Trio of Racing Regulars Parlay Friendship into Pro Series Team
by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com
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Alliance Motorsports car for Indy Pro Series.
Photo: AllianceMotorsports |
Indy Pro Series competitor Alliance Motorsports aims to start fast, finish strong, and build a record of success that will launch the team on a path to a multi-car operation in the Indy Racing League.
True to its harmonious name, the trio of Jeff Matthews, Chris Williams and Tyce Carlson aligned business savvy with friendship and a lifelong passion for racing into active participation in the 2008 IPS season.
Under roof in shared space in exurban Brownsburg, Alliance Motorsports ventures into the hot competition ahead with a speedy break from the gate this week at a Homestead/Miami Speedway test.
Beginnings Rooted in Long Friendships
Jeff Matthews’ substantial experience in racing management paid off when the Alliance Motorsports team commenced the journey to the starting grid.
“We started in the spring of 2007 by working on sponsorship for Tyce to run the Indy 500,” he said. “Ultimately we weren’t successful, but the experience taught us we could work together.”
“We’ve all been working toward this team’s existence for literally since this time last year,” added veteran IndyCar racer Tyce Carlson. “Plus, we’ve all been good friends for a long time.”
The pair met in 1997 when Matthews was a partner in the team that Tyce drove for in the Indianapolis 500.
Chris Williams, a Carmel businessman, soon joined the team to offer his contacts and operations experience to complete the ownership triad.
The group achieved a major coup in acquiring the racing assets of Kenn Hardley Racing shortly before the New Year, a move that gave them a turnkey operation loaded with inventory and supplies from bare tub to hospitality tent.
Now Great Panamanian Charter is aboard as a sponsor; as is ARCA’s twenty-two year old Dan Brode as driver for the team’s first test at Homestead/Miami Speedway this week (January 31st-February 1st).
AMS Aims to Start Fast and then Go Faster
“We never go to the racetrack without the intent to win,” Carlson said. “We’d like to see a top-ten finish at (the Pro Series season-opener) Homestead depending on who we have in the car. If we have a veteran driver behind the wheel we expect a podium-worthy performance.”
The team’s expectations for the future run counter to the typical first-year competitor on the Indy Pro Series pitlane.
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Alliance Motorsports’ Dan Brode. Photo: Jeff Matthews
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“Building continuity and getting experience in the series is important this year,” said Carlson, “but eventually we want to be more than just a one-car operation.”
“If you look at the top teams, they all have two, three, even four cars. It’s the same in NASCAR Cup racing—multiple car teams that can build off of each other.”
“We’re still in the early stages of getting our program together,” added Matthews. “We’re able to utilize Fuzion Racing’s Travis (Rogers’) experience with our testing program and once we get past the tests and evaluate ourselves, we will make some final decisions about some very talented people who’ve shown interest in our team.”
Personal Touch Benefits Alliance Motorsports’ Effort
Carlson plans to draw from his personal IndyCar and Indy Pro Series experience to develop the talent that will take the team to the top.
He started 30 IndyCar events during his racing career that spanned the years of 1996 through 2002, including two starts in the Indianapolis 500.
“I will be up in the spotter’s seat,” he said.
“For me, it’s about teaching lap to lap out there. Honestly, among our group we’ve seen hundreds of these races, and if you see something about to happen in this series, it’s going to happen.”
“If they go three-wide into a turn, it’s for sure they aren’t coming out that way!”
Thirty-Four Car Field at Homestead an Educated Guess
The competition in the Indy Pro Series figures (as usual) to be intense, with talented young drivers coming from all over the globe to contest the race to the 2008 Firestone Firehawk Cup.
The Alliance Motorsports brain trust figures the season will showcase the usual suspects at Sam Schmidt Motorsports, and bring Brazilian Rafael Matos’ into the crosshairs of the rest of the field.
“Matos is an unbelievable talent,” said Carlson, “and the resources of Andretti Green and Gary Peterson will make him very hard to beat.”
“On the other hand, Team KMA (with Robbie Pecorari) won at Nashville out of no more than a twenty-foot tow-trailer and a motorhome last year.”
“It’s a spec series,” he continued, “and that gives us the opportunity to be as good as any of the other teams in the race.”
No doubt the sheer numbers of the Indy Pro Series will offer up some surprises, particularly if the anticipated growth in entrants reaches pre-season expectations.
“I’d say at the most you’ll see 34 cars on the grid at Homestead,” offered Carlson. “And probably they’ll try to start all of them”
“It’s going to be like I remember back in the 1990’s in the big cars: we’d have so many cars we had to send some guys home every weekend.”
Opportunities in IndyCar Open Seats in the Pro Series
The departure of Sam Hornish and 2007 IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti caused anxious hand-wringing among open-wheel racing fans, but the Alliance partners see the movement of talented young drivers into those vacant seats as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Indy Pro Series competitors.
“It’s exciting,” said Williams. “Sam’s gone. Dario’s gone. Younger kids are coming up. It’s all good.”
“Hopefully more eyes will open and see the top-notch kids that run in the IPS. It’s time to find the budgets and support they need to continue to move up.”
“Open-wheel’s not going south when there are all these great kids coming along.”
“I like that it’s an international series,” added Carlson. “The Pro Series is becoming a world-renowned feeder series, with excellent young drivers from all over the globe.”
“I’ll second that,” quipped a smiling Matthews with a wink. “I recently had to run an email from a prospective driver through an online translator to understand it!”
Your links to their website are incorrect. It's actually http://www.alliancemotorsportsllc.com/
Posted by: Marc | January 29, 2008 at 09:20 AM
Thanks Marc
Appreciate it
Posted by: Allan Brewer | January 29, 2008 at 09:34 AM
I hear Adam Andretti has made a commitment to a newly formed Indy Lights Team. According to "the street" the team is planning at least 3 test with AA before the testing season ends. Who is the team? Do you know?
Posted by: tyler | September 24, 2008 at 05:10 PM