The Fall of NATCC: How Touring Car Racing Quickly Died in America

[@therealcmplx]

I had recorded all of the races from both seasons on vhs back in the day. The rumor was Nascar killed it.

[@michaelskoomamacher5652]

Bill France Jr. not killing competing series (IMPOSSIBLE if true) But considering he colluded with Bernie Ecclestone to instigate Tony George into splitting Indycar into two warring series, he ain't gonna beat that allegation.

[@legoferrari14]

​@@michaelskoomamacher5652 No doubt that France feared super touring's potential in the US; especially since these touring cars were *far* closer to the historical definition of "Stock Car" than what the NASCAR machinery had become by this time, and since the cars were in a smaller size segment their street counterparts were generally more attainable too.

[@anthonyarchuleta9783]

Same! I still have the VHS tapes. No player.

[@therealcmplx]

@anthonyarchuleta9783 lucky for us they're all on KZbin now :)

[@purwantiallan5089]

Why NASCAR killed Trans Am?

[@stuffandjunkandthings364]

In high school, I thought those Dodges were the most badass thing I had ever seen. I watched every round I could, still want to build a "tribute" IRL.

[@TassieLorenzo]

The 19" rims on Super Tourers seemed so huge in the 90's and contributed to the look of the cars (in addition to the cars being lowered so much) IMO! I don't think it was deliberate by the rulemakers, it was just that there was no limit on rim diameter (only tyre diameter) so everyone just started using 19s to fit the largest possible brakes.

[@MrBrennanCreeper]

There's a guy that has posted his build on KZbin, i think it's a couple years old. But you can find it, and follow his lead if you wanna build another tribute.

[@therealcmplx]

@TassieLorenzo they had to run Michelin Pilot slicks which were a 19" tire. All super tourers ran this as it was mandated.

[@HumbertoSaabedra]

The biggest issue with the US Super Touring series was that CART was simply the wrong sanctioning body for a series that was best handled by the SCCA, as the World Challenge series with Speedvision as title sponsor already featured European-style touring car racing for a few years before Gerry Forsythe decided to spend CART Franchise Board revenue on a non open-wheel series that was meant to fill out CART race weekends when Atlantics and Lights took up too much space in the paddock. The key difference between World Challenge and Super Touring was that World Challenge class Touring cars were far cheaper than FIA Super Touring cars, and manufacturers felt more comfortable with the SCCA in terms of sanctioning than they ever did with CART. Most people don't even realize that the SCCA World Challenge had manufacturer-backed touring car racing before and after CART's Super Touring experiment collapsed, and it did so until 2010. By then manufacturers had moved on and the SCCA changed the rules to make touring car classes much cheaper to run for smaller race teams.

[@JakeSimRacing]

That’s a lot of great information, thanks for sharing!

[@mikewhite69420]

You never hear about this! I remember watching David Donohue win at Laguna as a teenager. I had no idea about Gerry Forsythe and PacWest's involvement. Thank you for this

[@purwantiallan5089]

Donohue's win at Laguna Seca still is very memorable till this day.

[@FoxiFyer]

The super tourer Dodge Stratus and Pontiac Sunfire live rent free in my head

[@alaricbragg7843]

@@FoxiFyer Technically the Sunfire was an American special, not approved by the FIA but allowed to compete to keep competitor numbers up, maybe also in a failed attempt by the organizers to interest other US makes in competing.

[@fontheking5]

2 liters, naturally aspirated engines with around 300 hp, and a revlimit of 8500 rpm, a maximum of 6 cylinders. Weight limit for the front wheel drive cars were 975 kgs. Watched alot of Super touring car racing on site here in Sweden, and one of the Stratuses seen here would actually end up in Sweden for the 1999 season of the Swedish touring car championship, driven by Tomas Engström, sadly it did not have the same success in Sweden, but an cool underdog none the less 👍

[@purwantiallan5089]

Trans Am cars have a same spec like BTCC 1990s.

