Rod Millen to pilot Toyota Camry Racing series NATCC Date Rod Millen, of recent Pikes Peak fame, was on a local motorsports radio show Sunday (Steve Parker's Motorsports Show, KABC 710/Talk, in Los Angeles every Sunday 5-7 pm), and apparently blurbed out something he wasn't supposed to. He stopped himself in mid-sentance after admitting he had been contracted to drive a Toyota Camry in the new for 1996 NATCC (North American Touring Car Championship) series, organized by TOCA. CART is expected to announce NATCC as the 1996 Indycar support series within the next couple of weeks. -Robert _____________________ Series announcement press release Racing series NATCC Date In a major motor sports announcement, initial details of next year's North American Touring Car Championship have been outlined. The new series which will be run to the FIA's Super Touring technical regulations (as proven in the British Touring Car Championship and elsewhere throughout the world) will be endorsed by the two most prominent bodies in American motor sport: IndyCar and the SCCA. An initial schedule of seven events (14 races) has also been announced with three additional events to be revealed in the near future. The high profile calendar includes prestigious dates alongside both of North America' 5 two premier attractions IndyCar and NASCAR. Commenting on the new NATCC, Nick Craw president of the SCCA said: "`We believe that the NATCC brings a significant new dimension to North American motorsport and will help to raise the profile and exposure of road racing to the benefit of everyone. nil ten rounds will be televised nation-wide with two events (at present) also being shown live on ABC's `Wide World of Sports' . These two events are Toronto and Mid-Ohio where double events will run for a live 90 minute Saturday afternoon broadcast. At the official announcement NATCC vice-president Allan Cow said: "`The future for Super Touring has never looked better... North America is the world's biggest and most influential car market and the impact of the series should not be underestimated. "`I'm tremendously proud of what has been achieved through putting this fantastic programme together and the years to come with the integration of North America, for the first time ever, into international touring car racing." 1996 NATCC dates: May 18-20, Charlotte (NASCAR); May 25-27, Lime Rock (SCCA Trans-Am); June 7-9 Detroit GP (IndyCar); July 12-14 Toronto (IndyCar); August 2-4, Trois Rivieres (SCCA Trans-Am); August 9-11, Mid-Ohio (Indy Car); September 6-8, Laguna Seca (IndyCar). Three further events will be announced shortly including at least one additional IndyCar date which is confirmed but, for commercial reasons, can not be unveiled at this time. -- Stephen M Baines "[The Autosport sticker] started to peel off in the middle of Eau Rouge and it distracted me. In fact it was the first thing to hit the barrier" Tiff Needell - Jaguar XJR-15 Challenge - Interview with Autosport F1/TouringCars http://turnpike.net/metro/vollans/index.html 0.054 __________________________________ CART and NATCC announcement expected soon Racing series NATCC Date On my radio show on 710 /TALK KMPC in Los Angeles this past Sunday, New Zealander Rod Millen said to expect an announcement from CART and Andrew Craig within "the next two weeks" that a North American version of the British Touring Car Series would run in conjunction with CART IndyCar races in 1996. Millen said he would be driving a Camry for Toyota in the series. My program is the ONLY motorsports talk show on California radio, heard every Sunday evening from 5-7pm. -- Steven Parker KTLA/TV-5 LOS ANGELES - THE CAR DUDE/Friday am news,evening news KMPC 710/TALK radio LOS ANGELES - THE CAR NUT/Sat2-4pm/Sun5-7pm Also on Tribune Broadcasting TV nationally in USA [above sig (c)] _______________________________________ Millen and IndyCar update Racing series NATCC Date First, I must apologize to Steven Parker for getting his radio station "call letters" incorrect in the post to rec.autos.sport.info. Here is the correct information: Steve Parker's Motorsports Show, KMPC 710/Talk, in Los Angeles every Sunday 5-7pm. Second, additional information regarding TOCA, added by the editor of rec.autos.sports.info, was not entirely accurate. TOCA is not directly involved in the NATCC (North American Touring Car Championship) as a sanctioning body or otherwise. NATCC will feature a championship modeled after the 2.0-liter British Touring Car Championship (which is sanctioned by TOCA), and BTCC founder and TOCA managing director Alan Gow is one of the partners and a vice-president of NATCC Inc. NATCC Inc., based in Tampa, Fla., has not yet announced who will sanction races for its inaugural season in 1996, however, as previously written, Rod Millen -- expected to drive a works Toyota Camry -- said it would be "IndyCar," when he was a guest on Mr. Parker's radio show last Sunday (7/9/95). The International Motor Sports Association has virtually laughed in the face of the NATCC, which includes President Roger Elliot, who, with Gow, originally pitched the idea to IMSA, the Sports Car Club of America, and CART (IndyCar) at the beginning of this year. SCCA President Dan Greenwood admitted in February his sanctioning body was interested and asked to be kept "advised." Since then, Gerry Forsythe, Indy car racing team owner for driver Teo Fabi, has become involved as NATCC chairman, and soon after came rumors CART would sanction the series. I hope this information is correct(!) and has brought everyone up to date while we await further announcements from NATCC Inc. -Robert Heathcote, for SpeedNet ..Email: HeathcoteR@aol.com...................Email: SpeedNet@aol.com.. ..Los Angeles, California................AUTOSPORTS BBS..310-641-9627.. ..Opinions are mine -- Not yours -- And surely not those of SpeedNet!.. 0.054 ____________________________________________