Johnson To Run Race of Champions
The organizers of the 2006 Race of Champions in Paris have announced that NASCAR ace Jimmie Johnson and multiple X-Games champion Travis Pastrana will form Team USA at this year's edition of the season-ending all-star event on December 16 at the Stade de France.
Both men count previous RoC appearances on their resumes. Johnson was a member of the Team USA that claimed the 2002 Nations Cup title in the Canary Islands (Jeff Gordon and Colin Edwards were his teammates.) He also participated in 2004.
"It's a great event that pits the top drivers in motorsports from around the world from every discipline," Johnson said. "Typically you don’t get the chance to race against the top competitors from Formula 1, off-road, rally and Champ Car, but this event allows you to do it with its creative format. I’m looking forward to getting out there and representing the United States and NASCAR.
"I've been a big fan of [Pastrana] for a long time,” he added. “He's been doing a tremendous job moving to four wheels and learning the rally cars this year. He just won the North American Rally championship this year, which is very impressive when you consider his background is motocross. Travis and I are going to try and get together here within the next couple of weeks and get some practice so we are prepared to take on the top competition from around the world."
Pastrana competed at the RoC in '03 and '05. Now a full-blown rally driver - he has already clinched the Rally America title with one race to go this season, and beat Colin McRae at the X-Games 12 rally competition - Pastrana is confident of a strong showing in Paris.
Other drivers confirmed for the 2006 RoC include Formula 1 stars Jenson Button and David Coulthard, rally world champions Sebastien Loeb, Marcus Gronholm and Colin McRae, Dakar champion Stephane Peterhansel, WTCC champion Andy Priaulx, DTM champ Bernd Schneider, seven-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen and three-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais.(Speed Channel)
The organizers of the 2006 Race of Champions in Paris have announced that NASCAR ace Jimmie Johnson and multiple X-Games champion Travis Pastrana will form Team USA at this year's edition of the season-ending all-star event on December 16 at the Stade de France.
Both men count previous RoC appearances on their resumes. Johnson was a member of the Team USA that claimed the 2002 Nations Cup title in the Canary Islands (Jeff Gordon and Colin Edwards were his teammates.) He also participated in 2004.
"It's a great event that pits the top drivers in motorsports from around the world from every discipline," Johnson said. "Typically you don’t get the chance to race against the top competitors from Formula 1, off-road, rally and Champ Car, but this event allows you to do it with its creative format. I’m looking forward to getting out there and representing the United States and NASCAR.
"I've been a big fan of [Pastrana] for a long time,” he added. “He's been doing a tremendous job moving to four wheels and learning the rally cars this year. He just won the North American Rally championship this year, which is very impressive when you consider his background is motocross. Travis and I are going to try and get together here within the next couple of weeks and get some practice so we are prepared to take on the top competition from around the world."
Pastrana competed at the RoC in '03 and '05. Now a full-blown rally driver - he has already clinched the Rally America title with one race to go this season, and beat Colin McRae at the X-Games 12 rally competition - Pastrana is confident of a strong showing in Paris.
Other drivers confirmed for the 2006 RoC include Formula 1 stars Jenson Button and David Coulthard, rally world champions Sebastien Loeb, Marcus Gronholm and Colin McRae, Dakar champion Stephane Peterhansel, WTCC champion Andy Priaulx, DTM champ Bernd Schneider, seven-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen and three-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais.(Speed Channel)