[@RobertBoston-n4d]

"2 liters, naturally aspirated engines with around 300 hp, and a revlimit of 8500 rpm, a maximum of 6 cylinders" Just kill me now. It gets no better than this.

[@themumblebrapper]

ooo I love that Stratus on the thumbnail though

[@JakeSimRacing]

Great looking car! I am a big fan of any late 90s and earlier 00s Dodges

[@FlashoftheBlades]

@@JakeSimRacingSame here!

[@razormc954]

The big reason why touring car racing hasn't taken off in the US is NASCAR: There's just no niche for the sport that stock car racing doesn't already fill

[@JakeSimRacing]

Very true! It’s a shame though, touring car racing should be popular, but NASCAR fills the void of road going looking cars beating and banging

[@jaxonjaxoff3291]

I would also argue Trans Am.

[@RockSolitude]

I mean aside from the fact that these are race cars closely derived from real cars everyone can and does drive on the road every day in America, and not completely custom space frame silhouettes with no road relevance whatsoever. The real reason is that they aren't V8s or muscle cars.

[@TassieLorenzo]

NASCAR run IMSA for people who like European-style racing, so they have covered I guess. Does the Contiental World Challenge (or whatever it's called) still exist seperately to IMSA? Yes it does, it's called Fanatec GT North America now. It has TCRs and all kinds of interesting GT and touring cars in it, if I recall correctly. That's probably the premier US "touring car" series even if it is mixed GT and touring car. (The Gridlife GLTC series is really fun amateur touring car series for home-made cars!)

[@TassieLorenzo]

@@RockSolitude "The real reason is that they aren't V8s or muscle cars." There's a US road course Trans Am series with such cars (Mustangs, Camaros etc) and it's not that popular either...

[@FlashoftheBlades]

NATCC was my introduction to the Super Touring formula and I was hooked immediately. The Dodge Stratus is easily my favorite NATCC car, tied with the Audi A4 Quattro and the Alfa Romeo 155 as my favorite cars from the Super Touring era.

[@purwantiallan5089]

Vauxhall Vectra and FIAT MAREA also.

[@mikehardy1912]

Hello, I came across this and thought i would comment from down here in New Zealand. Steve Hornes Tasman Motorsports was involved as the Factory Honda Accord team with Australia Neil Crompton as the driver. I watched these races live in New Zealand on Sky Sports who had all the CART races live via ESPN international. Steve Horne is a New Zealander and he is now retired having moved back to New Zealand about 10 years ago. The Tamsan Motorsports name is famous in this part of the world based on the old Tasman motorsport series that was raced in the 60s - 70s. Tasman Motorsports was of course a CART team as well having given Tony Kanaan his opportunity first in indylights then in Indycar. Super Touring was highly popular here in New Zealand but under slightly different regulations based on production car rules compared to the Super Touring regulations used in the BTCC. Super Touring cars raced in Australia under 2 Liter regulations often mixing in with the Australian Group A category that later became the Australian V8 supercars. Super Touring regulations also appeared in Australia and like the North American series and eventually the BTCC, costs got out of hand and the funding dried up with teams no longer able to afford running those very expensive cars with no manufacture support. In Australia the Ford V Holden concept of the V8 touring cars category that became the Australian supercars championship, was also a major factor in Super Touring not being successful in Australia. Australia and New Zealanders love there V8s and back then a Ford Falcon or Holden Commodore were the largest selling vechiles compare to a 2 Lilter Nissan Primera , Honda Accord or Ford Mondeo. Times have changed this then...

[@JakeSimRacing]

That is some great information. Thanks for sharing!

[@Mhjeffrey027running]

From what I understand the car Cromley drove ended up in Australia in 1998 owned by Kiwi Graham Dodd (ran 2 rounds of the championship).

[@MaxPower-zw7xr]

I only knew about this series was because Aussie Neil Crompton raced in it. Shame the likes of Ford and GM never got into it. Might’ve lasted longer had that happened.

