There's probably a mod of the London track for AC but knowing AC it's probably ripped from someone or somewhere... But yeah- Should ROC be some sort of metric for our favourite drivers to prove how good they are or should it still be a just for fun thing/showpiece at the end of the year?
Just bragging rights, I suppose...I enjoyed it. Thought it a bunch of fun until Pascal Wehrlein got hurt. We might see the much anticipated Max vs Kyle Larson though, on dirt.
I went to roc Miami the day the 3 wheel thing flipped. You can for sure tell how comfortable the drivers are when they switch cars. It’s a cool event but it gets predictable as some do it often and are way more comfortable pushing on the tight stuff
I would be shocked if there wasn't one. I participated in a Sim Racing ROC event back back in 2011 on rFactor 1, using the London ROC track and it was bloody awesome.
I'm still not convinced that Durex was the ideal motor racing sponsor. A puncture would have been really bad advertising. And, can you imagine that logo on the opening credits of Grandstand?
"Cousin Carl" Edwards has always been underrated IMO. 28 wins in cup, 38 in Xfinity (second tier) and the 2007 Xfinity champ. He was always fast, just never got the biggest prize
Carl Edwards grew up racing on dirt tracks in the US. They were ovals, but they almost drive like a left turn only rally track. These races have very little practice time and the track will evolve every lap and become very slick by the end of the event This constant evolution make the drivers have to 'feel' the grip in the track and adjust instantly to make the quickest lap. Kyle Larson grew up on similar tracks, just running different classes of cars.
Talent is talent. I remember Hamilton having a drive in a NASCAR and the general talk was that he'd struggle because it's not what he was used to but within a few laps he was putting in competitive times. He said something to the effect of "it's a race car, you find where its limits are and get as close as you can to them"
@@liamh1982 I'll have you know, the fastest cars in Underground 2 are actually the starter cars. The fastest among all of them, is the fucking Corolla
The trouble with IROC was that they ended up racing basically a stock car on NASCAR tracks with NASCAR drivers making up half the field. It was all ovals with no road courses to suit the sports car guys and none of the Indy car tracks either to suit the open wheeler guys. No, it got boring to watch. At first it was great in the 1970's but by the end it was a joke.
In the early 2000s, ROC seemed to matter more. 19yo Alonso beating 3-time (soon 9-time) Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen was a big deal in 2001, and Heikki winning ROC 2004 helped his momentum to get to F1
Take it that was gran caneria? Gran caneria was a great venue even if it was more for rally drivers but it felt like home in a way. Gran caneria on rally fusion imo has an underrated look and design. Theres always big deals happening in this event that never gets talked about. It always seems to be Edwards beating schumacher
Carl Edwards is a very underappreciated driver. In a 13-year career he had 28 wins, 22 poles, and 220 finishes in the top ten. Cousin Carl was one of the best until his retirement after losing the 2016 Cup to some dirty driving on the part of Joey Logano and deciding he'd had enough. The man was as good as they get
Those numbers are not comparable since they drive eleventy million billion races a year. But his career end is why a lot of people don't want to watch NASCAR. Absolute dog shit from Logano and NASCAR.
Logano’s still in the Cup Series today, but even Carl admitted that that incident that ultimately ended his career was his fault and was hard racing. He even went up to Joey’s crew post-wreck and apologized. I started watching when Edwards moved to Gibbs in 2015 so I didn’t know too much about him but he was defo a class act
@@JackLikesTrackhouse I was at Homestead that night. Everybody saw Carl do that to the 22 crew. I believe he knew he was done at that point. It took a long time for Carl to exit his wrecked racecar that night, I believe he was contemplating his future during that time. I agree he's a class act, though Bob Keselowski may have felt differently.
Hello Aidan: I'm Australian and old enough to remember the Tasman Series. At that time, international airfares were beyond the range of ordinary people, so the Tasman was the only opportunity to see most of those driver. Have a good day.
When I saw the subject was about NASCAR drivers taking on F1 drivers I thought you were talking about the old made for TV International Race of Champions that was popular here in the States and ran from the early 70's to mid-90's. The early days were especially fun with F1 drivers coming over to race drivers from NASCAR and Indycar as well as some Can Am drivers in identically prepared cars (Porche 911's the first year and Chevy Camaros for the remainder of the run).
Did delight in seeing Concrete Carl beat The Michael. But the interview with DC was priceless. David What do you do to keep your edge in racing cars? DC: "i don't"
I've been into nascar just as much as i've been into f1 Carl was something special in his day, so are kyle larsson and kyle busch.. Busch was actually on the books for that us f1 team
1987 I was surprised by a IROC race at Mid-Ohio. I got to see Dale Earnhardt trailing the pack, cause he'd never driven here before. And Darrell Waltrip crashed right across the track where I was sitting. Good times.
