1997 North American Touring Car Championship Explained

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	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
		5	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
PacWest Touring Car Group	Dodge Stratus	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
Honda American Racing Team	Honda Accord	62	Forrest Granlund	1–3, 5, 7–9
Metalcraft	Pontiac Sunfire	80	Dave Jolly	9
Metalcraft	Pontiac Sunfire	81	Ron Emmick	8
Jonak Brothers Racing	BMW 320i	99	Mark Jonak	1–2
Hertfelder Motorsports	Honda Accord	64	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	Long Beach Street Circuit	Long Beach, California	Peter Cunningham	Neil Crompton	Tasman Motorsports
1	2	April 17	Long Beach Street Circuit	Long Beach, California	Peter Cunningham	Neil Crompton	Tasman Motorsports
2	3	May 17	Hutchinson Island	Savannah, Georgia	Peter Cunningham	Peter Cunningham	Honda American Racing Team
2	4	May 18	Hutchinson Island	Savannah, Georgia	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
3	6	June 8	Detroit Indy Grand Prix	Detroit, Michigan	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
4	8	June 21	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	David Donohue	Randy Pobst	TC Kline Racing
5	9	July 13	Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio	Dominic Dobson	David Donohue	PacWest Touring Car Group
5	10	July 13	Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio	Dominic Dobson	Peter Cunningham	Honda American Racing Team
6	11	July 19	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	Dominic Dobson	Dominic Dobson	PacWest Touring Car Group
6	12	July 19	Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	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
7	14	August 9	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	David Donohue	David Donohue	PacWest Touring Car Group
8	15	August 31	Concord Pacific Place	Vancouver, British Columbia	David Donohue	Neil Crompton	Tasman Motorsports
8	16	August 31	Concord Pacific Place	Vancouver, British Columbia	David Donohue	Neil Crompton	Tasman Motorsports
9	17	September 7	Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California	David Donohue	Neil Crompton	Tasman Motorsports
9	18	September 7	Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California	David Donohue	Neil Crompton	Tasman Motorsports

Championship standings

Drivers Championship

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)
Blank	Not competing

Manufacturers Championship

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

External links

Results & points
http://www.driverdb.com/standings/639-1997/

Notes and References

Web site: Provisional 1997 schedule released. https://archive.today/20120711222004/http://motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=6874&FS=TOURING. dead. 11 July 2012. Press release. 11 February 2011.
Web site: North American Touring Car Championship 1997 . Autocourse.ca . 31 January 2011.