1996 North American Touring Car Championship Explained

The 1996 North American Touring Car Championship was the first season of the North American Touring Car Championship. The series was organized by CART, and ran to Super Touring regulations. 16 rounds at 8 race meetings were organized, all but two (Lime Rock and Trois-Rivières) supporting the CART IndyCar World Series.

Teams and drivers

Team	Car	No.	Drivers	Class	Rounds
Rod Millen Motorsports	Toyota Carina E	2	Rod Millen	C	1–2, 4, 8
Archer Petty Motorsports	BMW 318is	3	Steve Petty		All
Leitzinger Racing	Ford Mondeo Ghia	5	Jeff Andretti	C	2–8
Ecurie Atlanta	Mercedes-Benz 190E	6	Martin Stretton		1
PacWest Touring Car Group	Dodge Stratus	7	Dominic Dobson	C	All
PacWest Touring Car Group	Dodge Stratus	8	David Donohue	C	All
Mirko Racing	Honda Accord	9	Albert Mirko		5–8
Delong Motorsports	BMW 318is	10	Ed Delong		1–2, 4
Delong Motorsports	BMW 318is	20	Jim Kenzie		4
TC Kline Racing	Honda Accord	12	Randy Pobst	C	All
TC Kline Racing	Honda Accord	21	Peter Hardman	C	1–7
Hartong Motorsports	BMW 318is	18	Darren Law		1–2, 4, 6–8
Motorsport Team Schemes	Vauxhall Cavalier	25	Nigel Smith		4, 6
Fastech Group Racing	Ford Mondeo	27	Víctor González	C	3
		David Welch	5, 8
		Paul Charsley	6
Honda American Racing Team	Honda Accord	62	Forrest Granlund	C	1, 3–4
Honda American Racing Team	Honda Accord	Peter Cunningham	5–8
Metalcraft	Pontiac Sunfire	81	Dave Jolly		8
Team Contour Racing	Ford Contour	86	Chris Reinke		6–8

Icon	Class
C	Constructor
	Independent

Calendar

The calendar initially included an event at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 20, as a support race for NASCAR's The Winston.^[1] By December 14, 1995, Charlotte was dropped from the calendar, replaced with a doubleheader at the Molson Indy Vancouver.^[2] The Portland event was added to the schedule on April 15.^[3]

Round		Date	Circuit	Location	Pole position	Winning driver	Winning team	Winning Constructor	Winning Independent	Winning Independent Team
1	1	May 27	Lime Rock Park	Lakeville, Connecticut	Dominic Dobson	David Donohue	PacWest Touring Car Group	Dodge	Steve Petty	Archer Petty Motorsports
1	2	May 27	Lime Rock Park	Lakeville, Connecticut	Dominic Dobson	Dominic Dobson	PacWest Touring Car Group	Dodge	Steve Petty	Archer Petty Motorsports
2	3	June 8	Belle Isle Park	Detroit, Michigan	Randy Pobst	Darren Law	Hartong Motorsports	Dodge	Darren Law	Hartong Motorsports
2	4	June 8	Belle Isle Park	Detroit, Michigan	Darren Law	Dominic Dobson	PacWest Touring Car Group	Dodge	Ed Delong	Delong Motorsports
3	5	June 22	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	Randy Pobst	Randy Pobst	TC Kline Racing	Honda	Steve Petty	Archer Petty Motorsports
3	6	June 22	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	Dominic Dobson	Randy Pobst	TC Kline Racing	Honda	None
4	7	July 13	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	Dominic Dobson	Randy Pobst	TC Kline Racing	Honda	Steve Petty	Archer Petty Motorsports
4	8	July 13	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	Dominic Dobson	Peter Hardman	TC Kline Racing	Honda	Steve Petty	Archer Petty Motorsports
5	9	August 3	Circuit Trois-Rivières	Trois-Rivières, Quebec	David Donohue	Dominic Dobson	PacWest Touring Car Group	Dodge	Steve Petty	Archer Petty Motorsports
5	10	August 4	Circuit Trois-Rivières	Trois-Rivières, Quebec	Randy Pobst	Randy Pobst	TC Kline Racing	Honda	Steve Petty	Archer Petty Motorsports
6	11	August 10	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	Peter Cunningham	Peter Cunningham	Honda American Racing Team	Honda	Darren Law	Hartong Motorsports
6	12	August 10	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	Randy Pobst	Peter Cunningham	Honda American Racing Team	Honda	Darren Law	Hartong Motorsports
7	13	August 31	Concord Pacific Place	Vancouver, British Columbia	Dominic Dobson	Dominic Dobson	PacWest Touring Car Group	Dodge	None
7	14	September 1	Concord Pacific Place	Vancouver, British Columbia	Dominic Dobson	Peter Cunningham	Honda American Racing Team	Honda	Steve Petty	Archer Petty Motorsports
8	15	September 8	Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California	Randy Pobst	Randy Pobst	TC Kline Racing	Honda	Darren Law	Hartong Motorsports
8	16	September 8	Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California	Peter Cunningham	Peter Cunningham	Honda American Racing Team	Honda	Darren Law	Hartong Motorsports

