IMSA

IMSA can refer to:

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). It is a result of a merger between two existing North American sports car racing series, the American Le Mans Series and Rolex Sports Car Series. The initial United SportsCar Championship name of the series was announced on March 14, 2013, while Rolex SA signed their Tudor brand to a title sponsorship deal. WeatherTech later signed a deal to take over title sponsorship of the series starting in 2016, rebranding the series.

The inaugural 2014 season began with the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona on January 25–26 and ended with the Petit Le Mans on October 4. João Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi with Action Express Racing claimed both the drivers' and team championships. Chevrolet won the manufacturer's championship.

History

On September 5, 2012 it was announced that the Grand-Am Road Racing sanctioning body would be merging with the Braselton based International Motor Sports Association, and as such both bodies would be merging their premiere sports car series, the Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series respectively, with plans to debut in 2014. On November 20, 2012 the merger committee announced that SME Branding were selected to develop the name, logo and identity of the new series.

Advance Auto Parts

Advance Auto Parts, is headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, and is now the largest retailer of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States by store count after acquiring CARQUEST in October 2013. AAP was founded in 1932 and had 2011 sales of approximately $6.2 billion. AAP operates over 3,800 stores in forty U.S. states and has over 55,000 employees.

In 2005, Advance Auto Parts purchased Autopart International, Inc. which operates 202 stores along the Atlantic Seaboard. As of 2014, Autopart International still operates as a separate division within Advance Auto.

In 2013 AAP Purchased General Parts Inc. including CARQUEST, CARQUEST Canada and WorldPac for $2.04 billion.

History

In 1932, Arthur Taubman purchased from Pep Boys, the Advance Stores, with two stores in Roanoke, Virginia and one in Lynchburg, Virginia.

The first major expansion of Advance Auto Parts was in 1998 when the company acquired the remaining operations of Western Auto, an auto parts and general store retailer. Most of the Western Auto operations had been taken over by Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1987.

Circuit of the Americas

Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a unidirectional, grade 1 FIA specification 3.427-mile (5.515 km) motor racing facility located in Elroy, on the southeastern periphery of Austin city limits, in Central Texas. COTA plays host to the Formula One United States Grand Prix. The circuit also hosts the Motorcycle Grand Prix of The Americas, a round of the Road Racing World Championship, commonly known as MotoGP, the FIA World Endurance Championship, as well as the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It previously hosted the Australian V8 Supercars series, the American Le Mans Series, and the Rolex Sports Car Series in 2013.

The circuit and Grand Prix were first proposed in the middle of 2010. The circuit was the first in the United States to be purpose-built for Formula One. The layout was conceived by promoter Tavo Hellmund and 1993 Motorcycle World Champion Kevin Schwantz with the assistance of German architect and circuit designer Hermann Tilke, who has also designed the Sepang, Shanghai, Yas Marina, Istanbul, Bahrain, Yeongam, and Buddh circuits, as well as the reprofiling of the Hockenheimring and Fuji Speedway. The circuit has FIA Grade 1 license.