[@lb9gta307]

I wonder if they would have gotten into it in the early 2000s when they both dumped tons of money into sport compact motorsports. I think Pontiac might have actually built the Grand Am SCT if they used that chassis in Supertouring.

[@oates76]

Wow, total blast from the past. I had a poster of the Stratus on my wall as a kid, haven’t even thought about it since then. Very cool

[@FloridaManRacer]

It's worth noting that when Speedvision began it's World Challenge series, touring car was part of that. You had the World Challenge GT series and the Touring series. *There are a couple of the full NATCC broadcasts available here on KZbin... (The following excerpt is taken from a Car & Driver Article) In the Touring Class, the two competitive marques are the Acura Integra Type R and the BMW 328, though the fields are fleshed out by Ford Contours, Honda Accords and Preludes, Mazda 626s, Mercury Cougars, and Nissan 240SXs. Touring newcomers include a pair of wild-looking Toyota Celica GTSs, a Jetta driven by former Trans-Am winner Bob Hagestad, and later in the season, a Steve Saleen-tuned Ford Focus team using Ford's 2.5-liter Duratec twin-cam V-6s rather than the stock Zetec fours... This series lasted quite a while and was received fairly well by fans. However it eventually died when SpeedVision later became monopolized by NASCAR coverage upon the switch to Speed Channel branding...

[@nevinbontrager8828]

I remember this series because it was covered by either motor trend or car and driver back in the day. I remember being impressed at the time by the specs, and ready about Randy Pobst.

[@fonnyjootball512]

as a nascar fan, i cant believe i had never heard of this

[@JakePetrolhead]

Was fortunate to see one of the 1997 Dodges at the Super Touring Power event this year at Brands Hatch - it's such a unique machine that we never got to see in the UK in period. In the same way NASCAR evolved from racing stock cars, the BTCC (British Saloon Car Championship at the time) also evolved from racing stock cars. Stories from the early days include driving your race car to the track, putting numbers on it, racing, then taking the numbers off and driving home - so NASCAR effectively fills the same gap Touring Cars do over here. I think having TCR as a class in the Pilot Challenge was a sensible move, especially given the grid struggles of TCR UK.

[@colossae3241]

Trans am is a touring car. Maybe back it was true touring car. Now it debatable, because it's closer to stock car and gt car

[@christmaschris487]

Speedvision has its own in-house touring championship they use to broadcast. Nostalgia tears right now. Realtime racing comes to mind.

[@N4SCARfaN]

Saloon touring car racing died with Super Touring (for the most part) which was the best way it could've gone out. After that, touring car racing became mostly hatches and compact sedans, which are what we consider typical touring cars today. V8 Supercars stuck around with saloons for a while, but not anymore. I haven't seen anyone talk about the NATCC in a while and I didn't know it was a CART-sanctioned series, that's cool. For making a standalone NATCC video, you should've gotten into more detail with the whole thing, from the proposal and bringing it over to the final days. I'm talking about things like finding old interviws with those involved, season reviews, and more specific information on the cars and teams. It'll require a lot of digging, but if you truly love what you do and have the time, I think it'll be worth it.

[@matthewcaughey8898]

Once they adopted a “ spec” chassis V8 Supercars wasn’t fun to watch anyone

[@kingnorlen]

ALWAYS loved the look of the Stratus touring car! But yeah it couldve never taken of in the US, cuz they had NO good cars during this time, and the Stratus is basically a rebodied Mitsubishi galant. But it would be cool to see Saturns, Impalas, Grand Prix in this lovely superslammed style action-tourers!

[@artsydoodler29]

I love the fact someone actually raced a Volvo station wagon, lol. Brings a smile to my facr!

[@Shellbackrc]

I enjoyed watching the series and the BTCC plus the Australian Super Touring series. I wish Pacwest could've ran the Stratuses at the Bathurst 1000 maybe that could've sparked more interest for the NATCC.

