Profile: IMSA Race Director, Marty Kaufman

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Profile: IMSA Race Director Marty Kaufman

Lyndsay Fox 11-19-2004

Marty Kaufman, IMSA's Race Director, has been involved in racing for close to 50 years. With the exception of one year, he has been in the tower for IMSA, the sanctioning body for the American Le Mans Series, since 1987.

Sometimes thought of as a no-nonsense kind of guy, Kaufman is impartial and unbiased when making decisions in race control. He admits that both his favorite and least favorite parts of the job are dealing with the competitors and staff.

"I learned that I can't be all things to all people and sometimes the word ‘no' must come into play," Kaufman said. This is one of the reasons he has earned the respect he has from the competitors.

Kaufman works hard to stay in touch with team principals and personnel throughout the year to keep communication going. He believes there is a mutual respect and understanding between him and the competitors that makes communication easier.

Kaufman started racing in the late 1950s on drag strips in Central California. From there he moved to autocross and SCCA Club Racing in the 1960s. After promoting a couple of SCCA National events through the San Francisco Junior Chamber of Commerce he was invited to be Event Chairman by the San Francisco Region.

He soon gave up his driving gloves and started concentrating on more of an administrative role in the Region. He was the San Francisco Regional Executive from 1982-1986. From 1984-1986 he also traveled with the Trans-Am series, becoming its Chief Steward in 1986.

Outside of racing Kaufman worked for several large corporations in the marketing and finance divisions. His last job, before retiring in 1986, was with an international building material manufacturer. He was the president and general manager of one of its operations in California.

In 1987 he got a call from IMSA Founder and President John Bishop asking him to join the IMSA team. At that time Kaufman was responsible for all racing series that IMSA sanctioned which meant for very busy weekends.

Some of his favorite races are from the GTP days. "Watching the Walkinshaw Jaguars and the Electromotive Nissans go at each other at the Tampa Fairgrounds was quite exciting," Kaufman said.

He also said some of the ALMS races in 2004 rate high up on the excitement level. "The dices between Chris Dyson and JJ Lehto were phenomenal."

Looking on to 2005 Kaufman likes the schedule and believes most of the competitors do too. In regards to the testing and tire regulations he said he thinks they "will be a big help to many of the teams and the manufacturers and help to level the playing field a bit."