should he or she want to move up to Champ Car. (A driver can survive on that kind of sponsorship, but it remains to be seen if it’s possible to really succeed.)

The question previously has been whether Kalkhoven and Forsythe would run out of patience (they aren’t likely to run out of money) before Champ Car could become profitable. Putting the TV and sponsorship issues aside, the key issue for a sanctioning body in addition to car counts are sanctioning fees and venues. It remains to be seen how the European schedule will go — although the Holland event looks far more rosey with the recent success of Robert Doornbos. But there are clearly enough reliable events for the ownership to build on.

So while NASCAR was making bigger waves at Watkins Glen, where a certain former F-1 driver created a lot of, um, excitement, Champ Car was soldiering along in the invariably cheerful Wisconsin summer. For those who look to open wheel road racing as the ultimate form of motor sport, the solid future of Champ Car also underscores the fact two open-wheel series can survive in the U.S. And, there will be races to watch on either TV or in person.

Then there’s the other news. Steady growth has its drawbacks.

If long lost re-unification for the sake of one powerhouse open wheel series is the goal, it’s less likely to happen in the face of sustained success for each of the current series. There’s no incentive to find some way over the hurdles of how each side can equiably participate in the cash flow in the case of a merger.

(Needless to say, rival Indy Racing League owner Tony George will not run out of either patience or money.)

If the goal is returning open wheel racing to the top of the heap in American motor racing, that appears highly improbable without a single entity representing the sport.

The proposition of being second is not appealing in motor racing any more than a tie. But on the other hand, it makes little sense to bewail the blue skies of a Wisconsin summer.

Did Robby Gordon get screwed by NASCAR in the inaugural Busch Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve?

Well, what do you expect when an oval series and its officials show up on road circuits subsequent to the establishment of new procedures under caution periods? What officials couldn’t see with their own eyes from the front straight meant a knee-jerk reliance on timing and scoring, which showed Gordon in 13th after he was spun from the lead by Marcus Ambrose as the yellow flew. No wonder Gordon rode out the remainder of the race despite a black flag and spun the Aussie at the first opportunity.

Justice done.

Speaking of bad blood, it’s overtly evident that Fernando Alonso can’t handle second fiddle at McLaren-Mercedes whenever teammate Lewis Hamilton is faster. This will be constant fodder of marquee proportions for the remainder of Alonso’s tenure at McLaren. Who needs Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari in the hunt when there’s internecine guerilla warfare?

Perhaps team owner Ron Dennis might have explained to the Spaniard during contract talks that McLaren has always sought to have two fast drivers while pursing the Constructors Championship. In fact, he did. But Alonso figured neither Juan Pablo Montoya nor Lewis Hamilton would be any problem.

He figured poorly.

The biggest problem for the Spaniard may be the British press — as in print journalists. In a country where newstand sales still drive publishing profits, a British driver at the top of the heap in F-1 can do no wrong, doubly so if he sits in a British team’s car. Every twitch of the steering wheel is parsed in his favor, every controversy with his teammate an opportunity to drop a load of dung on the foreigner. Poor Alonso, whose responses to Hamilton have always been quite transparent, is feeding this antagonistic machine much like a knight errant attacking a windmill.

As for the stewards in Hungary disallowing any constructor points for McLaren after the team’s qualifying snafu, at least the NASCAR officials have the excuse of not being familiar with road racing when they come up with bizarre rulings. (Even the fact Alonso was penalized twice last year after Friday’s practice sessions due to antics in his Renault — including a run-in with Robert Doornbos — hardly justifies a ruling against the McLaren team this year.)

Could it be possible that in a world where F-1 races are increasingly moved away by the FIA to higher bidders that the brace of Hungarian stewards perhaps pandered to the idea of a closer championship between McLaren and Ferrari — a big hit with the FIA since the late 1990’s? Surely they were not working hand-in-glove on pre-race publicity with the promoters, who live and die by ticket sales after the FIA picks their pocket with exhorbitant fees, control of TV rights and sponsorship.

I remain dead solid certain the Hungarian stewards must have weighed all these consequences which affect the propriety of the stewarding system. And I am entirely confidant as well that the FIA’s representative among the three stewards guided the two locals through this, ah, gold mine field.

There was bad blood at the IRL meeting in Michigan long before Dario Franchitti went helmet over various rear wings on the back straight. Michigan decided to ditch the IRL from its schedule next year on the heels of a street race in Detroit being added to its schedule this year.

This falls under the what have you done for us lately? The France family members gladly welcomed Roger Penske to its hearth when “RP” sold them the Michigan track as part of the merger of Penske Motorsports and the International Speedway Corporation, owned by the Frances, in 1999. The France family, best known as the owners of NASCAR, gladly co-promoted the races in the Chicagoland Speedway with IRL founder Tony George when the opportunity to open a new oval near a major urban market arrived.

But when Penske and George decided to run a street race this year in a major urban market such as Detroit, not far from the Michigan track in the Irish Hills, the France family’s representatives elected to drop the IRL from its schedule next year.

Given the relatively small crowd at Michigan (a problem brewing since three fan deaths from a wheel and other debris flying into the grandstand in 1998), it can be understood why officials there would drop the IRL, especially if it had to compete with a race in nearby Detroit within a fortnight. So that’s hardly a conspiracy.

But it brings to mind another thought. Perhaps the IRL was ready to give up on Michigan as well. Could the IRL have in mind instead trying to steal a march on both NASCAR and Champ Car by moving into more major urban markets in the future?

To borrow a phrase from Bob Dylan, fortunately there was no blood on the track or in the grandstands at Michigan after the Franchitti flip. These guys — Andretti Green Racing, Ganassi Racing and Penske Racing — have been running close, hard and fast all season. Just as everybody wanted to be the first NASCAR winner in Montreal, so each of the open-wheelers wanted to be the last one to win on the high banks of Michigan. Alas, the guys without fenders almost invariably face greater consequences for a lack of precision.