Revamping IROC

The idea of taking the best drivers from different series and disciplines is not new; the International Race of Champions, IROC, series ran from 1973 to 2007. The series took up to 12 drivers put them in identically prepared cars, and let them battle it out! Unfortunately IROC went out of business in 2007, auctioning off all of its cars, equipment and memorabilia.

However I have always fancied the idea of the best drivers in identical cars racing for top honours! Here is my idea of IROC for 2011... AROC...

Firstly you need a name! IROC ceased to be "International" a long time ago. As the series would be based in America, and as there is very little chance of getting the F1 World Champion, or the WRC Champion to take part, (and there is the now annual ROC for that) we can assume the "I" should be replaced with an "A"... "American Race of Champions".

Next you need venues! A good balance of ovals, road courses, dirt tracks and drag strips should cover all American disciplines...

TRACKS

Ovals

  Daytona – NASCAR event (oval)

  Darlington – NASCAR event (oval)

  Richmond – IRL event (oval)

Road Courses
  Road America – IRL event (road course)

  Watkins Glen – NASCAR event (road course)

  Laguna Seca – IRL event (road course)

Drag Strips
  Sonoma (Infineon) – NASCAR event (drag strip)

  Pomona – NHRA event (drag strip)

  Gainsville – NHRA event (drag strip) 

Dirt Tracks
  Eldora - Prelude to the Dream event (dirt track)
  The Dirt Track at Charlotte- World of Outlaws / NASCAR event (dirt track)
  The Dirt Track at Las Vegas - World of Outlaws / NASCAR event (dirt track)

The races could be held at established events, adding a new element to the Saturday schedules?! The oval and road course races could be split between NASCAR and IndyCar events. The drag races could be held at two NHRA events, and at the Infineon (Sonoma) NASCAR race, but on the drag strip! The dirt track races could be held at either World of Outlaw events or at NASCAR events (in the evening), and as an addition to Tony Stewarts "Prelude to a Dream" event. This would guarantee a fan base and TV.

Then you need drivers! Fourteen of the best drivers in the country...

DRIVERS

NASCAR –
  Sprint Cup – 1^st in points
  Daytona 500 winner / 2^nd in points if same
IndyCar –
  1^st in points
  Indy 500 winner / 2^nd in points if same
Sports cars –

  Grand Am – 1^st in points

  Daytona 24hrs winner / 2^nd in points if same
World of Outlaws –

  1^st in points

  2^nd in points

USAC Silver Crown –

  1^st in points

  2^nd in points

SCCA Trans Am / World Challenge –

  1^st in points

  2^nd in points

NHRA –

  Top Fuel – 1^st in points

  Funny Car – 1^st in points
  
If any of the above accolades are achieved by multiple drivers, the drivers could share driving duties and add their points together.

Lastly you need a car! A production based car! The 2011 Ford Mustang GT 5.0 or Boss 302 is as good a starting point as any! Install a roll cage, upgrade the clutch and ensure the engines can race on high banking for the oval and road courses races. Keep the cars as "stock" as possible, as the cars used in AROC must be close to a car you can buy from your local dealer, "stock car racing"! I have decided against using the Boss 302s (Ford built turn key road race car) or the Cobra Jet (Ford built turn key drag racer) for this reason.

My aim with AROC is to cover all major American motor racing disciplines; oval racing (stock cars and single-seaters), road racing, drag racing, sprint cars and midgets.

Maybe the field could be expanded to include off-road racing and rallying. F150 Raptor anybody?

Just an idea...

 





 

Favourite Race Cars Part 3 - Open Wheelers

With the motor racing off season upon us I found myself questioning... what does the author of a topical motorsport based blog write about when there is no racing??

The first answer I came up with is to talk about what I love about racing, starting with my favourite race cars, so here we go...  Part 3... Open Wheelers...


FORMULA ONE

Modern F1 cars are ugly!!

Here are my two favourite Formula 1 cars -

1967/8 Lotus 49 - Cosworth DFV V8, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, great pre-sponsor colour scheme, red steering wheel, gorgeous!

1991 Jordan 191 - OK, the downside is this was Michael Schumacher's first GP car but regardless of who drove it, the 191 goes down as probably the best looking GP of my lifetime! Simple 7up colour scheme, balanced looks; it was a "good looking" GP car!





INDYCAR / INDY 500

All Indy 500 cars should be front engined!! I love Indy Roadsters!! They just look so right!! Loads of power, narrow tires, get it wrong and it will hurt!! Big balls?? You bet!!

As much as I may lament the move to rear engine race cars, my favourite early example has to be the 1965 Lotus 38, driven by Jim Clark. Everything the 49 was for F1, this was for Indy!!






When I was growing up, F1 was boring... CART was not!! My favourite CART car was the 1993 Galles Racing T93 Lola as driven by Little Al! I loved the simple colour scheme and the clear "screen" round the driver... actually I still do!





My favourite IRL era "IndyCar" has to be the 2001 / 2001 IRL Dallara Chevy as driven by Sam Hornish round the outside of anybody who dared to stay low!! As with the Jordan 191, the Dallara was a nicely balanced, low nose modern race car that looked as good on the high Texas banking as it did at Indy. It also raced better than today's IRL cars!





SPRINTS AND MIDGETS

Kurtis Kraft Offy midget is a lovely looking classic American race car. Pretty... very pretty!!








World of Outlaw Sprint Car - big tires, big tracks, big slides, big engines, big noise, huge wings!!








Part 4... Anything Else...