Winston Cup stars for Race of Champions

Multiple X-Games champion Travis Pastrana will join two of America's biggest motorsport names to represent the United States of America in the event, which takes place in Gran Canaria on November 1.

"I love the format of the event," said Gordon. "Pitting the best drivers in the world from all forms of motorsports against each other in a head-to-head elimination contest will be exciting."

The Michelin Race of Champions is a weekend of head-to-head duelling between stars of motorsport in a side-by-side rallysprint-style. The contest involves each participating nation entering a team of three, comprising one rally or off-road driver, one circuit racer and one bike rider.

"Personally, I can't wait for the competition," said Johnson, currently third overall in the Winston Cup standings. "Jeff is going to be our asphalt driver and Travis is going to be our bike rider, so that leaves me racing against the off road guys.

"It will be very challenging competing against top drivers like Marcus Gronholm, Colin McRae and the other dirt specialists in the competition. I grew up off road racing and have raced in the Baja 1000 and in the stadium truck series in the mid-1990s, so I'm confident that I'll be able to hold my own and compete against the best in the world," he added.

The teams will compete in world rally cars on a parallel track that is 30 percent asphalt and 70 percent gravel.