In an effort to expand upon the rich history and tradition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), organizers and rights holders for the trademarks and rules for the 24-hour race, agreed to license their internationally famous brand name and rules to successful businessman and entrepreneur Donald E. Panoz.

In addition to the licensing rights, the ACO agreed to grant pre-qualifying exemptions for the 24-Hours of Le Mans each year to three class winners in each of the three major territories (Americas, Asia and Europe). This represents nine of a total of twelve pre-qualifying exemptions for the 48-car starting field. Such an incentive is sure to attract major teams and manufacturers from around the world.

With these rights, Panoz founded the American Le Mans Series in 1999 with an eight-race schedule. In 2000, the schedule was expanded to 12 races (eight in the United States, one in Canada, 2 in Europe and the season finale in Adelaide, Australia). In 2001, the schedule included 15 races (eight in the U.S., one in Canada, 5 in Europe, and the season closer in Malaysia).  Each race will have a minimum purse of $200,000 with ten percent of each purse going to the privateer fund to be distributed at the end of the season. Prize money from the race purses is distributed exclusively among privateer teams. Our domestic and international television and Internet distribution is unprecedented in American sports car racing history.

The American Le Mans Series has been created to stabilize and implement a growth strategy for professional sports car racing in America.