John Cleland hitting the ovals next year in the new ASCAR championship could be a far more significant announcement than that of a former British Touring Car champ opting for change of scenery. Time will tell, but it might be just the credibility boost the nascent championship needs to rocket it towards its aspiration of a genuine NASCAR of Europe. And if that happens, we might just be witnessing the dawn of a new age in national motorsport, to a culture where the spectator is given more than a few cursory crumbs from the table of the competitors and is instead the whole focus of the show.

That wasn't quite the thought process that got Cleland - BTCC champ of 1989 and 1995 - into this, but the more he's looked into it, the more he's got caught up in the vision of the series' creators.

"It initially got me interested just as a form of racing where I could continue to enjoy myself," he says. "I loved Touring Cars. Every time I got into one I would smile, right to the end of my time there. I loved the racing, I loved the cars, I loved being part of the circus. It was the best Touring Car series in the world and even though it was British-based I'd have people from all over the world saying, 'oh that move you did at Brands' or whatever. I loved that. I thought I'd be able to get a buzz out of British GT racing, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. There wasn't the same show, it wasn't as entertaining and I wasn't enjoying it."

They are the words of a showman. His persona projects to the crowd in a way that stood out even among the promotional intensity of the BTCC in its heyday. It's a trait - along with his fiery never-say-die style on-track - that has made him something of a folk hero. That he does nine to five (in the garage business he has built up) when he's not racing and has raised a family hasn't hurt his popularity with the common man either. In short, he's perfect for a series looking to base itself on NASCAR, which has found devastating success in adopting a popularist, non-elitist stance.

Conversely, with Cleland looking for an arena where he could continue to project and relate to the fans, ASCAR and he were made for each other. If it takes off in the manner intended, that is.

Cleland has no worries on that score. "The commitment of Peter Davies and the people at Rockingham will make it work." he says. "Nobody is going to hand you status - it has to be earned. But I think what they have planned for spectators - their whole approach to it as well as the spectacle of these big meaty V8, noisy 200mph cars that you can see all the way round the circuit - will be awesome and something the public will warm to. It comes at a good time too, with the BTCC maybe set to lose the Menus and Rydells."

Cleland's partner and team-mate in the venture, Bob Berridge - three times Thoroughbred Grand Prix champion and a former team-mate of Cleland's in the Vauxhall BTCC team - is similarly convinced. "Once you've examined the business of NASCAR from a commercial rather than a 'motorsport' perspective," he says, "you see it is totally customer-oriented, giving entertainment and interaction in a way that no British or European series ever has. If a form of motorsport with a NASCAR-type customer orientation is presented to the previously much-abused average racing spectator, I believe it will be a great success."

"Even in something as relatively spectator-friendly as the BTCC, it was always a race enthusiast Dad or whatever dragging the family along," says Cleland. "I think this is going to be such a sensational show, and they are going to be so looked after, that even the Mum will say: 'yes, I'd like to go and see that again.'

His comments are based on planned features such as child creshes, civilised amenities and the facility to listen in on team radio communications. Beyond even this, Cleland and Berridge envisage taking spectator interaction to new levels. "We're in the process of setting up Clelandspeedsport.com," says Berridge, "to really get a fan base involvement. We'll have things like John talking you through in-car footage from the last race, answering questions and just generally making people more involved. We're also looking at having live in-car web coverage.

"Why should motor racing not be marketed just like any other product? That's where I think ASCAR, which will be run by teams, not manufacturers, will score heavily. NASCAR were the people who realised the product was motor racing, not cars. ASCAR is set to do the same thing here." Cleland and Berridge have put up their own money to back their belief in the series, with the establishment of their new team, Clelandspeedsport. But they are bullish about the prospects of attracting commercial backing. "The whole idea of the series is that it projects outside the insular little world of motor racing," says Cleland, "and that applies to sponsors as well as spectators. If you look at the sponsors in the BTCC, they've nearly all been car industry-related."

The list of blue chip companies unrelated to the motor industry - including Kellogs, Dupont, Coca-Cola - involved in NASCAR would be the envy of F1. The relative scale of the markets, USA to Britain, is obviously very different, but some of the marketing principles could transfer. Coca Cola, for example, reportedly sells $30 million of NASCAR-related merchandise each year on the back of a sponsorship deal worth substantially less than that.

"You can put one of these cars on the track for around £50,000, the start-up cost is very reasonable and I think the revenue-generating possibilities are going to be very good," says Cleland.

"It's all really a question of will what has worked so fantastically well in America work here," concludes Berridge, "and I believe it will traverse the Atlantic as surely as McDonalds and Elvis Presley."

But Cleland, as ever, has the last word. "Aside from all that, I can't wait to get in the car."

(reproduced with the kind permission of Autosport)