I had the pleasure of seeing it once in 2007. I came because Michael Schumancher announced he was going to drive in his one and only competitive race that year after retiring from F1 the previous year.
@@bonesdoes6142 I didn't think you were being mean. Who got the Trophy? That's why I agreed with you too. Everybody knows the rules when you come through the tunnel at Daytona. Unless, NASCAR changes the rules a la 'We are going to add a 13th driver to the Chase, because Jeff Gordon deserves it'. NASCAR's gonna NASCAR from time to time.
I went to the events at Wembley Stadium, apart from it being bloody freezing it was great fun. One thing that stood out for me was watching the in-car shots on the big screen and seeing the contrast between Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher. Button's eyes were on stalks, hyper-concentrating on what he was doing. The Michael looked liked he was just pootling down to the shops.
13:07 I suspect the Fiat was there specifically for Schumacher, afiu he had some kind of deal with Ferrari that he wasn't allowed to drive any "road car" that wasn't from the Ferrari family
Other sports have similar events too. Biathlon has the World Team Challenge in the Schalke Stadium, where it's the best male and female athlete from each major country on a relay team. It's unofficial but it has a big payout. It's also held between Christmas and New Year's in the early season break and it's on prime time TV, plus a packed ground of about 30 to 40 thousand people. A similar one is the Wijk-aan-zee tournament in the Netherlands, the oldest current in chess and with the biggest payout. 14 of the world's best show up, and it's a must-show if you're invited. If you win it, you get bragging rights.
Went to ROC at Wembley in 2007 and 2008 and had a great time even though it was very cold. Back then both the individual cup and the nations cup were held on the same day which made for a fairly full afternoon and evening. Looking forward to watching 2025's event on TV.
I don't exactly remember when I saw my first RoC, probably late '00s, but it absolutely blew my mind. That's when I started taking an interest in other categories of motorsport, not just F1. It was most probably held at Wembley, and it was broadcast on EuroSport.
This is one place where 1 mile ovals in the US could have shone as a venue. They're small enough where everyone could see the entire show, and have a big enough infield for rallycross, not just circuit racing. Sadly almost all US ovals under 1.5 miles have completely paved infields (asphalt and/or concrete), and even most of the larger ones do too. The only one mile tracks I could find that grass infields were either third tier facilities with bench seating, or places like Connecticut where metre deep winter snow means you can forget about racing.
BTW as for IROC Martin Brundle finishing third overall in 1990 is a heck of a story. There were three rounds that year, Talladega, Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland (the road course round) and Michigan International Speedway. Brundle finished fifth at Talladega. He beat three NASCAR drivers, who race at Talladega twice a year. Then he won in Cleveland. If he hadn't finished a lap down at Michigan he easily could've finished second overall. Just think, Martin Brundle raced a car quite different from anything he'd raced before, on a track he'd never been to, which had a layout he'd never driven on, and got 5th. That can entirely shut up anyone who doesn't think he's a damn good driver.
I've watched F1 since the 90s. Loved NASCAR when it was still called Winston Cup. IndyCar still occasionally worth it, indy 500 particularly. I like Australian Supercars quite a bit now. IROC was, and still is, it's available to see on TH-cam, incredible to watch back in the days that Crown Royal sponsored the series. I love rewatching those races to this day.
one driver I'm surprised I didn't see mentioned is Fernando Alonso considering he'll race anything especially during his 2017-2020 area where he was trying other motorsports
Kinda like iroc but they switch the cars up. I like it. Th problem witht he iroc series was that it gave the nascar drivers a huge advantage. Because the cars were essentially stock cars (nascars) with dodge or later trans am body's and the tracks were all tarmac and ovals the open wheel and dirt guys were at a huge disadvantage.
