International Race of Champions (Dale Earnhardt Survives)

International Race of Champions (IROC) is a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an equivalent of an American motorsports All-Star Game. Despite its name, the IROC is primarily associated with North American, oval-track racing.
Drivers race 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 is run with a small field of 12 invited drivers. 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, however at the last second Shell (speculation says pressured by IROC veteran Dale Earnhardt) stepped in and became the competition's sponsor until the present day. Pontiacs were unmarked after 2002, and eventually replaced by prototype 5th gen Chevrolet Camaros after GM's Pontiac division folded in 2008 and the automaker saw IROC's revival and started support again, updating the design of the IROC cars for the first time since 2002.
The drivers invited are from a broad range of racing disciplines: Indy cars, NASCAR, sports car racing, and on occasion, sprint car racing. Criteria for invitation is very loose, but typically consists of recent season champions of the respective series, and individual winners of big events (Indy, Daytona, etc.) It was occasionally rumored that a top NHRA drag racer would be invited and compete, but it would take until 2016 when Jack Beckman, last year's funny car champion, did the honors.
Due to its fundamental stock car formula, and the majority of racing being contested on ovals, the series was often dominated by NASCAR participants for a long period of time (which was the only 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 2007 season, although this is now limited so each participating series has as close to an equal amount of cars as possible. Although open wheel drivers had numerous successes, the last non-NASCAR based champion of the series for many years was Al Unser, Jr. in 1988. Drivers from road racing series had only won two races in the history of IROC, until Dario Franchitti of Indycar finally broke this streak in 2011.
The International Race of Champions series is beloved by NASCAR and international fans alike, as drivers from several different disciplines can be seen competing on a level playing field. During the hiatus of motorsports due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, an all-star cast of drivers competed in iRacing in dirt modifieds, GTE cars, and stock cars. Dubbed a "virtualization of IROC", the event included drivers from NASCAR, NHRA, IndyCar, IMSA, Supercross, Supercars Championship, Formula One, and Rallycross.
== Notes ==
* IROC generally employs former NASCAR drivers such as Dave Marcis, Dale Earnhardt, Sr., Dick Trickle and Jim Sauter to prepare the setups for their cars.
* The longest standing model of car used in IROC was the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, which began competition in 1996. There were no manufacturer designations on the cars, however, because Pontiac pulled their support from the series in 2002. The program was still allowed to use a car that resembled the Trans Am.
* Previous to the Trans Am, car bodies used were the Dodge Avenger (1994–1995), Dodge Daytona (1990–1993), Chevrolet Camaro (1975–1980, 1984–1989), and Porsche Carrera (1974). After the demise of Pontiac as a brand, GM started supporting IROC again and the Chevrolet Camaro made it's return (2008-present).
* Certain drivers could not participate under the Crown Royal sponsorship because of contracts or age. For example, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. could not race because of a contractual agreement with his sponsor at the time, Budweiser. Kyle Busch could not participate until May 2006 because he was under 21.
* IROC events were broadcast in a tape-delay format by ABC between 1974 and 1980, and by CBS between 1984 and 1986. Afterward, ABC and ESPN split broadcast rights, with tape-delay and live events respectively. Speed Channel broadcast IROC races live from 2004 to 2006, with FOX Sports doing the honors since 2007.
* Mark Martin is one of only two drivers to win more than two IROC championships during their career, winning five. Dale Earnhardt, Sr. however, won six, including, notably late in his career, his final two, the 2001 and 2002 championships. Earnhardt ran his final IROC race, at Daytona, days before his last Daytona 500 race in 2008.
Category:Dale Earnhardt Survives