No vehicle on the road symbolizes fast, sexy and exotic more than the Lamborghini. The Italian roadsters are legendary for their sleek design, powerful motors, pure speed and hefty price tags. It is rumored that, Ferruccio Lamborghini, a former tractor manufacturer, started his auto company in 1963 after he was personally snubbed by Enzo Ferrari at the Ferrari factory. Nevertheless, Lamborghini’s have certainly earned a spot in the upper echelon of the sports car arena.

In 2009, the only Lamborghini race car in the country will be entered into the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) SPEED World Challenge GT Championship. That news alone might be of limited interest to anyone but the hardcore race fan. However, the car will also be driven by former NFL first round draft pick and Pro Bowl quarterback Dan Pastorini. Pastorini, the third overall pick in the 1971 NFL draft behind Jim Plunkett and Archie Manning, played in 12 NFL seasons and led the Houston Oilers to the AFC Championship game in 1979 in which they fell to the eventual champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Pastorini is not new to racing, though. He has set several world records in unlimited drag boat racing, driven in a number of International Motor Sports Association events and has been a driver on the NHRA Top Fuel drag racing circuit.

Outside of racing circles, the SCCA gets fairly limited exposure. However, the Club hosts hundreds of professional and amateur events around the country every year. The SPEED World Challenge is the SCCA’s premier professional event. The series provides a forum for racing lightly modified production based vehicles in competitive events. The list of cars entered into the events includes Porsches, Vipers, Mustangs, Corvettes, Aston Martins and a host of others. In 2009, that list will include Pastorini’s Lamborghini Gallardo.

While the SCCA is a limited marketplace, racing is a growing sport in the US in almost every respect. Production car racing worldwide is gaining in popularity. Pastorini’s name and his black Lamborghini will also generate some excitement for the 2009 SPEED World Challenge season. The series is broadcast in its entirety on the SPEED network which reaches over 100 million cable subscribers. The professional drivers, some of which are talents on the rise in the motor sports arena, have numerous sponsorship opportunities open to them. For agents looking to break into the world of motor sports, the SCCA pro series isn’t a bad place to start. And there’s no time like the 2009 season with the added attraction of Pastorini’s Gallardo bringing some additional exposure to this up and coming racing series.

Guest contribution by Michael C. Frilling, Esq.; General Counsel; www.fksportsmanagement.com

While NASCAR has led the way in US motorsports over the last decade or two, open wheel racing has always maintained a passionate following. The Indianapolis 500, the highlight of the Indy Racing League (IRL) season, is still the highest attended single day sporting event in the world, and open wheel racing has a long history and tradition in the US. Additionally, outside of North America, open wheel racing and the Formula One circuit dominate the racing arena with over 50 million live television viewers worldwide for every race.

As the IRL season officially came to a close last week with the league’s Championship Celebration in Las Vegas, league officials were already preparing for the 2009 season. And the league looks poised to make a jump forward on the racing scene. The emergence of star driver Danica Patrick has brought substantial media coverage to IRL events and IRL viewer ratings were up in 2008. The league has forged several significant new sponsorship relationships with Coca-Cola and Philips-Van Heusen (PVH)-the PVH IZOD brand has been named the official apparel line for the IRL. IRL Vice President of Sales, Greg Gruning, suggested that sponsorship relationships like these are “what is going to generate our sport to another level.”

Additionally, the league has executed a new television rights contract with the upstart Versus network. While some critics have suggested that this move will diminish the overall exposure for the IRL by taking races off of the more publicly recognized ESPN network, proponents of the deal contend that ESPN coverage was often relegated to the networks secondary channels and provided very little in the way of IRL specialized coverage. The Versus network, on the other hand, has agreed to provide substantial pre and post race coverage as well as a number of hours of specialized IRL coverage devoted to the drivers and the sport of open wheel racing. Jamie Davis, the new Versus president, has pledged to showcase the IRL on the network, to attract a younger demographic and to help the IRL grow. All promising indicators for open wheel racing.

Combine that with the merger between the IRL and the Champ Car circuit along with the IRL’s increased funding of its steppingstone Indy Lights series, and one can see increased growth on the horizon. As economic times look bleak, and some pundits are predicting challenging times for NASCAR ahead, the IRL, while not immune to the effects of the economic downturn, looks to be in a position to gain ground in the racing arena.

And finally, the IRL has one additional advantage in the fight for racing dominance-speed. The cars are just faster and more technically sophisticated. At top speeds of over 230 mph, open wheel racing arguably provides a product that is more exhilarating, more technically demanding and more cerebrally challenging than stock car racing. While no one is arguing that the IRL is going to supplant NASCAR as America’s racing darling anytime soon, the future looks bright for open wheel racing and its proponents.

Guest contribution by Michael C. Frilling, Esq.; General Counsel; www.fksportsmanagement.com