IROC Returns! Legendary Drivers Reunited With Historic IROC Race Cars! (Behind The Scenes)
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- Ray Evernham and Rob Kaufmann recently announced that they had acquired the rights to the historic International Race Of Champions (IROC) series that Penske had started in the early 70s and run until 2006. Since then its fleet of race cars driven by the biggest names in worldwide motorsports have been scattered across the globe to live different lives. Ray and his team have been painstakingly tracking down as many IROC cars as possible to bring them back to their original glory. July 2024 at Lime Rock Park marks the first official event under the IROC banner since 2006 with many of the former IROC racers coming to drive one of the historic cars on track, sometimes even from their personal collection! Among are names you may recognize!
Mark Martin
Bobby Labonte
Al Unser Jr
Geoff Bodine
Ken Schrader
Greg Biffle
Davy Jones
Boris Said
Ron Hornaday
Scott Speed
Mike Skinner
Danny Sullivan
Jay Signore
Follow @irocracing on social media and find IROC merchandise at www.iroc-racing.com
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Help IROC grow and leave a thumbs up on the video! Speak up in the comments let them know what you want to see! We were so pumped to be here for this and can’t wait to see where it goes. What’s your favorite car?
Were you able to display your car that you built?
It’s good to see IROC cars out on track again, I love it, ray is a leader oh f you like racing and race cars , then you need to get rid of the Kamala Harris adds on your channel, ok right , thanks BigAl California.
@@alkennedy1124
I was nauseated myself hearing her ad. She wants support “defeat Donald Trump again” but I’m more interested in moving America forward, securing our borders, protecting our economy, ending the precipice of war(s), and making America great for my grandkids that will be adults in 8 and 11 years from now.
NOT interested in giving money to a candidate whose goal is to defeat a candidate rather than offering compelling reasons to vote for him or her.
What car did I like?!
Unser! A beautiful vintage, and way more character than the later non Camaro cars. Apparently porsche wasn’t memorable to me because I have no lasting impressions.
What car did I like?!
B. Unser
A beautiful vintage! And way more character than the later non Camaro cars. Apparently porsche wasn’t memorable to me because I have no lasting impressions.
But yes, cars that look like a car you could buy at the dealer are of great interest to me. Which is partially why xfinity has become more interesting to me than cup these days (even though I know there’s little resemblance to a production car in those, either. But it’s nevertheless more appealing still. )
So cool seeing these guys like Mark Martin and Danny Sullivan back behind the wheel. IROC is so awesome
I agree man. Danny is super cool I hope we can do something with his own history in the future. I hope Mark wants to do more stuff like this with his cars too.
@@nascarmanHistory yeah seein Mark and Danny back in cars was awesome, legends!
I know Mark Martin and Bobby LaBonte, but who is Danny Sullivan...?!
@@kurtisstutzman7056he raced in CART in the and 80's and early 90's. Also raced Le Mans and did one season of F1 in 83.
he won the 1985 Indy 500.@@kurtisstutzman7056
Mark Martin back behind the wheel!
Geoff Bodine!
Agreed. Not a huge NASCAR fan, but always followed Mark Martin.
I'm old enough I can remember watching all the generations of IROC cars on TV. This is AMAZING! I love hearing the different engine exhaust too!!!!! Oh! the memories!!!!!!!
Yep, always watched the show “Wild World of Sports” seems they always televised IROC
I’m adding an additional comment for the algorithm: So, to me, the most iconic IROC car has to be the 3rd generation Camaro. When I think of IROC, I think of the 1984 season where Cale Yarborough was the victor and included DW, Earnhardt, and a name I never forgot, Emerson Fittipaldi. The top Winston Cup guys were household names in South Carolina as was Mario Andretti, but the other open-wheel guys often had these exotic names that seemed so cool.
What’s funny, thinking back, is that I wasn’t even a proper fan of auto racing back then, aside from the general enthusiasm for cars and racing that any boy back then had, and I just couldn’t sit still for it. That said, everyone knew the names Waltrip, Petty, Yarborough, and Andretti, just like you’d know the names OJ Simpson, Larry Bird, Joe Montana, John Riggins, Madden, McEnroe, Pete Rose, etc. It’s different days, but I suspect that the names Truex, Chastain, or Bowman aren’t known by all kids, though it’s probably true for most other sports. But more than anything, that tells me that Cup Racing hasn’t been well-managed recently.
IROC cars are absolutley sick. The Firebirds with the X-Pipes are just outstanding. Also seeing Mark put on his Hendrick #5 helmet again goes unbelievably hard.
