Are you ready to IROC?
NASCAR veterans Ray Evernham and Rob Kauffman have announced that they have acquired the rights to the International Race Of Champions (IROC) brand and plan to relaunch it this year.
IROC was an all-star racing series that ran from 1974 through 2006 with drivers competing in identical cars.
After holding its inaugural 1974 season on road courses with Porsche Carerra RSRs it switched to Chevrolet Camaros and developed into an oval track and stock car/IndyCar driver-focused series.
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The Camaros were followed by Dodge Daytonas, Dodge Avengers and Pontiac Trans Ams. Chevrolet famously offered a high performance IROC-Z version of the production Camaro from 1985 to 1990.
Season champions included Mario Andretti, Dale Earnhardt and Tony Stewart.
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Tony Stewart and Evernham, who was Jeff Gordon’s longtime NASCAR Cup Series crew chief, launched the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) in 2021, which was inspired by IROC.
Evernham left the venture the following year and has now teamed up with investment banker Kauffman, who is a former NASCAR team owner and an investor in Chip Ganassi Racing, on the new project.
A press release says there are plans to hold an IROC event this year using vintage cars “while exploring future opportunities.”
Evernham is an avid classic racing car collector who has owned several IROC models.
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Timing for the first race hasn’t been announced, but IROC Holdings LLC will be based in Mooresville, N.C., outside of Charlotte, where SRX and several NASCAR teams are based.