[@BSKustomz]

The only reason I even have a vague memory of this series is that stratus body in the Parma RC body ads back in the day

[@wafflesnfalafel1]

miss watching that on SpeedVision... thanks for the vid sir

[@JakeSimRacing]

It was a great series while it lasted. Thank you for watching

[@neilifill4819]

I remember watching NATCC. There were literally 3 or 4 cars in the race. Two Hondas and two Dodges. The Hondas were so dominant, the Dodges didn’t even look like they were in the same race.

[@javierrflores]

Really enjoyed that series.

[@chimchim2_]

I remember watching this series as a kid. I totally forgot about it until now. Thats how memorable it was. But there were some good races.

[@lordraiden5398]

If I remember correctly Speedvision also aired the Japanese Touring Car Championship as well as the Australian Touring Car Championship. I always saw it as what NASCAR used to be.

[@RockSolitude]

Motorsports in America is incredibly unique to other places in the world... we have _all the same racing that most other motorsports countries have_

[@lycossurfer8851]

Yeah that part.

[@Fjdjfjsz92938]

Maybe he means we don’t really have a specific most popular Motorsport…. That’s still not true since the most popular is arguably stock car racing

[@turbo_marc]

Touring car racing globally is dying. It's starting to feel more like a stepping stone to sports car racing and rolling chicanes for GT4 cars than its own unique thing.

[@Red_Beard2798]

Rules and regulations seem to be getting in the way of it, at least here in Aus. It went from modified production sedans even just a decade ago to essentially what NASCAR does - a singular base that every team had to use with a plastic shell over the top. It's no longer about racing cars you can buy, it's racing a spaceship with a V8.

[@Ultegra10SPD]

Actually the radio controlled variant is the most popular form of onroad track racing. -U10

[@SuperNoviceDriver]

Very interesting topic great video I love racing cars that is based on road cars

[@keewatin427]

“I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!”

[@ferrari250lm]

You mean your lame Dodge Stratus?

[@marvinbateman5566]

I like the picture you used for asphalt short track racing 🔥

[@dan.miller35]

Loved these cars. It still blows my mind how awesome the Stratus looked in Super Touring spec. I agree with @HumbertoSaabedra that the main issue was that it was run by CART and not the SCCA. I feel like there was some crossover between this series and the World Challenge but I'm not sure.

[@JakeSimRacing]

It’s a shame they didn’t pick up any real momentum honestly. CART sanctioning definitely hurt it

[@mikelliteras397]

I still have a sponsor package from this series. World challenge was good for a while also.

[@Hillclimbfan1990]

In the past decade Touring Car Racing has been dwindling worlwide. There are probably a few factors, but I feel that the fairly recent rise in popularity of GT racing with the introduction of the more spectacular GT3 cars really hurt the touring cars, which themselves have become a bit bland in the past decade. Even the once mythical DTM championship has gone on to ditch their touring car heritage and uses GT3 cars nowadays.

[@joppy232]

aw man, I miss flipping on speedvision to watch some touringcar racing.

[@moe92870]

I watched this series back in the day. It almost convinced me to buy a Dodge Stratus, thank god I didn't. lol

[@brokensmilephoto]

Even TCR is a let down in comparison. To make a good touring car series you need drivers willing to be over aggressive (because lets face it, that's what BTCC was for years and why it stayed at the forefront of British racing), you need to not worry about making sponsors happy and trying to sell every single aspect of the race (looking at you NASCAR), you need it to be both affordable for privateers and fans. You need track selections and schedules that are going to make it easy for teams to handle logistically (not crisscrossing the country every weekend). You also need a solid race format with reasonable rules. And you need to dedicate coverage to it via live race and replays. So basically, you gotta go nearly full grassroots here and build it up. KZbin would make a great platform to dedicate racing broadcast to and to partner with. But sadly, are there even any car manufactures building anything to build a proper race field? That's honestly your first hurdle, finding sedans that are still being sold!

[@Your-Local-RX-Guy]

I'd argue the current Trans Am series is the US Touring Car series.

