The International Race of Champions, or IROC, was the premier showcase of talent racing in American racing series. It was a circuit racing challenge where drivers were put into stock cars performing circuit racing. As its name suggests, drivers from around the world competed in IROC in its existence. The first season of IROC began in 1974. The sunset of IROC was in 2006. This blog post is not a complete look back at IROC, but it is my own look back on IROC. I also will wonder what it will take for IROC to return to its past glory if it were to be revived. Let's begin!
Let's take a look at IROC here.
^ from: (YouTube) - A world of talent races in IROC to determine the finest racer in all of the United States.
Being a solid racing talent will get you noticed. In the International Race of Champions (IROC), being solid racing talent puts you in company of being among the best racers in North America. IROC brings together top-level talent from different disciplines of motorsport to all compete in a circuit racing challenge. This is a unique series where you will find talent from racing disciplines such as stock car racing, Indy car racing, various forms of off-road racing, and even drag racing. While the racing involves a world of talent, the racing all takes place mostly in the United States. It is therefore somewhat of a joke to some people that a race of involving a world of motorsports talent mostly races in the United States. IROC is not any kind of World Championship racing series. What it IS, though, is a showcase of great racing talent in the USA.
The cars primarily consist of tubeframe chassis stock cars. All cars are identically-prepared, meaning it all comes down to the driver as to who will win the race. A number of cars were used as the IROC cars, including the Porsche Carrera RSR, the Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Daytona, and the Pontiac Trans-Am. All of the cars come in similar liveries set apart by various color combinations. The only non-American car used in IROC was the Porsche Carrera RSR, used in the inaugural championship in 1974. The most used car was the Chevrolet Camaro.
Most of the racing took place basically on ovals run by NASCAR. However, IROC has raced at a number of road courses and a few temporary road courses. One of the most unique seasons of IROC was in 2006, when the series raced on the road course of Daytona International Speedway at night. The cars were fitted with lights to see through the darkness even with the big lights illuminating the Daytona road course.
The talent that has raced in IROC over the years is a Who's Who of talent racing in American racing series. Among those names? Try this list: Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Al Unser Jr., Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Eddie Cheever, Bobby Rahal, Tony Kannan, Steve Kinser, Frank Kimmel, and Max Angelelli to name a few. Mark Martin has been one of the most successful racers in IROC, having been a four-time IROC Champion. Tony Stewart was the last IROC champion when he won the IROC championship in 2006.
This section gave you a general overview of IROC racing. So how does this deal move forward? Could it possibly be revived? If it can be revived, how can you make it better? My thoughts are coming up!
What if IROC were revived? How could you make it better? How could you make it a big deal to race in? I'll try to offer my own perspectives here.
If going the Trans-Am style car route, the series can go with cars like the Chevrolet Camaro or the Chevrolet Corvette. They may even try these cars if they prefer race cars closer to their road-going cars: the Ford Mustang GT4, the Ferrari 488 GT3, the latest Porsche 911 RSR, or even the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport. I sort of want to lean on the side of Trans-Am style tubeframe chassis cars for IROC.
Car count doesn't mean too much to me. It isn't as if there is an aim for having 30 or more cars to an IROC grid. Most IROC races have had fairly limited car counts since only a select few make up the IROC field. This is a series of championship drivers and even highly-talented racing drivers. I don't think we'll see anything at least north of 14 drivers unless you want to combine as many motorsports disciplines as possible. More drivers from more disciplines for this series will mean more cars to a track.
Trans-Am style cars were meant for road racing. So they would not be really recommended for true oval racing. Low-level GT cars would not fare very well or seem boring on long ovals. So therefore, I think IROC should not focus so much on ovals. Do away with ovals if you can. Challenge the oval specialists to prove their worth in road racing.
I don't think the series needs proper international track representation, but seeing some non-American (and even non-Canadian tracks) would be interesting. You can have maybe some tracks in Europe or the Asia-Pacific for some international track representation to match the international appeal of the racing drivers. If you want IROC to feel like a World Championship without being a true World Championship, I say have a four-race championship with two venues in North America followed by one race in Europe (or maybe Africa) and one race in the Asia-Pacific (Middle East, mainland Asia, any Asian islands, Australia, New Zealand, etc.).
What would be strange on the track front would be if IROC incorporated racing events to be run on dirt ovals or on rallycross tracks. You would then need to go with some rallycross style cars to make good racing on such courses. You would need to implement a Joker Lap deal for rallycross races. Or at some road courses or ovals with road courses, designate one section as the Joker Lap section. There has been road racing with a Joker Lap section, such as one race in the FIA World Touring Car Championship that took place on the streets of Villa Real in Portugal.
If IROC wanted to make it a North America vs. world kind of contest, IROC could invite championship or high-level talent from non-American racing series. For example, you can invite certain top-tier drivers from the BTCC, DTM, perhaps even Japan's Super GT, or maybe even drivers from the V8 Supercar series to take on the North American talent. That would increase the car count and entry list to add some extra spice.
I hope you found this post to be a good read. I'm glad you dropped by! Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
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Remembering IROC
Let's take a look at IROC here.
^ from: (YouTube) - A world of talent races in IROC to determine the finest racer in all of the United States.