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Pos	Driver	Class	LRP		DET		POR		TOR		TRV		MDO		VAN		LAG		Pts
1	Randy Pobst	C	2	3	6	2	1*	1*	1	2*	3	1*	10	3*	2*	4	1*	2	282
2	Dominic Dobson	C	3	1*	4	1*	4	5	2*	3	1*	2	3	4	1	5	3	9	241
3	David Donohue	C	1*	2	2	4	2	4	3	4	7	8	2	6	4	2	5	4	221
4	Peter Hardman	C	10	7	3	3	5	2	5	1	2	3	5	2	5	6			176
5	Peter Cunningham	C									4	6	1*	1	3	1*	2	1*	145
6	Steve Petty	I	5	6	DNS	DNS	8	8	6	7	6	4	8	7	7	3	8	DNS	139
7	Jeff Andretti	C			5	6	6	6	DNS	DNS	9	5	6	10	6	7	9	5	106
8	Darren Law	I	9	8	1*	8			9	8			4	5	8	DNS	7	6	95
9	Forrest Granlund	C	4	4			3	3	5	7									78
10	Rod Millen	C	8	5	8	5			4	6							4	10	63
11	David Welch	C									5	7					6	3	48
12	Ed Delong	I	7	9	7	7			8	9									47
13	Nigel Smith	I							10	DNS			9	9					23
14	Víctor González	C					7	7											20
15	Paul Charsley	C											7	8					19
16	Albert Mirko	I									8	DNS	11	11			10	7	17
17	Martin Stretton	I	6	DNS															11
18	Dave Jolly	I															11	8	6
NC	Jim Kenzie	I							11	DNS									0
NC	Chris Reinke	I											DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	0
Pos	Driver	Class	LRP		DET		POR		TOR		TRV		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)
Blank	Not competing

align=center colspan=2

In-line notation

Bold

Pole position

Italics

Ran fastest race lap

*| align=center|Led most race laps|}|}|}

Manufacturers' Championship

Pos	Manufacturer	LRP		DET		POR		TOR		TRV		MDO		VAN		LAG		Pts
1	Honda	2	3	3	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	298
2	Dodge	1	1	2	1	2	4	2	3	1	2	2	4	1	2	3	4	271
3	Ford			5	6	6	6			5	5	6	8	6	7	6	3	136
4	Toyota	8	5	8	5			4	6							4	10	63
Pos	Manufacturer	LRP		DET		POR		TOR		TRV		MDO		VAN		LAG		Pts

Independents' Standings

LRP
! colspan="2"
DET	POR		TOR		TRV		MDO		VAN		LAG		Pts
1	Steve Petty	5	6	DNS	DNS	8	Ret	6	7	6	4	8	7	Ret	3	8	DNS	139
2	Darren Law	Ret	8	1	Ret			9	8			4	5	Ret	DNS	7	6	95
3	Ed Delong	7	9	7	7			8	Ret									47
4	Nigel Smith							Ret	DNS			Ret	9					23
5	Albert Mirko									Ret	DNS	Ret	Ret	DNS	DNS	10	7	17
6	Martin Stretton	6	DNS															11
7	Dave Jolly															11	Ret	6
Pos	Driver	LRP		DET		POR		TOR		TRV		MDO		VAN		LAG		Pts

External links

Results & points
http://www.driverdb.com/standings/639-1996/

Notes and References

News: Series announcement press release. Press release. 24 December 2010.
News: A synopsis of the North American Touring Car Championship press conference held December 14, 1995. Press release. North American Touring Car Championship. 24 December 2010. 26 December 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20051226214631/http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=4168&FS=NATCC. dead.
News: Hnatiw. Tom. Super Tourers to Appear at Portland International. Press release. 24 December 2010.