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

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

Calendar

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

Championship standings

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Drivers Championship

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Pos Driver LBH
 
SAV
 
DET
 
POR
 
CLE
 
TOR
 
MDO
 
VAN
 
LAG
 
Pts
1   David Donohue 4 4 2 3 1 5 1 7 1 3 4 4 1 1 2 5 3 3 304
2   Peter Cunningham 10 8 1 1 4 6 2 1 3 1 3 3 3 2 4 3 2 2 282
3   Neil Crompton 1 1 3 2 3 DSQ 5 2 2 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 280
4   Dominic Dobson 2 3 4 4 2 1 6 9 9 7 1 2 4 8 3 9 4 6 230
5   Randy Pobst 3 2 6 9 9 DNS 3 6 2 4 7 7 8 9 6 2 5 4 188
6   Bob Schader 5 7 7 7 7 3 7 4 6 8 8 9 9 7 8 6 7 8 185
7   David Welch 8 5 9 10 5 2 9 8 10 9 6 5 7 5 5 4 6 5 159
8   Darren Law 9 6 5 5 10 DNS 4 3 8 5 5 6 5 6 7 8 DNS DNS 157
9   Forrest Granlund 11 DNS 10 6 8 4 4 6 6 4 DNS DNS DNS DNS 88
10   Ron Emmick 9 7 8 7 37
11   Mark Jonak 7 9 8 8 36
12   Rod Millen 8 2 26
13   Tom Finnelly 5 5 DNS DNS 24
14   Walter Puckett 6 7 7 DNS 21
15   Desiré Wilson 6 10 DNS DNS 11 DNS 18
16   Roberto Quintanilla DNS DNS 9 8 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 17
17   Dave Jolly 9 9 16
18   Paul Charsley DNS DNS 10 10 7
NC   Doug Beatty 10 10 0
NC   Brian Battaglia DNS DNS DNS DNS 0
NC   Tommy Constantine DNS DNS 0
Pos Driver LBH
 
SAV
 
DET
 
POR
 
CLE
 
TOR
 
MDO
 
VAN
 
LAG
 
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

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

See also

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References

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  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.
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