Love from Ireland 🇮🇪🇺🇲
Thanks man!
Loved watching the IROC series, also, the Trans-Am series was a blast to watch. I used to love seeing them at Watkins Glen, met Dorsey Schrader in the Whistler car. I still have a model of that car.
The post race gathering of those drivers is possibly the coolest thing I've seen in a very long time. Huge props Mitchell.
Thank you!
Martin, Kenny, Biff, Said, Skinner and Bobby all on the track again. Those were the best times when they all raced. It was so cool to see them all in a car again. Thank you for being a part of this and putting out so much video.
Thanks man we’re glad you’re here for it!
2000s NASCAR was goated
What an amazing event they put on! So cool to see Mark and all the past drivers together racing the old IROC cars. Thank you Ray Evernham for bringing this back and thank you Stapleton42 for sharing all this amazing footage with us!
Thanks man!
Love seeing Mark’s son. I wish he had stuck with racing. He was very good.
I saw this event. It was great. I hope that it can sustain itself financially so that it becomes a viable event year after year. All the spectators had a wonderful time seeing these driving legends in person. Mark Martin really was the best, and very personable. I think that these drivers all appreciated that anyone still cares about them so long after retirement.
I agree completely
So good to see Geoff Bodine back in a race car.
Yes! Not a big IROC guy but loved seeing Geoff!
Mark is soooooo smooth! He’s the MAN!!!
Greg Biffle was a busy dude this past weekend! He was also wheeling a crown vic at Stafford.
He's great.
Grew up in the 80's... IROC was always my favorite racing, love to see this. Huge props to Ray for everything he's doing
Wow, Mark Martin back in a stock car. Never thought I would see him back behind the wheel. Very Cool. Great group of competitors at this event. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it!!
I heard a rumor that Mark Martin personally owns the green avenger he was driving.
@@evangoff5511 That is awesome. I had assumed that Ray Everham owned all the IROC series cars. Love to see these Hall of Fame driver's out making laps and having fun. Brings back memories of all those NASCAR events.
Great part, seeing all those drivers together. Best part, seeing all those driver's smiles after the race.
Thanks Mitchell and Logan. Well done.
I agree Brad it was a special moment
Would have been good to see U out there ripping a few laps bro@@Stapleton42
Seeing Mark fly around a track again gave me chills. I'm 28 and I was born and raised a fan of Marky as my family calls him!
Miss iroc series so so much there's nothing like it anymore, love to see it come back.
Love seeing these older drivers getting back into their cars and the muscle memory coming back. Especially with Mark cause I know for a long time he said he wasn’t interested in racing again. Happy to see he’s at least giving it a shot. Hoping he continues to drive more.
I hope so too
I remember watching IROC races at Talladega and that was some of the best racing ever
I haven't seen Mark Martin turn actual laps in so many years! So many thanks are due here. I'm at a loss for words here. This is just so awesome! I Can't thank you enough!
Thank you Greg!
Bobby My favorite cup driver the silent warrior did not talk much but kicked ass I have his Diecast cars in my collection Dale Senior Bobby and Mark and Jeffey from the days gone past . Those boys were men. No Mistaken.
Bobby is a cool guy
All that was missing was the IROC intro music and Paul Paige and Jack Arute on pit road talking about all the little details about the cars.
This was awesome to see. Thank you documenting this story for everyone to see.
As a 50+ year racing fan, this was one the coolest things I've ever seen! I've seen all of these guys racing in thier prime and to come together like this now was such a treat to witness. Great job with this video, I was smiling ear to ear the whole time!!
I love IROC. Equally prepared cars that makes it about the drivers talent. I loved watching Mark Martin whip butt in one of these.
Ya. That takes the big money out and gives a flat playing surface. This type actually shows you who is the best that day. Now cap the driver's pay and you have a entry level fair sport with no crying.
The closest thing to IROC racing today is IMSA's Mazda MX-5 series. Awesome racing!
I can't tell you how many emotions I am feeling after this video. I rode on the can am winner that Al Jr won from the pit lane to the tech shed at Road Atlanta, on the side pod! Seeing Ken Schrader at a short track race and getting to shake his hand. These are the emotions that flowed back to me. Thank you so much!
Thank you David!
Wow what a video I'm 63 years old and that video took me back a lot of those Racers were my age in their Prime racing those IROC cars it was one of my favorite races to watch a big thank you to Stapleton 42
Glad you enjoyed it Robert!