[@lb9gta307]

Maybe in its early days. Not so much after the move to silhouette cars.

[@Your-Local-RX-Guy]

@@lb9gta307 Respectfully disagree. Each country does touring cars differently. DTM, BTCC, Super GT, and Trans Am all have different cars but are still touring cars.

[@lb9gta307]

@@Your-Local-RX-Guy SCCA World Challenge was really the touring car series at that point

[@jacquesparpaing3217]

One problem : American sports cars are traditionally large sized V8. While in Europe and Japan (don’t know about South America where touring cars racing is still strong nowadays) there’s many decent 2 litres inline 4/5/6 engine sports car. NASCAR is closer in spirit of what would be the American equivalent of BTCC.

[@JakeSimRacing]

Agreed on all of it

[@HondaCivic91]

There's a lot of Hondas! I feel at home! 🚘👍

[@rollcage9710]

Randy Pobst was the man. The Neuspeed Accord was so freaking cool

[@Pewnhound112]

It’s too bad this series never caught on because the racing was very good, in spite of the small quantity of entries into the field. Also Hagerty’s own Randy Pobst and his E36 BMW was a VIBE in this series!

[@JakeSimRacing]

It could have been awesome if it had proper support

[@ピロ式-i2m]

I knew about the Dodge Stratus from the RC car body. This was my first time seeing an actual race car. I always thought it was a non-existent car.

[@raymondkoledoye9941]

I love touring car racing so much is one my favourite type of race cars category also can you make a history of German Touring Car Racing know as DTM.

[@purwantiallan5089]

If this Touring Car series still alive, NASCAR could've had a new rivalry.

[@screaminlead]

I have never wanted a Dodge Stratus more in my life.

[@JoelKrumbach]

You showed a rallycross picture, not a rally picture js

[@naturalborndylla]

The Stratus super tourer was underrated. Never gets talked about compared to the Ford's/Volvo's/Vauxhall's etc because it didn't really race in Europe.

[@fontheking5]

The Stratus did race in Sweden for some seasons, but sadly it was not very successfull sadly, but it was always a cool underdog 👍

[@CardboardSliver]

NASCAR now almost looks like a TC now. The LeMans Camaro was the closest they got. Imagine Nascars with lights, wipers, and more Road courses.

[@Ethan2xm85]

These Stratus-es low key BADASS cars man!

[@MMAALL]

Car counts are critical no matter the style of racing. You have to have a reasonable amount of entries. Whether Saturday night short track or F1, the less cars on the track, the less action.

[@fartvader84yearsago8]

People can hate on the U.S. all they want, but you can't deny their passion to turn anything into a racing series

[@CameronGreenwoodCramp]