Being a solid racing talent will get you noticed. In the International Race of Champions (IROC), being solid racing talent puts you in company of being among the best racers in North America. IROC brings together top-level talent from different disciplines of motorsport to all compete in a circuit racing challenge. This is a unique series where you will find talent from racing disciplines such as stock car racing, Indy car racing, various forms of off-road racing, and even drag racing. While the racing involves a world of talent, the racing all takes place mostly in the United States. It is therefore somewhat of a joke to some people that a race of involving a world of motorsports talent mostly races in the United States. IROC is not any kind of World Championship racing series. What it IS, though, is a showcase of great racing talent in the USA.
The cars primarily consist of tubeframe chassis stock cars. All cars are identically-prepared, meaning it all comes down to the driver as to who will win the race. A number of cars were used as the IROC cars, including the Porsche Carrera RSR, the Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Daytona, and the Pontiac Trans-Am. All of the cars come in similar liveries set apart by various color combinations. The only non-American car used in IROC was the Porsche Carrera RSR, used in the inaugural championship in 1974. The most used car was the Chevrolet Camaro.
Most of the racing took place basically on ovals run by NASCAR. However, IROC has raced at a number of road courses and a few temporary road courses. One of the most unique seasons of IROC was in 2006, when the series raced on the road course of Daytona International Speedway at night. The cars were fitted with lights to see through the darkness even with the big lights illuminating the Daytona road course.
The talent that has raced in IROC over the years is a Who's Who of talent racing in American racing series. Among those names? Try this list: Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Al Unser Jr., Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Eddie Cheever, Bobby Rahal, Tony Kannan, Steve Kinser, Frank Kimmel, and Max Angelelli to name a few. Mark Martin has been one of the most successful racers in IROC, having been a four-time IROC Champion. Tony Stewart was the last IROC champion when he won the IROC championship in 2006.
This section gave you a general overview of IROC racing. So how does this deal move forward? Could it possibly be revived? If it can be revived, how can you make it better? My thoughts are coming up!
Reviving IROC?
What if IROC were revived? How could you make it better? How could you make it a big deal to race in? I'll try to offer my own perspectives here.
Reviving IROC: The Cars.
IROC mostly seems like a joke to a lot of people since it primarily involves a majority of NASCAR ovals and NASCAR talent. That even includes the stock car style machines. I would like to see IROC use machines like modern Trans-Am or even the series nowadays known as the Michelin Pilot Challenge Series.If going the Trans-Am style car route, the series can go with cars like the Chevrolet Camaro or the Chevrolet Corvette. They may even try these cars if they prefer race cars closer to their road-going cars: the Ford Mustang GT4, the Ferrari 488 GT3, the latest Porsche 911 RSR, or even the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport. I sort of want to lean on the side of Trans-Am style tubeframe chassis cars for IROC.
Car count doesn't mean too much to me. It isn't as if there is an aim for having 30 or more cars to an IROC grid. Most IROC races have had fairly limited car counts since only a select few make up the IROC field. This is a series of championship drivers and even highly-talented racing drivers. I don't think we'll see anything at least north of 14 drivers unless you want to combine as many motorsports disciplines as possible. More drivers from more disciplines for this series will mean more cars to a track.
Reviving IROC: The Tracks.
The majority of racing venues in IROC competitions past are mostly on NASCAR ovals. There are about two methods I'd recommend here.Trans-Am style cars were meant for road racing. So they would not be really recommended for true oval racing. Low-level GT cars would not fare very well or seem boring on long ovals. So therefore, I think IROC should not focus so much on ovals. Do away with ovals if you can. Challenge the oval specialists to prove their worth in road racing.
I don't think the series needs proper international track representation, but seeing some non-American (and even non-Canadian tracks) would be interesting. You can have maybe some tracks in Europe or the Asia-Pacific for some international track representation to match the international appeal of the racing drivers. If you want IROC to feel like a World Championship without being a true World Championship, I say have a four-race championship with two venues in North America followed by one race in Europe (or maybe Africa) and one race in the Asia-Pacific (Middle East, mainland Asia, any Asian islands, Australia, New Zealand, etc.).
Reviving IROC: Other Considerations.
This involves a lot of mostly what other things to look at for IROC races. I would try to get a number of different drivers of differing disciplines. I would even include drag racers, rally racers, rallycross racers, off-road racers, and even drifters. I would probably even make the races last for maybe 40 minutes plus one lap. What would be interesting is if you even have motorcycle racing riders from the likes of supercross, motocross, and various forms of Grand Prix motorbike racing or even real road racing motorcycles.What would be strange on the track front would be if IROC incorporated racing events to be run on dirt ovals or on rallycross tracks. You would then need to go with some rallycross style cars to make good racing on such courses. You would need to implement a Joker Lap deal for rallycross races. Or at some road courses or ovals with road courses, designate one section as the Joker Lap section. There has been road racing with a Joker Lap section, such as one race in the FIA World Touring Car Championship that took place on the streets of Villa Real in Portugal.
If IROC wanted to make it a North America vs. world kind of contest, IROC could invite championship or high-level talent from non-American racing series. For example, you can invite certain top-tier drivers from the BTCC, DTM, perhaps even Japan's Super GT, or maybe even drivers from the V8 Supercar series to take on the North American talent. That would increase the car count and entry list to add some extra spice.
Can IROC Be Revived and Be Successful?
Sufficient money, sufficient involvement, and plenty of interest will make for a successful revival of IROC. I tend to find IROC a big deal even if it mostly seems like a glorified NASCAR. I would love to see IROC be given some new life and try a number of new ideas to modernize IROC.I hope you found this post to be a good read. I'm glad you dropped by! Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
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