Jimmie Johnson, J. Gordon to take on Schumacher
Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will take on seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher and other European stars in the Race of Champions Nations Cup on Dec. 4, an all-star exhibition race being held on a figure eight-shaped dirt-paved combo track that will be built inside a 70,000-seat soccer stadium in Paris.
Gordon and Johnson are expected to announce Friday that they will participate in the race. In the 2002 Race of Champions, the two drivers led the U.S. team to a victory that surprised members of the European racing establishment, who generally dismiss American drivers as inferior. They did not race in the event last year. Schumacher, who clinched his seventh World Driving Championship in Belgium on Sunday, already has committed to the event and will lead the German team.
The race uses cars similar to those driven in World Rally Championship racing — lightweight, high-powered four-wheel drive coupes designed to race on winding dirt and gravel back roads. Gordon and Johnson are used to driving in circles on paved tracks, of course, but Johnson has extensive off-road racing experience.
World Rally Championship star Sebastien Loeb will drive for France's team.
Logistically, the event will turn Gordon and Johnson into international jet-setters. They'll have to leave early from NASCAR's awards banquet, held in New York, and fly directly to France on a private plane to race the next day. Then they'll hustle to the Carribean, where Johnson is getting married the next weekend.
Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will take on seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher and other European stars in the Race of Champions Nations Cup on Dec. 4, an all-star exhibition race being held on a figure eight-shaped dirt-paved combo track that will be built inside a 70,000-seat soccer stadium in Paris.
Gordon and Johnson are expected to announce Friday that they will participate in the race. In the 2002 Race of Champions, the two drivers led the U.S. team to a victory that surprised members of the European racing establishment, who generally dismiss American drivers as inferior. They did not race in the event last year. Schumacher, who clinched his seventh World Driving Championship in Belgium on Sunday, already has committed to the event and will lead the German team.
The race uses cars similar to those driven in World Rally Championship racing — lightweight, high-powered four-wheel drive coupes designed to race on winding dirt and gravel back roads. Gordon and Johnson are used to driving in circles on paved tracks, of course, but Johnson has extensive off-road racing experience.
World Rally Championship star Sebastien Loeb will drive for France's team.
Logistically, the event will turn Gordon and Johnson into international jet-setters. They'll have to leave early from NASCAR's awards banquet, held in New York, and fly directly to France on a private plane to race the next day. Then they'll hustle to the Carribean, where Johnson is getting married the next weekend.