Hello Jake Sim Racing, My name is Cameron Greenwood Cramp AKA CGC. I'm an Aussie. I'm almost 28 years old. I was born on February 6 1997. I live in Melbourne in Australia AKA the land down under. I am the biggest fan of IMSA and the WEC in the land down under too. I've been into IMSA for 21 years now. And I love it. It's actually my favourite motorsport nowadays along with the World Endurance Championship AKA WEC and MotoGP & the 24 Hours Of Le Mans. Back in the day, I used to be into all motorsports, but not anymore. It's been like that for the last 12 years also. My favourite IMSA season is every single one of them. From the classic original IMSA from 1971 to 1998 and new IMSA from 2014 onwards. My favourite races in IMSA are the Daytona 24 Hours, the 12 Hours Of Sebring and of course the Watkins Glen 6 Hour held at The Glen. My favourite World Endurance Championship or WEC for short is every single one from 2012 to present day. Watkins Glen AKA The Glen in Upstate New York, where they make steamed hams, is the best race track in the United States of America. Also, Francios Cevert is the greatest French person of all time, apart from Rene Arnoux, Alain Prost, and Albert The 5th Musketeer AKA Albert De Parmagnan. And also, 1989 is the best Le Mans ever, along with 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1981, 1994 and 1995. The Le Mans 24 Hours is my favourite race of the year and my favourite sporting event of the year too. Le Mans is my favourite race track in the world along with The Glen AKA Watkins Glen and Bathurst. Jim Clark and Ayrton Senna are two of my favourite drivers of all time. They are two of the greatest drivers who ever lived. Colin McRae and Walter Rohrl & Henri Toivonen are three of my favourite rally drivers of all time. They're tree of the greatest rally drivers who ever lived. Burt Munro along with Freddie Spencer are two of my favourite motorcycle riders of all time. They are two of the greatest motorcycle racers who ever lived. The Ford GT40 and the Ford Mustang are two of my favourite Ford's of all time. Two of the best Ford's ever made. Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty are two of my favourite NASCAR drivers of all time and two of my favourite Amercians too. The Dodge Viper RT/10, the McLaren F1 and Mini Cooper are my favourite cars of all time. Search And Destroy by Iggy Pop And Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley are two of my favourite songs of all time. Along with Colorado Boy At Heart which is a song that wrote and recorded entirely by myself. It's also fun little song about Dan Colorado AKA Dan Dougherty who's from Colorado. A very cool place. Albert The 5th Musketeer is my favourite cartoon of all time and The Young Ones is my favourite TV show of all time. Albert The 5th Musketeer AKA Albert De Parmagnan is my favourite Musketeer too. I'm the 6th Musketeer. Grand Prix Legends AKA GPL is my favourite game of all time. The Shawshank Redemption and The Incredibles are two of my favourite movies of all time. 1967, 1976, 1989, 1991 and 1997 are five of my favourite Formula 1 Seasons of all time. James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Barry Sheene, Striling Moss, Mike Hawthorn and Ken Miles n David Purley are my favourite Brits of all time. Dan Gurney is my favourite big tall guy. And also, Dan Gurney is my favourite person with the name Dan too, apart from Dan Wheldon and Dan Colorado AKA Dan Dougherty too. Chris Amon and Lloyd Ruby are two of my favourite drivers who were great despite having a bad luck reputation. On Any Sunday and The World’s Fastest Indian are two of my favourite motorcycle films of all time along with Race For Glory and of course Silver Dream Racer. David Purley AKA David Charles Purley is my definition of an absolute hero. Kork Ballington and Jody Scheckter along with Jon Ekerold are three of my favourite guys from South Africa. My favourite female racers are Penelope Pitstop and Janet Guthrie & Dancia Patrick. Ford VS Ferrari, Rush, Senna, Grand Prix, Le Mans, Race For Glory: Audi VS Lancia, Days Of Thunder, Talladega Nights and The Love Bug & The Last American Hero are my favourite car movies of all time. The Driver as well. My favourite Australians are Jack Brabham, Peter Brock and Mark Skaife. Bruce McLaren, Burt Munro, Chris Amon, Denny Hulme are my favourite Kiwi's of all time. Also, Lorenzo Bandini and Valentino Rossi are my favourite Italian's of all time. Jacky Ickx is my favourite all around driver and my favourite person from Belgium. Aguri Suzuki is my favourite person and driver from Japan. Great country. Ronnie Peterson is my favourite Swedish person and the greatest person from Sweden too. Ayrton Senna, Emerson Fittipaldi and Nelson Piquet are three of my favourite Brazilian guys and three of the greatest Brazilian's who ever lived. Henri Toivonen is my favourite Finnish person and the greatest person from Finland. Pedro Rodriguez is my favourite Mexican of all time and the greatest Mexican ever. Jim Clark, Colin McRae and Jackie Stewart are three of my favourite drivers from Scotland and three of the best Scotsman ever. 1971, 1982, 1992, 1995 are four of my favourite Indianapolis 500's of all time. Jaques and Gilles Villeneuve are two of my favourite Canadians of all time and two of the best Canadians too. And Jeremy Dale. 1992, 1995, 1997 (CART) are three of the best IndyCar Seasons ever and three of my favourites. 1979 is my favourite Daytona 500 ever along with 1997 and 1998 & 1976. The 1979 Daytona 500 is also my favourite NASCAR race of all time apart from the 1992 Hooters 500. 1979, 1992, 1996, 1997 are four of my favourite Nascar seasons. 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2003 are favourite Bathurst 1000's of all time. 1993 to 2007 and 2013 are my favourite V8 Supercars seasons ever. Two of the greatest male cartoon racers are Speed Racer and Tom Slick and two of my favourite male cartoon drivers too. 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1982, 1984, 1997, 2003, 2012 and 2014 are my favourite Daytona 24 Hours and are the best as well. 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1983, 1986, 1995, 1997, 1999 & 2012 are my favourite Sebring 12 Hours and are the best too. Niki Lauda and Jochen Rindt are two of my favourite Austrians and two of the best people from Austria. Juan Manuel Fangio and Carlos Reutemann are two of the best Argentina racers and two of my favourites from Argentina. Clay Regazzoni and Jo Siffert & Alain Menu are my three favourite Swiss people. Three of my favourite drivers from Switzerland. Steve Kinser is my favourite Sprint Car Driver of all time. Like with most people. 1982 to 1986 which were Group B, along with 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2003 are my favourite World Rally Championship's AKA WRC's. 1998, 1997, 1995, 1994 and 2018 are five of my favourites in the British Touring Car Championship. 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971 and 1989 are my favourite World Sportscar Championship's AKA WSC's. Every single 500cc season was and is my favourite Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing Season, especially the ones that had Freddie Spencer in. And finally.... Walter Rohrl is my favourite German and easily the best guy from Germany. Last but not least, Eddie Irvine is my favourite Irish and the best person from Ireland. :) I'm also the biggest fan of the Bathurst 6 Hour. I loved it since it began in 2016. I am also the biggest fan of the British GT Championship from the land down under and my favourite British GT Championship Season is 2024, I can't wait for 2025 and 2026. Also, I'm the biggest fan of the Asian Le Mans Series here in Australia and the land down under and my favourite Asian Le Mans Series is 2024 & 2021. And of course, I am the biggest fan of the European Le Mans and my favourite European Le Mans Series is 2024.