I used to love the karting rave they used to do in Paris in the early 90s, also the super touring car fia world cup they ran for 3 years. I guess the closest to that we could get now is the Macau fia gt cup but on a purpose built track like Silverstone and invite the top 4 gt3 drivers from each series to complete. That would be mega
Race Of Champions (ROC) Ultimate Edition, The Ultimate Race Of Champions (UROC). A Proper Race Of Champions (PROC) Entry List: Ayrton Senna, the greatest driver of all time. Besides Jim Clark. Jim Clark, the greatest driver who ever lived. Apart from Ayrton Senna. Stirling Moss, the greatest British racer ever. Juan Manuel Fangio, the best person from Argentina. Colin McRae, the greatest rally driver of all time. Along with Walter Rohrl and Henri Toivonen. Dale Earnhardt, the best American of all time, next to Richard Petty. Richard Petty, the greatest American who ever lived, besides Dale Earnhardt. Walter Rohrl, the greatest German ever. Henri Toivonen, the best person from Finland. Ronnie Peterson, the greatest Swedish person of all time. Niki Lauda, the Austrian of all time. Bruce McLaren, the best Kiwi ever. Lorenzo Bandini, the best Italian ever. Jacky Ickx, the best all around racer of all time and the best person from Belgium. Takuma Sato, the greatest person from Japan. Jo Siffert, a driver at the top of his game and the best person from Switzerland. Francios Cevert, the best French driver ever. Jack Brabham, the greatest Aussie of all time. Gilles Villeneuve, the great Canadian driver and the best Canadian who ever lived. Jody Scheckter, the best racer from South Africa, on four wheels. Pedro Rodriguez, the greatest Mexican of all time and the best person from Mexico. Eddie Irvine, the greatest Irish driver ever and the best man from Ireland. Carlos Sainz Sr, Spain’s rally driver and the best person from Spain too. Cameron Greenwood Cramp, the Australian Ayrton Senna, the Australian Jim Clark. Brendan Nhyus, the Aussie Jim Clark, the Aussie Ayrton Senna. Albert The 5th Musketeer, the greatest musketeer racer ever. Penelope Pitstop, the greatest female driver and racer of all time. Speed Racer, the best cartoon racer ever, with Tom Slick. Tom Slick, the greatest cartoon racer of all time, next with Speed Racer. Jos Verstappen, the best Dutch driver and the greatest person from the Netherlands. Tom Kristensen, the greatest Danish driver who ever lived and the greatest person from Denmark. Juan Pablo Montoya, the best person from Colombia and the best Colombian person of all time. :)
There used to be a time when master respected master. There are clips of Richard Petty pushing a big car around with none other than Jackie Stewart as his copilot. And Richard was using all these NASCAR terms like wedge and push, but you could just see Jackie quietly soaking it all up. He knew he was with a fellow master. That’s what I want now. You see the Larson/Verstappen memes. If they met face to face and drove each other’s cars, I know exactly what would happen. Fellow respect of a master. It would be the real life equivalent of Goku meeting Superman. “Hey, I heard you’re pretty tough! Wanna fight?” “Yup..”
Part of the problem now is contracts are so strict about drivers being seen in different brands of car. Couldn’t have someone who drives for Chevrolet making laps in a Ford.
It looks like they split the mix of motorcycle racers 50/50 with off road and short circuits, like the drivers. Vuillemin and Smets are Motocross riders and Tianen is an Enduro World Champion, the other three are from GPs
Another time Nascar drivers came out on top in the RoC that seems to be forgotten, specifically the Nations Cup, was 2002 when USA won using Colin Edwards (motorcycle), Jeff Gordon (Racing), and Jimmie Johnson (Rally even though like Gordon he was a NASCAR driver at the time, albeit did offroad racing before going to NASCAR),
Interesting that you mentioned Jamie Whincup at the end there. Whincup actually had an amazing run at ROC 2013 Barbados. Made it all the way to the semi-final, only narrowly losing out to eventual Drivers' Cup Winner. The one and only David Coulthard.
I went to the ROC 2012 in London, was amazing and it's a shame it doesn't really exist in the same form anymore. What I loved was the necessity to be good with a variety of cars.
ROC really dropped off lately. Rallycross and sim drivers take it seriously since it's their real time to shine, but a lot of the F1 drivers go there for the fun of it. Chadwick beat Mick and Blakeley (sim racer) beat Vettel in 2022 iirc
TH-cam putting ads longer than 10 seconds that can't be skipped makes watching frustrating. I had to go back and re-enter the video from history because it was faster than waiting 30-40 seconds for two ads to finish.
One of the first (if not the first) rally super special stage was done at the Rally Australia in 1988 (and was so popular it became a regular fixture of the rally while it was hosted in Perth). Ok, I'll take my anorak off now. Here's my idea for a true ROC - have the race for the final round be done with Reliant Robins.
Let's just say that if NASCAR operated like a legitimate sport after 2004, Carl Edwards would've been a 2-time champion. He proved why when he went toe-to-toe with Schumi.
Schumacher often had a major problem in ROC. His Ferrari contract was extremely strict in that he couldn't be seen in any competitor's car in public, which meant he was most of the time limited to the KTM X-bows or ROC buggies, car's that were essentially cryptonite to his driving style. It's a minor miracle that he and Vettel won the nations cup so often. In the individual competition Schumacher often didn't do too well.