Love Mark Martin, he's just such a genuine guy. Maybe one day I'll get to meet him. Good to see these guys still getting around, and getting after it behind the wheel. Man, I loved to see all this. It makes the racer in me get all fired up!
Thanks Sean!
@@Stapleton42 I really wish I could have been there, just wasn't enough time to get off work to make the trip up. We did end up at Indy all weekend, ended up sitting with Greg Van Alst and his family, that was cool.
So incredible to see Mark Martin in that car…. & Bobby LaBonnie too
Yet again another great video I'm 57 and grew up watching IROC on ABC'S wide world of sports...Mitchell you and Logan are killing it with all these great video's lately keep up the good work....i can only imagine being there for this..
Thank you David!
Thank you so much for this video. Mark Martin was my hero and it almost brought tears to my eyes seeing that spark in his eyes light up when he was behind the wheel again.
It warms my heart to see IROC back on a race track. Thank you for all you do for the culture, I LOVE the content!
Love seeing those old drivers back in those cars
Great weekend at lime rock ;it was great talking to you while I was online to meet Mark Martin. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me and for keeping the history alive.
Thank you Matt!
Probably one of the best videos for vintage racing. The IROC cars always put on great races . Thank you for capturing this event, so nice to see all the great drivers we grew up watching .Awesome job as always Mitchell and Logan
So awesome to see Mark and the other drivers in these cars!!! Brings back great memories of watching the IROC Series. Mitchell keep it up with keeping NASCAR history alive 🇺🇸🏁🇺🇸. You rock dude 🤘🏻🇺🇸🏁 !!!
So good seeing all the drivers together at the end! I'm 45 years old and vaguely remember watching IROC, but what I remember it was fun ti watch! I remember the firebirds running Dega.
You blew it out of the park with this video!
That was absolutely Epic. Thank you for taking us along for the ride. The only thing that would have made it better was to see you out there in one of those cars. To see Mark still do his patented left hand pull down right arm over steering wheel turns brought back old times. It's awesome to see the network that you have grown in the NASCAR community. I hope it continues to grow and takes you to more epic things like this
Thank you for bringing back "old IROC racing"!!! I greatly appreciate and admire you and Logan's hard work!!! All your content is exceptional and always on point!!! What an amazing experience it had to be, being present for that event. Thank again! 🤙❤️🔥❤️🔥
I remember when Martin ran the crown Royal car at Bristol
Oh geez this was i’d have to say my favourite video thus far. That was so dang cool. At the end of this video with Mark Martin & Ken Schrader talking & then it was just star after star after star joining the conversation & i thought it was so cool how you (Stapleton42) just laid back all quiet & taking it all in while filming🏁
~ Cheers🍻from🇨🇦” ~
Just wow! That ending though. Man I loved watching these guys and glad to see they are all doing well. Man I miss watching them and love that we still can here on UA-cam. Awesome video!
Fantastic. Ray and everybody that worked to make this happen, congratulations. Thank you so very much for bringing back all the memories. I can't get over how much the drivers have aged, and I haven't!😉👍
I loved IROC thank you so much for showing this. Saw the other racing on tv. But they didn't show the IROC.
It wasn’t actually a race. Just an exhibition demonstration
@Stapleton42 I know but I hoped they would show it. Thank you so much for the video, it was great 👍 👌
Loved seeing Mark Martin behind the wheel of that IROC car, I was at that Race in Michigan in 95
Gordon's Silver Firebird sounds insane with that X-Pipe. Hell yeah
It’s the best sounding one no question
Hopefully Jeff comes out to drive it someday!
@@nixhydra I love the sound of that car. I have a 97 Trans am and wish it sounded like that!
IROC was the greatest concept ever in racing, the best of the best heads up. This was a great event I wished I could have been at in person, thank you for taking us there virtually. And of course it made my day seeing Mark behind the wheel again
3 words. Un fuckin real. One of the top things I have watched in recent decades.
Thank you very much!!
I was glad to see all the drivers but since I don't see Geoff Bodine that much, I guess he would be my favorite. Shout out to Ray and everyone who got this done.
100% awesome, it is great that you get to capture all of this!!!
Thank you Brad!
By far my favorite race video. Love seeing all my favorite drivers. I’m 59 all my hero’s!!!
This was a happy tear days, thank you , how more iconic can it get , this is historical, IROC of yesteryear, good job, thanks BigAl California
Awesome to see Mark Martin driving a race car again and all drivers getting to see each other again. The smiles and laughter made my day.
