International Race of Champions

"IROC" redirects here. IROC may also refer to the Chevrolet IROC-Z Camaro, the Dodge Daytona IROC or to the Volkswagen Iroc concept car.
Not to be confused with Race of Champions.
International Race of Champions
Category Stock car racing
Country United States
Inaugural season 1974
Folded 2006
Drivers 12
Constructors Pontiac
Last Drivers' champion Tony Stewart

International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, promoted as an equivalent of an American All-Star Game or The Masters. Despite its name, the IROC was primarily associated with North American oval-racing culture.

Drivers raced identically-prepared stock cars set up by a single team of mechanics in an effort to make the race purely a test of driver ability. It was run with a small field of invited drivers (6–12). It was created and developed in 1972 by David Lockton, the developer of the Ontario Motor Speedway, launched in 1973, with Mark Donohue being the first driver to win the championship in 1974. The cars used that year were Porsche Carrera RSRs. Donohue's win in the fourth and last race of that season was his last win, as he died in a Formula One crash at the Österreichring in practice for the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix. The series was not run in 1981, 1982, or 1983.

In 2007, IROC could not find a sponsor and postponed the first two races at Daytona and Texas.[1] IROC went on hiatus in 2007 hoping to return with a sponsor in 2008. In March 2008, IROC auctioned off its tools, equipment, cars, and memorabilia, and went out of business.[2]

Drivers

Sam Hornish, Jr. competing in a 2006 IROC race at Texas Motor Speedway

The drivers invited were from a broad range of racing disciplines: Indy cars, NASCAR, sports car racing, and on occasion, WoO, and drag racing. Criteria for invitation was very loose, but typically consisted of recent season champions of the respective series, and individual winners of big events (Indy, Daytona, etc.)

Due to its fundamental stock car formula, and the majority of racing being contested on ovals, the series was often dominated by NASCAR participants (which was the major criticism of the series). Also, in the small field of about a dozen cars, the share of NASCAR invitees grew over time; from just three drivers in the first season to seven in the final season. The last non-NASCAR based champion of the series was Al Unser, Jr. in 1988. Although open wheel drivers had numerous successes, as of 2005, drivers from road racing series had only won two races in the history of IROC. In some years, no sports car drivers were even invited.

Car identification

Matt Kenseth's 2004 championship car

Through 2003, IROC was also known for its rainbow of car colors being easily recognized from all other closed wheel racing series. Car numbers were utilized for scoring purposes, but were not the primary means of identification. Instead, the drivers' surname would appear on the door of the car. Exceptions were made when Mario and Michael Andretti raced in the same events. In those cases, their first name was used. The numbers would change from race to race, with the number 1 would be given to the driver starting first, and so on. The colors would correspond to the numbers. Before the races, drivers were assigned via blind drawing, and was how the starting grid for the first race was determined. The finishing order of the race would be inverted for the second race's starting grid, while the reverse of the points standings determined races three and four's grids. Numbers were assigned by the starting position. After the first race, the numbers would be assigned based on points standings.[3] This would make it very confusing for fans, as one week their favorite driver could be driving the blue #1 car, and the next week he could be in the #5 orange car.

In 2004, the Diageo brand Crown Royal became the series' title sponsor, replacing True Value, and the procedure changed. The cars would be identically painted in white, with trim which could be changed to represent the driver's colors in his regular racing series. Further, a driver's number in IROC would be his regular number. Thus, Steve Kinser would use green trim with the #11, and Matt Kenseth's car featured yellow trim with a #17.

The only exception to the numbering scheme involves the number 3. Following the death of Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500, IROC retired the use of #3. Any driver with that regular number would use #03 instead. Hélio Castroneves raced with #03, but the car kept red trim, in reflection of his IRL car being red.

If there was a numbering conflict, another number would be substituted. In most cases, for one-digit numbers, a zero would be added in front. Otherwise a historically notable number would be run. (Penske drivers, for one instance, could use #66, owing to Mark Donohue.)

Road racing

From 1992–2005, the IROC season was exclusively run on ovals. In 2006, road courses were reintroduced to the IROC series with the cars competing on the road course at Daytona International Speedway. Also, in 2006, two drivers shared one car in an IROC first. Grand American Road Racing drivers Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor each drove two races in 2006, trying to win the IROC title as a team, reflecting sportscar racing as a two-man team. However, in 2007, that may not have been used, as 2006 Grand American Road Racing champion Jörg Bergmeister was a solo champion. Bergmeister had to split driving duties with various drivers because his regular co-driver was forced to sit out three races because they were raced with the Indy Racing League; Colin Braun, who was 17, could not race in those three races under MSA rulings.

See also

Notes

Richard Petty's IROC Porsche 911 from 1974

Points system

Mario Andretti in IROC race at Mid-Ohio (1985)
Pos.[3] Points
1st 21
2nd 17
3rd 14
4th 12
5th 10
6th 9
7th 8
8th 7
9th 6
10th 5
11th 4
12th 3
Bonuses
Most laps led 5
2nd-most laps led 3
3rd-most laps led 2

Purse

Pos. Purse[3]
Champion $225,000
2nd $100,000
3rd $60,000
4th $50,000
5th $45,000
6th–12th $40,000

Champions

Season Year Champion Car
I1974United States Mark DonohuePorsche Carrera RSR
II1975United States Bobby UnserChevrolet Camaro
III1976United States A. J. FoytChevrolet Camaro
IV1977United States A. J. FoytChevrolet Camaro
V1978United States Al UnserChevrolet Camaro
VI1979United States Mario AndrettiChevrolet Camaro
VII1980United States Bobby AllisonChevrolet Camaro
VIII1984United States Cale YarboroughChevrolet Camaro
IX1985United States Harry GantChevrolet Camaro
X1986United States Al Unser, Jr.Chevrolet Camaro
XI1987United States Geoffrey BodineChevrolet Camaro
XII1988United States Al Unser, Jr.Chevrolet Camaro
XIII1989United States Terry LabonteChevrolet Camaro
XIV1990United States Dale EarnhardtDodge Daytona
XV1991United States Rusty WallaceDodge Daytona
XVI1992United States Ricky RuddDodge Daytona
XVII1993United States Davey Allison
United States Terry Labonte
Dodge Daytona
XVIII1994United States Mark MartinDodge Avenger
XIX1995United States Dale EarnhardtDodge Avenger
XX1996United States Mark MartinPontiac Trans Am
XXI1997United States Mark MartinPontiac Trans Am
XXII1998United States Mark MartinPontiac Trans Am
XXIII1999 United States Dale EarnhardtPontiac Trans Am
XXIV 2000 United States Dale EarnhardtPontiac Trans Am
XXV 2001United States Bobby LabontePontiac Trans Am
XXVI 2002United States Kevin Harvick Pontiac Trans Am
XXVII 2003United States Kurt Busch Pontiac Trans Am
XXVIII 2004United States Matt Kenseth Pontiac Trans Am
XXIX 2005 United States Mark MartinPontiac Trans Am
XXX 2006United States Tony StewartPontiac Trans Am

Number of years raced by car

Car Wins
Chevrolet Camaro12
Pontiac Trans Am11
Dodge Daytona4
Dodge Avenger2
Porsche Carrera RSR1

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to International Race of Champions.
  1. IROC SERIES DELAYS START OF 2007 SEASON : Series Seeking Title Sponsorship, Retrieved March 9, 2007
  2. Race2Win IROC Goes to Auction
  3. 1 2 3 "Jeff's IROC Statistics". Gordon Online. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
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