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Something extraordinary is on the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion schedule this week at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Separate from the event-wide celebration of Formula 1’s 75th anniversary and many of the familiar classes that appear every August, a field of 26 cars hailing from all eras of the International Race of Champions – the former IROC series – will bring a new wrinkle to North America’s version of the Goodwood Road Racing Festival.
A few 1974 Porsche RSRs, the original IROC machines that pitted the greatest drivers of the era from Formula 1, NASCAR, IndyCar, and sports cars against each other, which are worth millions of dollars apiece today, are on the entry list. Plus, a range of bellowing Chevy Camaros that followed the Porsches in the 1970s, and Dodge Daytonas and Avengers and Pontiac Firebirds — all tubeframe NASCAR-style creations — that were used into the 2000s will be in Monterey.
And for once at the Reunion, the cars aren’t the biggest stars. The entry list is loaded with champions across almost every major discipline, and in a few cases, some of the legends have been battles for IROC seats behind the scenes to be part of the races set for Friday and Saturday at Laguna Seca.
Jenson Button, Jeff Gordon, Dario Franchitti, Kurt Busch, Scott Pruett, Mark Martin, Danny Sullivan, Bill Elliott, Patrick Long, Bobby Labonte, Zak Brown, Ken Schrader, and Roger Penske Jr are among the cadre of drivers rocking up to drive in the series organized by Ray Evernham and Rob Kaufmann.
For Evernham, the formation of a historic IROC group which recently made its debut at Lime Rock Park has been special, as the series is where he got his big start before going on to win championship after championship with Jeff Gordon in NASCAR.
Look for Dario Franchitti behind the wheel of the Unser car (above), while Jenson Button will be keeping the Earnhardt IROC legacy alive (main image). Photos by Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion
“I’m really happy it’s picked up so much momentum again; you never know how many people you’re going to reach, right?” Evernham told RACER. “I started at IROC, and the through the years of all the racing that I’ve done, I’ve never seen that kind of camaraderie and enjoyment at that level of competition between drivers and people. It was something really special. And I really feel, honestly, that there was a space now in motorsports entertainment for something like IROC again.
“Because there’s many of these drivers that have spent 30 years in a sport, and they’ve built incredible brands, and they’re late 40s, early 50s, even some of them in their 60s, and still can wheel a race car. They want to run a few times a year. They don’t want to run 200, right? They don’t want to run three hours on TV and have all the pressure, but they want to have fun and race against one another.
“We tried it with SRX and that failed business-wise because we didn’t have the right group together, but the proof of concept told me there’s something there. And Rob Kaufmann believed enough in me and in the IROC thing to say, ‘Okay, let’s try it.’ And he and Bruce Canepa obviously have more powder in the gun and political power than me. And they were able to do it.
“We did a little proof of concept out at Lime Rock. And it blew people away. There was a record crowd, people waiting hours in lines for autographs. And it says, look, they want to see these guys. They want to see these cars. And then Bruce and the group at Friends of Laguna Seca said, ‘Hey, can we get this thing out here? And it’s a big moment for us, big stage, because now it’s not going to be a ride around exhibition. They’re going to run hard.”
Evernham hopes the appearance of IROC at the Monterey Reunion takes the retro series to new heights. Considering the talent that’s assembled in Laguna Seca, it has great potential to draw big crowds.
“The totals are just incredible,” he said. “So we’ve got seven NASCAR championships, 236 NASCAR wins, six Daytona 500 wins, seven Brickyard 400s, one Trans Am championship, 13 Trans Am wins, one Formula 1 championship, 15 Formula 1 wins, Rolex 24 at Daytona – 15 winners. IndyCar championships — seven. IndyCar wins — 84. Indy 500 wins — six. IMSA championships, 15 and 88 IMSA wins. There’s nine IROC championships, between these drivers with 38 IROC wins, and then three overall 24 Hours of Le Mans winners. Top that!”