[@macblackadder93]

I can't even remember if they had the North American Touring series in TOCA.

[@Sargebri]

The closest we had to one is the Goody's Dash Series in NASCAR.

[@alaricbragg7843]

There was a story that Dodge would enter the BTCC in 1999 but this went nowhere. Probably because competition might have been too strong, the decline of Super Touring, unfamiliarity with European tracks and I do not think that the Stratus was even sold in the UK. The Neon was I think but it was unreliable and sold poorly.

[@alexander1485]

one is in Alabama, near birmingham at the International Motorsports hall of fame at Talladega

[@NewbombTurk.]

Maybe do a video on the IMSA GTU series?

[@adrianbalboa5353]

Atleast they were real cars compared to stock cars

[@LakeHowellDigitalVideo]

"I drive.... I drive.... I drive a Dodge Stratus." -Will Ferrell

[@TassieLorenzo]

I guess TCR rules try to recreate Super Touring, but they aren't nearly as lightweight & agile and they also sound kind of bad compared to the glorious sounds of Super Touring -- so it's an era that can't really be recreated, sadly (save for historic racing!).

[@sDmD13]

0:17 thats rallyecross and not rallye😂

[@JakeSimRacing]

True

[@chimchim2_]

I hate rallycross. Love rally but rallycross gets me crossed (ha). It's not even the tracks it's the cars alone. Theyre on roids and don't actually represent their stage going counterparts. It annoys me (like the Karen I am)

[@jamiedriscoll9781]

I loved the touring class

[@shelleyking8450]

The Stratus was bad ass. LOVED that mean beast.

[@mattiapresti7295]

So, does Chevy Caprice Touring from TOCA 3 existed?

[@IronBrotality]

Somehow, not the first video I've seen today to talk about this series. Funny how things work 😅

[@JakeSimRacing]

Oh?

