Leading Days of Thunder racing team Torquespeed UK/dsiAnyDoc have announced the sensational news that they will be racing on the US ovals as well as in the 2004 Days of Thunder at Rockingham. The team have also announced that dsiANYDOC boss Asa Burrows has taken over the major shareholding of Torquespeed UK [their website: www.torquespeed.com says it is coming Oct 10th. In preparation for a full-blown assault in oval racing on both sides of the Atlantic in 2004, Torquespeed will join forces with a major NASCAR Winston Cup team to become the first British team to race in the worlds leading saloon car championship. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series is the pinnacle of North American Stock Car Racing. The series will have a new title sponsor in 2004, when North American communications giant NexTel Communications take over the proud legacy of Winston. The 2004 NexTel Cup will be contested over 37 rounds and starts with the blue-riband event on the calendar, the Daytona 500 in February. Asa Burrows, Managing Director of Torquespeed UKs 2003 partners dsiAnyDoc, has purchased a major shareholding in Torquespeed UK Limited and joins the board as Commercial Director. Burrows acquired the controlling interest in the NASCAR team in his first major decision since taking over the role. The launch will be announced officially at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 10. I am very excited about the global future of Torquespeed, said Burrows. We have some clearly defined plans for the future and a strategy that will ensure these plans are brought to fruition. Torquespeed Managing Director and Days of Thunder driver, John Mickel said: I am delighted that Asa is now a formal figurehead within the company. He brings experience and new skills that will be of major benefit to the Torquespeed organisation.( ascar Days of Thunder site )(10-8-2003) UPDATE: Travis Carter, who co-owns BelCar Racing and its #54 National Guard Fords driven by Todd Bodine, has entered into an alliance with a United Kingdom-based motorsports operation, Torquespeed. The group will become the first UK-based and funded team to be majority owners of a Winston Cup operation. The team will be known as TorqueSpeed Carter and operate from the existing Travis Carter Enterprises complex in Statesville, NC. “We are committed to achieving success both on the track and for the marketing partners that will participate in this unique program,” Carter said. “With our combined resources, I know we can achieve the business and racing goals we’ve set for TorqueSpeed Carter Racing in 2004.” The team hopes to run a limited Cup schedule next season. A driver has not been selected.( ThatsRacin.com ) AND Travis Carter has formed an international alliance to add a second Winston Cup car next season. The longtime owner is partnering with Torquespeed, an England-based motorsports team that has raced on 1.5 to 2-mile ovals in Europe since 2000. Carter mostly has fielded only one car since sponsorship problems forced him to downsize in 2002. He joined with Sam Belnavis before this season. “We would like to be a two-car operation, and this helps,” he said. “The thing that is most intriguing about Torquespeed is they are one of the few groups that come to you with a true business plan. They have the funding to support their goals.” Torquespeed spokesman Paul Musselle said the team has secured enough investors for a four-year commitment to Winston Cup. The new team would like to field a European driver, and John Mickel of Cambridge, England, will be testing the team’s car.( Richmond Times Dispatch )(10-12-2003)
