Eisspeedway

1997 North American Touring Car Championship

The 1997 North American Touring Car Championship was the second and final season of the North American Touring Car Championship. The series was organized by CART, and ran to Super Touring regulations. 18 rounds at 9 race meetings were organized, all but one (in Savannah, Georgia) supporting the CART World Series.

Teams and drivers

Team Car No. Drivers Rounds
TC Kline Racing BMW 320i 1 United States Randy Pobst All
12 United States Brian Battaglia 1–3
United States Tom Finnelly Jr. 4–5
Canada Doug Beatty 6
United Kingdom Paul Charsley 9
Rod Millen Motorsports Toyota Camry 2 New Zealand Rod Millen 4
Tasman Motorsports Honda Accord 4 Australia Neil Crompton 1–3, 5–9
Schader Motorsports Mazda Xedos 6 5 United States Bob Schader 1–4, 6–9
United States Walter Puckett 5
6 South Africa Desiré Wilson 1–2, 6
United States Walter Puckett 3
United States Bob Schader 5
United Kingdom Paul Charsley 8
United States Ron Emmick 9
PacWest Touring Car Group Dodge Stratus 7 United States Dominic Dobson All
8 United States David Donohue All
Hartong Motorsports BMW 318is 18 United States Darren Law All
Fastech Group Ford Mondeo 27 United States David Welch All
Honda American Racing Team Honda Accord 42 United States Peter Cunningham All
62 United States Forrest Granlund 1–3, 5, 7–9
Metalcraft Pontiac Sunfire 80 United States Dave Jolly 9
81 United States Ron Emmick 8
Jonak Brothers Racing BMW 320i 99 Canada Mark Jonak 1–2
Hertfelder Motorsports Honda Accord 64 Mexico Roberto Quintanilla 5–8

Calendar

The initial calendar was released with sixteen races, all supporting CART events.[1] A doubleheader at the Savannah, Georgia Indy Lights' Dixie Crystals Grand Prix was added later.[2]

Round Date Circuit Location Pole position Winning driver Winning team
1 1 April 17 United States Long Beach Street Circuit Long Beach, California United States Peter Cunningham Australia Neil Crompton Tasman Motorsports
2 United States Peter Cunningham Australia Neil Crompton Tasman Motorsports
2 3 May 17 United States Hutchinson Island Savannah, Georgia United States Peter Cunningham United States Peter Cunningham Honda American Racing Team
4 May 18 United States Peter Cunningham United States Peter Cunningham Honda American Racing Team
3 5 June 8 United States Detroit Indy Grand Prix Detroit, Michigan United States David Donohue United States David Donohue PacWest Touring Car Group
6 United States David Donohue United States Dominic Dobson PacWest Touring Car Group
4 7 June 21 United States Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon United States David Donohue United States Peter Cunningham Honda American Racing Team
8 United States David Donohue United States Randy Pobst TC Kline Racing
5 9 July 13 United States Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio United States Dominic Dobson United States David Donohue PacWest Touring Car Group
10 United States Dominic Dobson United States Peter Cunningham Honda American Racing Team
6 11 July 19 Canada Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario United States Dominic Dobson United States Dominic Dobson PacWest Touring Car Group
12 Australia Neil Crompton Australia Neil Crompton Tasman Motorsports
7 13 August 9 United States Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio United States David Donohue United States David Donohue PacWest Touring Car Group
14 United States David Donohue United States David Donohue PacWest Touring Car Group
8 15 August 31 Canada Concord Pacific Place Vancouver, British Columbia United States David Donohue Australia Neil Crompton Tasman Motorsports
16 United States David Donohue Australia Neil Crompton Tasman Motorsports
9 17 September 7 United States Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California United States David Donohue Australia Neil Crompton Tasman Motorsports
18 United States David Donohue Australia Neil Crompton Tasman Motorsports

Championship standings

Drivers Championship

Pos Driver LBH
United States
SAV
United States
DET
United States
POR
United States
CLE
United States
TOR
Canada
MDO
United States
VAN
Canada
LAG
United States
Pts
1 United States David Donohue 4 4 2 3 1 5 1 7 1 3 4 4 1 1 2 5 3 3 304
2 United States Peter Cunningham 10 8 1 1 4 6 2 1 3 1 3 3 3 2 4 3 2 2 282
3 Australia Neil Crompton 1 1 3 2 3 DSQ 5 2 2 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 280
4 United States Dominic Dobson 2 3 4 4 2 1 6 9 9 7 1 2 4 8 3 9 4 6 230
5 United States Randy Pobst 3 2 6 9 9 DNS 3 6 2 4 7 7 8 9 6 2 5 4 188
6 United States Bob Schader 5 7 7 7 7 3 7 4 6 8 8 9 9 7 8 6 7 8 185
7 United States David Welch 8 5 9 10 5 2 9 8 10 9 6 5 7 5 5 4 6 5 159
8 United States Darren Law 9 6 5 5 10 DNS 4 3 8 5 5 6 5 6 7 8 DNS DNS 157
9 United States Forrest Granlund 11 DNS 10 6 8 4 4 6 6 4 DNS DNS DNS DNS 88
10 United States Ron Emmick 9 7 8 7 37
11 Canada Mark Jonak 7 9 8 8 36
12 New Zealand Rod Millen 8 2 26
13 United States Tom Finnelly 5 5 DNS DNS 24
14 United States Walter Puckett 6 7 7 DNS 21
15 South Africa Desiré Wilson 6 10 DNS DNS 11 DNS 18
16 Mexico Roberto Quintanilla DNS DNS 9 8 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 17
17 United States Dave Jolly 9 9 16
18 United Kingdom Paul Charsley DNS DNS 10 10 7
NC Canada Doug Beatty 10 10 0
NC United States Brian Battaglia DNS DNS DNS DNS 0
NC United States Tommy Constantine DNS DNS 0
Pos Driver LBH
United States
SAV
United States
DET
United States
POR
United States
CLE
United States
TOR
Canada
MDO
United States
VAN
Canada
LAG
United States
Pts
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th & 5th place
Light Blue 6th-10th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 10)
Purple Did not finish
Red Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black Disqualified
(DSQ)
White Did not start
(DNS)
Blank Did not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing

Manufacturers Championship

Pos Manufacturer LBH
United States
SAV
United States
DET
United States
POR
United States
CLE
United States
TOR
Canada
MDO
United States
VAN
Canada
LAG
United States
Pts
1 Japan Honda 1 1 1 1 3 4 2 1 3 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 298
2 United States Dodge 2 3 2 3 1 1 1 7 1 3 1 2 1 1 2 5 3 3 271
3 Japan Toyota 8 2 26
Pos Manufacturer LBH
United States
SAV
United States
DET
United States
POR
United States
CLE
United States
TOR
Canada
MDO
United States
VAN
Canada
LAG
United States
Pts

See also

References

  1. ^ "Provisional 1997 schedule released". Press release. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  2. ^ "North American Touring Car Championship 1997". Autocourse.ca. Retrieved 31 January 2011.