Thanks! Great coverage and outstanding to see IROC cars running again! Cudos to Ray Evernham for all his effort to find and prep these cars - I was fortunate to go to Riverside Raceway in the days this series was started. Again, super thanks!!
Wow thank you very much Peter! That helps us put diesel in the tank 💪🏻
@@Stapleton42l love these cars! Saw them at Riverside Raceway every time they were there. I really miss that track.
Shows hot fit Mark Martin still is. The fact that Mark can fit in his 95’ uniform, crazy! Old school drivers and cars, love it
I have no doubt that Mark Martin would have killed it in SRX. The competition is lucky he didn't want to compete.
Thank you so much in putting that video together. A truly amazing event. And we got to see it because of you. Thanks again.
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is so cool. Especially for these old guy racers who still have the itch to be competitive but haven't been for a decade or more!
I remember some of the first races with the ‘83 IROC Camaro and then Firebirds. Pretty cool stuff, man you’re a blessed fellow to share that with your girl too. I love to watch the road racing, it so competitive and shows the real talent of the skilled drivers. Be blessed.
Thank you!
I know there are a lot of great drivers and car but it is great to see my favorite is mark martin it's so cool to see he driving
Thank you for showing this!
Thank you David!
Absolutely awesome guys!! Well done! So glad to see this! Was so cool to see the drivers and cars together again! And great to see a Future Bobby Labonte video coming up! This made me smile. I saw the IROC Firebird's at Daytona In '99 testing and they were full throttle. And saw them again at Indianapolis. Great memories!
Thanks Jeremiah!
Sitting down here in New Zealand having breakfast just absolutely fired up for the day thanks to the sounds and sights of IROC history. Mitchell and Logan you have knocked it out of the park once again.
The fact all these famous drivers and their cars are back on track in 2024 shows the love and passion people have for IROC still to this day.
Nothing like the sound of a pack of these cars passing at full noise,just pure bliss.
Thank you Andrew!
Hey Kiwi , do you remember Dave McMillan as a driver ?
Now there's a name from the past. Another great driver who's name seems to be forgotten. Super vees and USAC. He was up their in the 70s and 80s. We had so many great drivers and engineers, Mclaren, Hulme, Amon, the great Kenny Smith and many more. Cheers
@@andrewjones9893 He was New Zealand Grand Prix winner 1981 . He's a good friend of mine . He's in the states still involved with racing . Good guy . He's talked fondly of those guys you mentioned .
I wish they would bring them back. They used to put on a show. Better than the cup racing.
Having the drivers all giving each other jabs near the end, and then a group photo is priceless! Having them all together again may not happen. Thanks to all involved.
Thanks man I agree!
Man, the Iconic voice of Mike Joy…I grew up listening to him…actually met him at Talladega in ‘04 when he was coming out of the elevator behind the front stretch grandstands. Was really cool.
Mitchell and Logan, please keep this up for us ol timers
That was 💯% Awesome ❤. I wish they would have let you drive. That brought back so many memories. I remember watching them in 1974 when I was 11. I bought my 1989 Iroc Z because of this series. Thank you for all your hard work in making these great videos.
Thanks man! Maybe next time. I am in process of getting an SVRA comp license
I miss guys like Biffle, Hornaday and of course Martin. Solid guys. The best part, was when they got out and grouped up, that was awesome.
I think NASCAR needs to add a category for the old IROC races with the NASCAR classics.
Hopefully with reproduction cars since they’re so limited in numbers. Unlike actual nascar cars
Nascar Classics are awesome. Would love to see IROC included!
Thank you, BTW , Biffle's Late model career was based on Gen 2 Camaro front clips
The Black Z28 Unser car, is just about perfect, by far my favorite. They all look awesome. I have a special place in my heart for black 70s Camaros. I raced street stocks for many years in a black Camaro.
If Nascar went back to leaf spring cars.....I'd come back and watch 67-70 body's race. Like in Australia.
I loved the video so cool to see those guys from my time on track again I hope iroc comes back
That was the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. It was so great to see so many old drivers in this IROC event. Thanks so much for your coverage of it. You are a lucky man to have been at this historic event!
I agree. Very grateful to be there for it
Seeing Mark Martin wringing his hands talking about that ASA trophy...man, that was almost cooler than seeing the IROC cars alive again on a track.
You killed it as usual great great job. Look forward to seeing all of your shows you do such a wonderful job at filming. You both are very talented people. God bless you both stay safe 👍👍👍👍
This has gotta be the best experience. Talkin to the drivers seeing the excitement on their faces. This is what Ray and his crew work so hard for. To recreate these races. So cool. I love it when they have to tell em to slow down. Thanks for sharing this!
