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New races in the Far East and Texas highlight the 1998 PPG CART WorldSeries schedule announced Wednesday by Championship Auto Racing TeamsPresident and CEO Andrew Craig. The announcement comes on the eve ofCART's final 1997 race - the Marlboro 500 Presented By Toyota at thenew California Speedway, Sunday, September 28 (Same day coverage onESPN at 8:00 pm ET).
The first-year events in Motegi, Japan and Houston, Texas push thetotal CART schedule of races to 19 for next season. Theannouncement, which was scheduled to be made next month at the PPGCART World Series Awards Banquet in Los Angeles, was moved upfollowing approval by the CART Board of Directors earlier this week.
The demand for our style of racing continues to grow and we arepleased to be able to take our races to people throughout theworld," Craig said. "Our new events in Japan and Houston aregreat additions to our schedule and we look forward to the 1998season."
The 1998 CART season begins with a Florida event - the third-annualCART Spring Training, February 3 at Metro-Dade Homestead MotorsportsComplex in suburban Miami. The testing event offers all of CART'steams the opportunity to fine tune their operations as they preparefor the season-opening race - the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami -March 1, at the same facility.
The CART series then takes a couple of weeks off before loading itstons of equipment and the people who manage it to travel to Japan forthe inaugural Budweiser 500 on Saturday, March28, at the new TwinRing Motegi, approximately 60 miles northeast of Tokyo. It's a quickturnaround for the CART teams as they return to southern Californiaone week later for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach April 5.
After a pair of weekends off, the CART teams return to action April26 for the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota atNazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania.
May will be a busy month as the CART teams pack up again for anotherventure outside North America, going to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil forthe Rio 400 on May 10. The CART teams turn their attention toAmerica's heartland on Saturday, May 23 to build on the first-yearsuccess of the Motorola 300 at Gateway International Raceway insuburban St. Louis. The Miller 200 is next up as CART returns to theoldest circuit in its series for the Miller 200 at the legendaryMilwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis., on May 31.
The last of three-straight races is June 7 at the ITT AutomotiveDetroit Grand Prix on the newly extended circuit on Belle Isle in themiddle of the Detroit River. CART's other June race finds the200-plus-mile-per-hour cars on the twisting road course at PortlandInternational Raceway for the Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented byTexaco/Havoline June 21 in Oregon.
July is a busy month for CART's racers as the Medic Drug Grand Prixof Cleveland returns on the 12th at the Burke Lakefront Airport onthe shores of Lake Erie. The next weekend is Molson Indy time asCART's race cars wind their way through the Toronto streets atExhibition Place. On July 26, the third annual U.S. 500 Presented byToyota returns to the pavement of Michigan Speedway where CARTdrivers qualify at speeds that are a tick under four miles per minuteon the two-mile oval.
Two of North America's top road courses provide the venues for CART'sAugust dates. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course's challenging layout ishome to the Miller Lite 200 on August 9 and the four-mile circuit atRoad America returns to the schedule with the Texaco/Havoline 200 onAugust 16.
CART swings back to the West Coast for a pair of races as summerwinds down. A brand new Canadian street circuit awaits CART's teamsin 1998 for the September 6 Molson Indy Vancouver. The high-speed,twisting corners and elevation changes that make up Laguna Seca inMonterey, Calif., are the site of the Grand Prix of MontereyFeaturing the Texaco/Havoline 300 on September 13.
The streets of downtown Houston come to life with sounds of CART'smachines for the Texaco Grand Prix of Houston on October 4 and theschedule takes CART's teams "down under" to the streets ofGold Coast, Queensland, Australia for the October 18 IndyCarnival.
The 19-race season comes to an end November 1 when CART returns tosouthern California for the Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota at the2-mile oval at California Speedway
The television schedule for all races will be announced at a laterdate.
The complete 1998 PPG CART World Series Schedule:
| 1-Mar | Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex Homestead, Fla. USA |
| 28-Mar | Budweiser 500 Twin Ring Motegi Motegi, Japan |
| 5-Apr | Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Long Beach, Calif., USA |
| 26-Apr | Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pa., USA |
| 10-May | Rio 400 Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway at Nelson Piquet International Raceway Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| 23-May | Motorola 300 Gateway International Raceway Madison, Ill., USA |
| 31-May | Miller 200 The Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wis., USA |
| 7-Jun | ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix The Raceway on Belle Isle Detroit, Mich., USA |
| 21-Jun | Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco/Havoline Portland International Raceway Portland, Ore., USA |
| 12-Jul | Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio, USA |
| 19-Jul | Molson Indy Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| 26-Jul | U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota Michigan Speedway Brooklyn, Mich., USA |
| 9-Aug | Miller Lite 200 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio, USA |
| 16-Aug | Texaco/Havoline 200 Road America Elkhart Lake, Wis., USA |
| 6-Sep | Molson Indy Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| 13-Sep | Grand Prix of Monterey Presented by Texaco/Havoline Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, Calif., USA |
| 4-Oct | Texaco Grand Prix of Houston Houston, Texas, USA |
| 18-Oct | IndyCarnival Australia Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia |
| 1-Nov | Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota California Speedway Fontana, Calif., USA |
Source: CART News Service