Editing IMSA (section)

===GT era===
{{Further|IMSA GT Championship}}
[[File:Gtp sports cars.jpg|thumb|300px|(front to rear) [[Tommy Kendall]] and [[Wayne Taylor]] (both driving an [[Intrepid RM-1]]) leads eventual winner [[Davy Jones (racing driver)|Davy Jones]] ([[Jaguar XJR-16]]) and [[Chip Robinson]], followed by [[Geoff Brabham]] (both in [[Nissan NPT-91]]), [[Raul Boesel]] (XJR-16) and [[James Weaver (racing driver)|James Weaver]] ([[Porsche 962]]) in the [[Nissan]] Grand Prix of Ohio, at [[Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course]], 1991<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wsrp.ic.cz/imsa1991.html#10 |title=IMSA GT 1991 season |publisher=WSRP |access-date=2014-06-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922201406/http://wsrp.ic.cz/imsa1991.html |archive-date=2008-09-22 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/Mid-Ohio-1991-06-02-photo.html |title=Racing Sports Cars |publisher=Racing Sports Cars |date=1991-02-06 |access-date=2014-06-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183937/http://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/Mid-Ohio-1991-06-02-photo.html |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
At the end of the 1970 season, Bishop helped to establish the foundations of the FIA ([[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile]]) "J appendix" for [[World Championship for Makes]] sports cars. For the end of the 1970 season, he advertised a new championship for [[Group 2 (racing)|Group 2]] and [[Group 4 (racing)|Group 4]] cars with equity between competitors.<ref name="IMSAblog Apr 06"/>

The {{IMSA|1971}} ''Grand Touring'' (GT) season introduced international [[Endurance racing (motorsport)|endurance racing]] to [[North America]]. In {{IMSA|1972}}, [[Camel (cigarette)|Camel Cigarettes]] became the new sponsor of the GT series and the sedan series became known as the [[BFGoodrich|B.F. Goodrich]] Radial Challenge. In {{IMSA|1973}}, the [[12 Hours of Sebring]] joined the IMSA GT Championship's schedule.<ref>[https://www.racingarchives.org/blogpost/how-sebring-was-saved-from-oblivion-in-1973/ How Sebring Was Saved From Oblivion in 1973] - International Motor Racing Research Center / IMSA 1969-1989</ref> Later that year, the organization gained recognition from the [[Automobile Competition Committee for the United States|ACCUS]] and the FIA. IMSA was scheduled to sanction the 1974 [[24 Hours of Daytona]], but the race was cancelled because of the oil crisis.<ref>[https://www.racingarchives.org/blogpost/1975-the-first-24-hours-of-daytona-sanctioned-by-imsa/ 1975 – The First 24 Hours of Daytona Sanctioned by IMSA] - International Motor Racing Research Center</ref>

Bishop did not believe that [[Factory-backed|factory teams]] would stick with the new series, so he tried to ensure that the rules were not biased in their favor.  He was in favor of looking after [[privateer (motorsports)|privateer teams]] and helping them to become competitive.  As European cars began to dominate, a new series was formed in {{IMSA|1975}} called ''All American Grand Touring'' (AAGT) to give equal latitude to foreign cars.  [[Turbocharger|Turbocharged]] cars were permitted in {{IMSA|1977}}.

In the same year, Bishop invited a pair of [[Jean Rondeau (racing driver)|Jean Rondeau]]-built [[Inaltera]]'s to compete as "special prototypes".  They became the foundation of the newly formed Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) category in {{IMSA|1981}}, with separate rules similar to [[Group C]] (Bishop was unhappy with the fuel consumption formula of the latter).<ref name="Endurance">{{cite book
 | last = Briggs
 | first = Ian
 | author-link = Ian Briggs
 | title = Endurance Racing 1981&ndash;1991
 | edition = 1st
 | year = 1991
 | publisher= Osprey Automotive
 | location = United Kingdom
 | isbn = 1-85532-228-5
 | pages = 24&21
 }}</ref>

