1997 North American Touring Car Championship
# 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 | Randy Pobst | All |
| TC Kline Racing | BMW 320i | 12 | Brian Battaglia | 1–3 |
| TC Kline Racing | BMW 320i | 12 | Tom Finnelly Jr. | 4–5 |
| TC Kline Racing | BMW 320i | 12 | Doug Beatty | 6 |
| TC Kline Racing | BMW 320i | 12 | 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 |
| Schader Motorsports | Mazda Xedos 6 | 5 | Walter Puckett | 5 |
| Schader Motorsports | Mazda Xedos 6 | 6 | Desiré Wilson | 1–2, 6 |
| Schader Motorsports | Mazda Xedos 6 | 6 | Walter Puckett | 3 |
| Schader Motorsports | Mazda Xedos 6 | 6 | Bob Schader | 5 |
| Schader Motorsports | Mazda Xedos 6 | 6 | Paul Charsley | 8 |
| Schader Motorsports | Mazda Xedos 6 | 6 | 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. A doubleheader at the Savannah, Georgia Indy Lights' Dixie Crystals Grand Prix was added later.

| Round | 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 | LBH | SAV | SAV | DET | DET | POR | POR | CLE | CLE | TOR | TOR | MDO | MDO | VAN | VAN | LAG | 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 | LBH | SAV | SAV | DET | DET | POR | POR | CLE | CLE | TOR | TOR | MDO | MDO | VAN | VAN | LAG | 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 | LBH | SAV | SAV | DET | DET | POR | POR | CLE | CLE | TOR | TOR | MDO | MDO | VAN | VAN | LAG | 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 | LBH | SAV | SAV | DET | DET | POR | POR | CLE | CLE | TOR | TOR | MDO | MDO | VAN | VAN | LAG | LAG | Pts |