Simplyle fantastic, great job.
Outstanding ! IROC Rocks Again ! The event was a great tribute to the cars and the drivers. Perfect place to be with the camera when the bench racing started and then the line up photo opportunity. Some of the best times racing has been always afterwards.
Best of Luck and Skill Always.
All I have to say is WOW! That would have been amazing to experience. Great job and thanks for sharing.👍🏼♥️
Mark looks really good. So nice to see mark in a race car again. Most humble race car driver ever.
One of these cars needs to get to Goodwood... Love to see that!
My thought exactly. They also could tour the many road race courses.
Hell I can't believe it happened now, Mark was having a Hell of a time.cant say enough for what you bring to everyone.
I’ve been looking for to this video! It was pleasure meeting you and Logan this past weekend
Thank you Jimmy!
@@Stapleton42 you’re welcome! Hope I get to help Ray and the guys with another one!
It’s super cool seeing mark, biffle, Bobby and skinner running these cars. Because I was a kid the last time I seen them race the IROC cars. Now I’m almost 40
I think it's really awesome that Martin and Bodine, Schrader participated in this event, rather than going to the Brickyard 400 for the 30 th anniversary. Great content as always 🏁🏁🇺🇸🇺🇸
Danny Sullivan was in that race too!
What a great hour of footage! Thanks for it. Bring the series back Ray! Ten race series, shootout style. 8 short track 50 lappers to include Bristol, Daytona 100 miles, and Watkins Glen 20 laps. Run on Saturday Mornings.
Mitchell, Logan !! I love all your videos…… however this is solid gold !! You guys need to enter this in some film festival, it would win hands down !!
Special Kudos to Ray and his IROC team , only Ray could put all those cars back together and have them run nearly flawless .
Oh …. And of course Mark Martin didn’t really enjoy it all !!
Bahahaha ! Thanks for all the hard work you two did to document something that may never happen again …CLASSIC , solid rock( IROC )!! at the Rock !!
P.S. also great to see Jay Signore there , totally underrated legend who gave birth to many great seasons of IROC
Thank you very much!
@@Stapleton42 don’t be too humble , networks and cable couldn’t have done better , off the chain !!
I have watched around 50% of your videos and I have to rate this in the top 5 so far. Cool to hear the guys just being themselves, not just answering questions that they have answered thousands of times. In car cameras were cool.
It's good to see Mark Martin out there man that was my dude and Dale Earnhardt I bet if you put Mark out there today he'd still be stopping on people
Wow that was so cool. To see the "old" guys get together and B.S. session post race was timeless. Thanks Stapleton for bringing here.
I love how good of friends you’ve gotten to be with Mark and Matt. (And quite jealous of that too lol) He’s my all time favorite! Love your videos man.
Thank you Josh!
Mitch you guys do a lot of great videos but man this was right up there! Great to see Schrader, Hornaday, Martin, and Biffle again! Cars sounded really good. Nice touch you were able to put cameras in some of the cars. Excellent job! Thx!!!!
Thank you Dave!!
Don't have to wait 30 years,I'm saying it today. Can't believe this actually happened! You got gold with the drivers cutting up after they came in. What a group of great drivers. Thanks for being there and sharing this with us. Even if I had been there I probably wouldn't have had the access you brought to us. Keep it up! Had to edit and add, loved the cars. What a group of beautiful vintage race cars!
Thank you Keith! Ray made sure we were able to go anywhere we wanted to film what we considered important.
I think y'all did right by just letting the drivers have their moment together again by themselves there at the end of the race. I'm sure this was very special to them, you could see that. I watched all these guys back in the day, and it was very cool to see them again today. Thanks for the coverage of this historic event. IROC is racing in the truest form.
Hey man this was an awesome weekend. Glad you helped get the momentum to bring IROC back.
I couldnt stop smiling the whole time watching this. The drivers, the cars, the memories. The nostalgia is real right now. As a lifelong Mark Martin fan, seeing him pilot that green iroc car again was the cherry on top. Thank you to everyone who made this possible! What a day for race fans!
Beautiful machines getting ready to roar at Lime Rock
Love how you spared Danny the clip of him getting out XD
It wasn’t of any entertainment value he didn’t struggle or say anything funny 😂
Matt is cool as hell. I played paintball with him a couple of times years ago.
As a kid that grew up in the late 80's and 90's. I can remember watching from the 3rd Gen Camera all the way to the firebird. Talk about a kid in 7th heaven. Man, I love this video watching heroes and legends.