Nothing in motorsport makes me happier than NASCAR and Indy drivers pulling out "upset" victories in non-NASCAR/non-Indy series. Don't underestimate the people who make a living out of being stuck in the world's fastest traffic jams. They're almost certainly better at saving tires and fuel than most other drivers. Kinda surprised there's not more crossover between those two and IMSA
I actually went to both the ROC events at Wembley. I normally hate Wembley stadium as a concert venue, but as a motorsport venue it was amazing. I remember it being freezing cold, but nobody gave a damn as it was just so much fun. They even gave demonstrations such as Coulthard in a Red Bull, and at the 2007 one, they drove Colin McRaes championship winning Subaru out into the middle of the stadium and left it there as a tribute.
But have you been to Wembley for Real football? You know, helmets, shoulder pads, the Minnesota Vikings or the Kansas City Chiefs? You know Egg ball. I understand it's immensely popular there. 😃 If that's not Real football, why is the Football Hall of Fame located in Ohio? And no, Pele isn't a member.
@@whtalt92 Well, kind of. Though I doubt you'd draw more than 150 fans even if the All Blacks played 'The All Americans' at a match in Arrowhead Stadium. We don't know the players, we don't know the rules and the All Blacks, while an elite Rugby Club, don't care about Fahrenheit.
@@AidanMillward I hate Wembley as a venue for many reasons (including the stadium, arena and whatever else they have there). Such a pain to get to in the first place as where I come from the trains in are a good half mile plus away from the venue, and when you get there it is just chaos getting in. And when you are inside it is no better.
I randomly seen highlights (if you can call it that) of the ‘knockout qualifying’ farce at the start of 2016 which I had totally forgotten happened. That was weird. Can I suggest the background of that as a possible video one day?
Kart racing has been a replacement to keep drivers sharp in the off-season and in the last few years more so, sim racing. Also to develop young racers w/o having to spend quite as much $ karting (since even karting has gotten quite expensive) or other racing to get the needed experience. A few days ago I saw Dave Cam in a BMW M2 race that just happened to have Max Verstapen. Max didn't qualify, worked his way up to 3rd by the end of the race and had tge fastest lap while having to have the quick reflexes & practice avoiding other cars spinning (I saw at least 2 crashes he avoided that would have collected just about everone I know).
Crossover tracks (is that their official name...? That's just what I know from the DiRT games) are the wildest track designs to me, and you don't even have to keep it balanced, everyone has to do both parts.
I missed the year with Edwards, sadly. I think I'd have laughed myself sick! I've seen any number of years ROCs, until it appeared to drop off the TV (at least on the channels I get). It's a shame because you're right, it's a bit of fun! I never minded who won (I did see Heikki Kovalainen win and was so disappointed that he never lived fully up to that promise in F1. Although any number of wins, including 1, is nothing to be sneezed at.) Imagine SVG as the TBC for NZ this year... 😅
Totally not related to topic, but if i have ever had the money to put up a Formula 1 team, id call it "Transmission Problems" or something, so if we would finish rock bottom every GP, then you might not notice it and think we suck because we DNF-d, instead of being slow. I mean, like the classification would read something like: 15. Jan Magnussen - Stewart Ford 16. Olivier Panis - Prost Peugeot 17. Pedro Diniz - Arrows 18. Esteban Tuero - Minardi Ford 19. John Smith - Suspension Failure
5:07 i gotta say that the whole "museum pieces" comment is a bit untrue. The resurgance of rallycross was driven hugely by the ex Group B cars now being up for grabs.
I think a non-championship event would be good for F1 right now. No current drivers allowed, cash prizes for teams and drivers, merged in to the Abu Dhabi event?
Brilliant run down on what has become an annual bit of fun, as usual. I normally accept different accents & pronunciations, but on this occasion, your 2 word Tazz Man has irked me. One word with a short soft 2nd "a", Tasman. So named after "The Ditch", the Tasman Sea between Oz & NZ. The Tasman Series was staged between both countries, & is what hooked me onto F1 in 1968. Anyway, rant over, awesome story, keep it up & Merry Christmas to everyone.
We could still see Sebastian Loeb vs Max Verstappen in a no holds barred 3000 horsepower race to the top of Pike’s Peak. Just get Peugeot and Red Bull on board. Oh, and I’m talking about 3000 horsepower per car. Not combined.
While it was in a time before each made their perspective marks in top series, this isnt the first time really to happen. Nascar's mid pack Lake Speed beat some Brazilian bloke for a championship in karts. I think his name was Senna.