[@williambelanger1036]

You seem to have forgotten Speed world challenge, it was sucessful for many years and had some incredible races...until factories ruined it too.

[@JakeSimRacing]

Yeah, I definitely should have included it!

[@TheShockninja]

I only knew of this series because South African racing driver Desiree Wilson took part in the series.

[@TassieLorenzo]

I see that the South African touring car series went to a kind of "cheaper" version of Super Touring from about 1997 onwards through 2001? Slightly lower engine revs, smaller wheels etc. Although they still dropped it in the end, so it can't have been that cheap!

[@jezusjones4324]

“The awesome Dodge Stratus”. You can be assured you’re the first person to say those words in that particular order. 2:28

[@JakeSimRacing]

I love how it looks at least!

[@jezusjones4324]

@ That’s fair. Didn’t know this series even existed, I DO remember watching Trans-am back then and loving TK’s All Sport Mustang.

[@bigbuster1090]

I feel like it benefits from it's time period because the design of the 90s cars are so iconic. I wouldn't watch it today because it'd be the abominable design language that every car follows today.

[@JakeSimRacing]

That is 100% true

[@andrewarmstrong7254]

Tell Crompton that his car was a factory deal. He was hustling for money all the time.

[@JakeSimRacing]

Interesting!

[@dirt8822]

wasnt this in Jarrett & Labonte Stockcar racing

[@JakeSimRacing]

Touring Cars were, yep. I don’t remember if it was this exact series though. I think Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing was a renamed version of the TOCA Race Driver game

[@HarlemHyena]

Yep, TOCA World Touring Cars. The 3rd and last game in that franchise for the PS1. Need to get back to it at some point.

[@KenOath1234]

Died in australia too because it was boring compared to v8 supercars

[@crystalracing4794]

When you're up against NASCAR, Indycar, Trans Am, Sprint racing, Drag... you're in a stacked market. Always better suited for Europe, South America, Asia and Australia because Yanks drive SUVs and stocks, not saloons and hatchbacks.

[@DiogeneDeSin0pe]

Damn I miss smoking a Player's as I drink a Molson Ex.

[@darren2514fv]

Super Touring would have been better with IMSA

[@kenxiong6830]

Nascars are not even close to their production counterparts

[@josesupra]

Eh, as someone who loves this stuff i didn't care nearly as much for Nascar. It was and still Is different. People into touring car racing aren't going to care much about Nascar and vise versa.

[@thomasslindsay9651]

"unique from", not "unique to...":

[@scottbutler1481]

The new nascar is more like touring car than traditional stoock cars. They are loosing fans because of this and other things,

[@bryantzerrato8255]

What about F1 ...we have GP but no drivers

[@kingsfan2099]

How could you not mention riding mower racing or ice chest racing. These are clearly the best series in the US...LOL..

[@nicko9579]

@1:45 #redglovesforever

[@aldouscoroza]

I honestly didn't know this, plus I'll be Real, the Gen 7 Cars are actually Australian Touring Cars and would be Perfect for Touring Cars

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

They're really not, for starters they rely a lot more on undertray downforce compared to the Gen 3 Supercars.

[@Jasontyo]

NASCAR should have evolved into what touring car is but you know, carburetors and stuff.

[@Ironmaneditor77]

B-sedan in the 60s

[@fancydan1262]

Uhh… Trans Am???

[@NudaMan]

I rather watch Euro racing than American racing unless it’s motoamerica but even then American motorsports is boring to me, I’m definitely not watching drag racing or nascar

[@JakeSimRacing]

Yeah, I get that

[@martso9288]

Ahh yes, the Dodge Stratus. The, then modern day example of valve float.

[@ryanbrandes9131]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/haqTn2p_iMR9o6ssi=X1a0g96vd5ATsLKy I drive a Dodge Stratus!

[@Cheaphorsepower]

…. Imsa ….. ICOCK.(iroc)