In {{IMSA|1984}}, [[Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile]] (FISA), the organizers of the [[World Sportscar Championship|World Endurance Championship]] (WEC), attempted to unite the two organizations by scrapping the existing formula and adopting IMSA rules. This did not please [[Porsche]], which was spending vast sums of money on engine development at the time.  Porsche responded by boycotting the [[24 Hours of Le Mans]] of [[1984 24 Hours of Le Mans|that year]]. FISA responded by abandoning the rule change for the time being.<ref name="Endurance"/>

In {{IMSA|1987}}, FISA president [[Jean-Marie Balestre]] almost made a successful attempt to settle the dispute by announcing that [[turbocharger]]s and fuel restrictions would be phased out by 1989 (excepting [[naturally aspirated engine]]s below 3.5 liters).  This attempt failed, as did another in 1991, in which with chassis ballast penalties for turbocharged cars rendered them uncompetitive, except at Le Mans.<ref name="Endurance"/>

IMSA continued to have success with its own Camel GT series.<ref name="Endurance"/>

====New ownership====
In 1987, John Bishop had to undergo a [[heart bypass surgery]], forcing him to rethink his priorities. He began to realise that the Camel GT series was in danger of becoming oriented toward the factory-backed teams and less to the privateers as Bishop originally intended. Rules were modified to accommodate the factory teams, which wanted to get into the series, despite Bishop's belief that such changes would be unfavorable to the series in the long run, especially if they failed to meet their objectives.<ref name="prototypes, p14"/>

In January 1989, the Bishops sold the company to Mike Cone and Jeff Parker, owners of the [[Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg#IMSA .28fairgrounds.29|IMSA Grand Prix of St. Petersburg]].<ref name="prototypes, p14"/> Bishop shortly stepped down as the organisation's president in favor of Mark Raffauf, his deputy president and the organisation's representative on the ACCUS (Automobile Competition Committee for the United States), an FIA recognised sporting body.<ref name="Endurance"/> Cone and Parker in turn sold the organization to businessman Charles Slater by the early 1990s.<ref name="tampa 20dec96">{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/1997/01/20/daily2.html|title=IMSA wheels some of its people to NY, Indy dmyauthor=|date=January 20, 1997|work=Tampa Bay Business Journal|access-date=2008-01-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209060018/http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/1997/01/20/daily2.html|archive-date=2010-12-09|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1996 Slater sold the organization with previously accumulated debt to Roberto Muller (ex-CEO of [[Reebok]]) and [[Wall Street]] based [[portfolio manager]] for [[Bill Gates]], [[Andy Evans (racing driver)|Andy Evans]], who also was an IndyCar owner and owner/driver of the [[Team Scandia|Scandia]] World Sports Car team. These changes would lead to the departure of many of the executive board members.<ref name="tampa 20dec96"/> Evans was responsible for the name change to '''Professional Sports Car Racing''' (PSCR).<ref name="Smotherman">{{cite web|url=http://www.cs.clemson.edu/~mark/racing.html#imsa|title=Selected Sports Car Racing History:1997 shakeup in US|access-date=21 January 2008|last=Smotherman|first=Mark|date=24 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013114645/http://www.cs.clemson.edu/~mark/racing.html#imsa|archive-date=2008-10-13|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1998 the [[United States Road Racing Championship]] was revived as an alternative to Professional Sports Car Racing, involving the [[Sports Car Club of America]] and headed by a group of competitors and ex-IMSA personnel, including John Bishop, [[Bill France Jr.]], [[Rob Dyson]], [[Roger Penske]], [[Skip Barber]], and Ralph Sanchez. They wanted to keep rules within the United States.  When this initially failed, as a result [[Don Panoz]] and Barber departed to affiliate themselves with PSCR.<ref name="Smotherman"/>