The modern 1988+ Race of Champions was founded by 'The Black Volcano' herself, utter legend Michelle Mouton. They were credited with inventing the head-to head rally 'super-special stage' format, when the RoC found its permenant home on Gran Canaria in the early '90s. (I think the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland was the first world championship rally to copy the format.) Personally I lost interest after they switched to the stadium events. :-( The modern RoC doesn't seem to have any connection to the old non-championship F1 events, apart from sharing the same name.
That's actually not a bad list for this year. A Kyle Larson would be the obvious "I want to see him" candidate for USA. McLaughlin and Gis would be ideal for New Zealand but Paddon isn't bad, either. No British team is a bit disappointing because we've got a few of those "I'll drive everything" drivers with BTCC Champion Jake Hill and Ash Sutton.
I am desperately trying to remember which year it was I saw this in Wembley…08 or 09? The Michael stalled on the line in one event which I must say was amusing…
Damn, not only i watched race of champions My country also had its own version competing on a street circuit driving karts the weekend after the last race of the year 😂 Which would be this coming weekend if it still was a thing, but sadly got discontinued some years ago
While you say “taking it seriously” I view it as trying too hard and preceding to cook what little tires he had. Knowing the stories about Schumi from Nico I would not be shocked to learn that it was him trying to play some mind games with the Yank.
They always say F1 has the 20 best best drivers in the world.. i always think more like 10 best ad im sure we can pick out 10 drivers in other series that are better than the bottom 10 F1 drivers. ROC is such a joy to watch every time.
Was it not an ROC event where Colin McRae rolled it, landed back on his wheels and then carried on racing? Also - the death of Group B rallying left a lot of Group B cars sitting around unused.... but at the same time, there was this new thing called "Rallycross" looking around for some cool fast cars, and yep and whole host of the Group B cars found years of service pounding round the Rallycross tracks.
It was a spark for a brief while and then just died. I think it slightly went too gimmicky and too heavily reliant upon some sponsored car produced in almost double digit numbers (which is how business works, but corporations aren't always exciting and fun). Personally I don't mind the F1 guys not going, because it's built for Rally/RallyX drivers, and they're the best on the planet anyway.
I watched this as it aired in America. Listening to the commentators was very frustrating. This racing nationalism is great for fun and pride,but these guys were contemptuous and despairingly mocking the American in an underhanded way. The idea that there’s millions of people on a continent and not one of them can compete with your country’s racing driver is a ridiculous belief.
It was the disdain towards NASCAR in general. They did not take it seriously. Remember, in those years several teams still had ringers to race for them on road courses. And although Carl was ok on road courses, there were better road course drivers in those times.
There's probably a mod of the London track for AC but knowing AC it's probably ripped from someone or somewhere...
But yeah- Should ROC be some sort of metric for our favourite drivers to prove how good they are or should it still be a just for fun thing/showpiece at the end of the year?
Just bragging rights, I suppose...I enjoyed it. Thought it a bunch of fun until Pascal Wehrlein got hurt. We might see the much anticipated Max vs Kyle Larson though, on dirt.
I went to roc Miami the day the 3 wheel thing flipped. You can for sure tell how comfortable the drivers are when they switch cars. It’s a cool event but it gets predictable as some do it often and are way more comfortable pushing on the tight stuff
Bit of both
No, should be only to have fun during a weekend. Like organizing a race in some videogame between all of them would be on this era
I would be shocked if there wasn't one. I participated in a Sim Racing ROC event back back in 2011 on rFactor 1, using the London ROC track and it was bloody awesome.
I'm still not convinced that Durex was the ideal motor racing sponsor. A puncture would have been really bad advertising. And, can you imagine that logo on the opening credits of Grandstand?
Imagine the advertising:
"Hot rubber is sticky rubber" next to a picture of an F1 tyre doing a burnout.
Very dark times to be a mark martin fan.
“It’s a puncture for the Durex car!”
“That’s going to be an 18 year penalty” 😂
18 YEAR PENALTY!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I'm still baffled that the BBC refused to broadcast a -race- season because Durex was a sponsor on a car.
"Cousin Carl" Edwards has always been underrated IMO. 28 wins in cup, 38 in Xfinity (second tier) and the 2007 Xfinity champ. He was always fast, just never got the biggest prize
I was in Homestead that night he was robbed of his title by that BS caution.
@@GregBrownsWorldORacing I can remember that one.
@@GregBrownsWorldORacingthat phantom caution helped Jimmie Johnson and Logano to end Carl Edwards's dream Championship run.
@@purwantiallan5089 Carl had about a 7 second lead too.
Carl was legit. While most who call out the BS are loud mouths, he wasn't. He was measured and honest as he was talented.
