After gathering rust for several years, the International Race of Champions, or IROC, as it was popularly known, was revived in 2024 by the collective efforts of former crew chief Ray Evernham and Rob Kauffman. A shell of its former self, the series only comes up during nostalgic events today and doesn’t serve the purpose for which it was created.
Advertisement
But there is a possibility that it will do so in the near future. It could bring together the best race drivers on the planet and have them compete against each other to determine who the greatest among them is. It could do so on the big-time race tracks such as the Daytona International Speedway or the Atlanta Motor Speedway. But some things need to come together for this.
Evernham spoke about this in detail during an interview with John Roberts on Kenny Wallace’s YouTube channel. He said, “It’s a little bit more difficult than doing the historic cars like we’ve been doing. But the truth is, John, everything evolves, and I think that the sport evolved to a place where there was no place for motorsports entertainment like IROC. There wasn’t.”
“And now, I think the sport has evolved again, where people are looking back and going, ‘Hey, we really enjoyed that.’ And you know, when you look at the things that are happening in professional golf and people looking at different ways to do things together and put a little bit more excitement, there’s absolutely a possibility.”
He continued to note that they just need the right group of partners with the political power and the monetary resources to get the engine started. In 2025, IROC had a successful event at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca. Several iconic IROC cars and drivers made an appearance, bringing a fresh and strong dose of the old days.
Evernham hopes to continue the success into next year. He is also planning an April event at the 1010 Motor Club track in Charlotte. A proper, full-fledged IROC race might not be on the cards for now. But all these tiny steps ought to lead there sometime. It is a matter of great optimism that Evernham has clearly stated that it is a goal as well.