Carl Edwards grew up racing on dirt tracks in the US. They were ovals, but they almost drive like a left turn only rally track. These races have very little practice time and the track will evolve every lap and become very slick by the end of the event This constant evolution make the drivers have to 'feel' the grip in the track and adjust instantly to make the quickest lap. Kyle Larson grew up on similar tracks, just running different classes of cars.
Bill Elliott and Steve Park also.
Talent is talent. I remember Hamilton having a drive in a NASCAR and the general talk was that he'd struggle because it's not what he was used to but within a few laps he was putting in competitive times. He said something to the effect of "it's a race car, you find where its limits are and get as close as you can to them"
If Need for Speed has taught me anything, it's that a heavily riced out Fiat Punto can easily beat a Porsche Carrera GT and a BMW M3 GTR racecar.
so true lmao
I 100%ed Underground 2 using only the Peugeot 206 I started with. That thing was a beast by the end, over 500bhp on the dyno.
If Burnout 2: Point of Impact has taught me is u can make a hotrod buck like a bronco by boosting from a standstill
@@liamh1982 I'll have you know, the fastest cars in Underground 2 are actually the starter cars. The fastest among all of them, is the fucking Corolla
The golf is better
I loved IROC racing. I used to go to Daytona during Speed Weeks in February and IROC was one of the support races. It was sad to see it end.
Yeah was kind hoping this will be a topic. Want to hear how Martin became “Billy Bob Brundle”
The trouble with IROC was that they ended up racing basically a stock car on NASCAR tracks with NASCAR drivers making up half the field. It was all ovals with no road courses to suit the sports car guys and none of the Indy car tracks either to suit the open wheeler guys. No, it got boring to watch. At first it was great in the 1970's but by the end it was a joke.
This is the perfect place to settle the Larson v. Verstappen debate. Get them both in the next one lol
As long as it's on dirt, My money's on the Larson kid.
@@GregBrownsWorldORacing Larson is 2 years older than Max.
@@ATEC101 When you're 65, They are both kids. Change My Mind 😎
@@ATEC101and also 4 years older than Kerry Earnhardt.
In the early 2000s, ROC seemed to matter more. 19yo Alonso beating 3-time (soon 9-time) Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen was a big deal in 2001, and Heikki winning ROC 2004 helped his momentum to get to F1
Take it that was gran caneria? Gran caneria was a great venue even if it was more for rally drivers but it felt like home in a way. Gran caneria on rally fusion imo has an underrated look and design.
Theres always big deals happening in this event that never gets talked about. It always seems to be Edwards beating schumacher
Carl Edwards is a very underappreciated driver. In a 13-year career he had 28 wins, 22 poles, and 220 finishes in the top ten. Cousin Carl was one of the best until his retirement after losing the 2016 Cup to some dirty driving on the part of Joey Logano and deciding he'd had enough. The man was as good as they get
Losing the title on a tie break, is ultimate ball punch.
Those numbers are not comparable since they drive eleventy million billion races a year. But his career end is why a lot of people don't want to watch NASCAR. Absolute dog shit from Logano and NASCAR.
Logano’s still in the Cup Series today, but even Carl admitted that that incident that ultimately ended his career was his fault and was hard racing. He even went up to Joey’s crew post-wreck and apologized. I started watching when Edwards moved to Gibbs in 2015 so I didn’t know too much about him but he was defo a class act
Carl threw a bad block and Joey wasn’t lifting for his title rival
@@JackLikesTrackhouse I was at Homestead that night. Everybody saw Carl do that to the 22 crew. I believe he knew he was done at that point. It took a long time for Carl to exit his wrecked racecar that night, I believe he was contemplating his future during that time. I agree he's a class act, though Bob Keselowski may have felt differently.
Hello Aidan: I'm Australian and old enough to remember the Tasman Series. At that time, international airfares were beyond the range of ordinary people, so the Tasman was the only opportunity to see most of those driver. Have a good day.
15:34 ‘it’s a bit of fun’ tell that to Di Grassi when he lost to a esports driver 😂
When I saw the subject was about NASCAR drivers taking on F1 drivers I thought you were talking about the old made for TV International Race of Champions that was popular here in the States and ran from the early 70's to mid-90's. The early days were especially fun with F1 drivers coming over to race drivers from NASCAR and Indycar as well as some Can Am drivers in identically prepared cars (Porche 911's the first year and Chevy Camaros for the remainder of the run).
Imagine if 2026 ROC is in different one.
@purwantiallan5089 huh?
Did delight in seeing Concrete Carl beat The Michael. But the interview with DC was priceless. David What do you do to keep your edge in racing cars? DC: "i don't"
I've been into nascar just as much as i've been into f1
Carl was something special in his day, so are kyle larsson and kyle busch..
Busch was actually on the books for that us f1 team
1987 I was surprised by a IROC race at Mid-Ohio. I got to see Dale Earnhardt trailing the pack, cause he'd never driven here before. And Darrell Waltrip crashed right across the track where I was sitting. Good times.
I had the pleasure of seeing it once in 2007. I came because Michael Schumancher announced he was going to drive in his one and only competitive race that year after retiring from F1 the previous year.
I’d kind of heard of this, but your research has opened my eyes. Thanks mate, really cool, and fun, people have forgotten the fun part about sport.
Carl Edwards was probably one of the elite NASCAR drivers of his time to be fair
Would've been a 2-time champion if NASCAR still used a legitimate points format.
@@TheBrainSpecialistoh stop. He was racing under the same system as everyone else and he lost.
Is it OK to agree with you both? 😎
@@GregBrownsWorldORacing sure thing. Just a passionate racing fan,I’m not trying to be mean.
@@bonesdoes6142 I didn't think you were being mean. Who got the Trophy? That's why I agreed with you too. Everybody knows the rules when you come through the tunnel at Daytona.
Unless, NASCAR changes the rules a la 'We are going to add a 13th driver to the Chase, because Jeff Gordon deserves it'. NASCAR's gonna NASCAR from time to time.
What a great video mate. I used to watch the ROC with my dad. Lot's of fun. Cheers.
awesome video, love the Race of Champions
I went to the events at Wembley Stadium, apart from it being bloody freezing it was great fun. One thing that stood out for me was watching the in-car shots on the big screen and seeing the contrast between Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher. Button's eyes were on stalks, hyper-concentrating on what he was doing. The Michael looked liked he was just pootling down to the shops.
13:07 I suspect the Fiat was there specifically for Schumacher, afiu he had some kind of deal with Ferrari that he wasn't allowed to drive any "road car" that wasn't from the Ferrari family
Other sports have similar events too. Biathlon has the World Team Challenge in the Schalke Stadium, where it's the best male and female athlete from each major country on a relay team. It's unofficial but it has a big payout. It's also held between Christmas and New Year's in the early season break and it's on prime time TV, plus a packed ground of about 30 to 40 thousand people. A similar one is the Wijk-aan-zee tournament in the Netherlands, the oldest current in chess and with the biggest payout. 14 of the world's best show up, and it's a must-show if you're invited. If you win it, you get bragging rights.
Went to ROC at Wembley in 2007 and 2008 and had a great time even though it was very cold. Back then both the individual cup and the nations cup were held on the same day which made for a fairly full afternoon and evening. Looking forward to watching 2025's event on TV.
I don't exactly remember when I saw my first RoC, probably late '00s, but it absolutely blew my mind. That's when I started taking an interest in other categories of motorsport, not just F1. It was most probably held at Wembley, and it was broadcast on EuroSport.
This is one place where 1 mile ovals in the US could have shone as a venue. They're small enough where everyone could see the entire show, and have a big enough infield for rallycross, not just circuit racing. Sadly almost all US ovals under 1.5 miles have completely paved infields (asphalt and/or concrete), and even most of the larger ones do too. The only one mile tracks I could find that grass infields were either third tier facilities with bench seating, or places like Connecticut where metre deep winter snow means you can forget about racing.
BTW as for IROC Martin Brundle finishing third overall in 1990 is a heck of a story. There were three rounds that year, Talladega, Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland (the road course round) and Michigan International Speedway. Brundle finished fifth at Talladega. He beat three NASCAR drivers, who race at Talladega twice a year. Then he won in Cleveland. If he hadn't finished a lap down at Michigan he easily could've finished second overall. Just think, Martin Brundle raced a car quite different from anything he'd raced before, on a track he'd never been to, which had a layout he'd never driven on, and got 5th. That can entirely shut up anyone who doesn't think he's a damn good driver.
I've watched F1 since the 90s. Loved NASCAR when it was still called Winston Cup. IndyCar still occasionally worth it, indy 500 particularly. I like Australian Supercars quite a bit now. IROC was, and still is, it's available to see on TH-cam, incredible to watch back in the days that Crown Royal sponsored the series. I love rewatching those races to this day.
one driver I'm surprised I didn't see mentioned is Fernando Alonso considering he'll race anything especially during his 2017-2020 area where he was trying other motorsports
If you think ROC is great, then you must watch the Paris-Bercy karting races
Kinda like iroc but they switch the cars up. I like it. Th problem witht he iroc series was that it gave the nascar drivers a huge advantage. Because the cars were essentially stock cars (nascars) with dodge or later trans am body's and the tracks were all tarmac and ovals the open wheel and dirt guys were at a huge disadvantage.
10:29 Jimmy Johnson the football(handegg) coach? Or Jimmie Johnson the Nascar driver?
I used to love the karting rave they used to do in Paris in the early 90s, also the super touring car fia world cup they ran for 3 years. I guess the closest to that we could get now is the Macau fia gt cup but on a purpose built track like Silverstone and invite the top 4 gt3 drivers from each series to complete. That would be mega
Race Of Champions (ROC) Ultimate Edition,
The Ultimate Race Of Champions (UROC). A Proper Race Of Champions (PROC)
Entry List:
Ayrton Senna, the greatest driver of all time. Besides Jim Clark.
Jim Clark, the greatest driver who ever lived. Apart from Ayrton Senna.
Stirling Moss, the greatest British racer ever.
Juan Manuel Fangio, the best person from Argentina.
Colin McRae, the greatest rally driver of all time. Along with Walter Rohrl and Henri Toivonen.
Dale Earnhardt, the best American of all time, next to Richard Petty.
Richard Petty, the greatest American who ever lived, besides Dale Earnhardt.
Walter Rohrl, the greatest German ever.
Henri Toivonen, the best person from Finland.
Ronnie Peterson, the greatest Swedish person of all time.
Niki Lauda, the Austrian of all time.
Bruce McLaren, the best Kiwi ever.
Lorenzo Bandini, the best Italian ever.
Jacky Ickx, the best all around racer of all time and the best person from Belgium.
Takuma Sato, the greatest person from Japan.
Jo Siffert, a driver at the top of his game and the best person from Switzerland.
Francios Cevert, the best French driver ever.
Jack Brabham, the greatest Aussie of all time.
Gilles Villeneuve, the great Canadian driver and the best Canadian who ever lived.
Jody Scheckter, the best racer from South Africa, on four wheels.
Pedro Rodriguez, the greatest Mexican of all time and the best person from Mexico.
Eddie Irvine, the greatest Irish driver ever and the best man from Ireland.
Carlos Sainz Sr, Spain’s rally driver and the best person from Spain too.
Cameron Greenwood Cramp, the Australian Ayrton Senna, the Australian Jim Clark.
Brendan Nhyus, the Aussie Jim Clark, the Aussie Ayrton Senna.
Albert The 5th Musketeer, the greatest musketeer racer ever.
Penelope Pitstop, the greatest female driver and racer of all time.
Speed Racer, the best cartoon racer ever, with Tom Slick.
Tom Slick, the greatest cartoon racer of all time, next with Speed Racer.
Jos Verstappen, the best Dutch driver and the greatest person from the Netherlands.
Tom Kristensen, the greatest Danish driver who ever lived and the greatest person from Denmark.
Juan Pablo Montoya, the best person from Colombia and the best Colombian person of all time.
:)
There used to be a time when master respected master. There are clips of Richard Petty pushing a big car around with none other than Jackie Stewart as his copilot. And Richard was using all these NASCAR terms like wedge and push, but you could just see Jackie quietly soaking it all up. He knew he was with a fellow master. That’s what I want now. You see the Larson/Verstappen memes. If they met face to face and drove each other’s cars, I know exactly what would happen. Fellow respect of a master. It would be the real life equivalent of Goku meeting Superman. “Hey, I heard you’re pretty tough! Wanna fight?” “Yup..”
I got the opportunity to watch ROC 2022 in person! Had an amazing time despite the bad weather :)
Part of the problem now is contracts are so strict about drivers being seen in different brands of car. Couldn’t have someone who drives for Chevrolet making laps in a Ford.
It looks like they split the mix of motorcycle racers 50/50 with off road and short circuits, like the drivers. Vuillemin and Smets are Motocross riders and Tianen is an Enduro World Champion, the other three are from GPs
Another time Nascar drivers came out on top in the RoC that seems to be forgotten, specifically the Nations Cup, was 2002 when USA won using Colin Edwards (motorcycle), Jeff Gordon (Racing), and Jimmie Johnson (Rally even though like Gordon he was a NASCAR driver at the time, albeit did offroad racing before going to NASCAR),
ROC is basically just the motorsport world showing everybody how to throw the ultimate office Christmas party lol 😅
@@shaggyego as we all saw: it’s red bull that throws the most lavish Christmas parties.
Interesting that you mentioned Jamie Whincup at the end there. Whincup actually had an amazing run at ROC 2013 Barbados. Made it all the way to the semi-final, only narrowly losing out to eventual Drivers' Cup Winner. The one and only David Coulthard.
I went to the ROC 2012 in London, was amazing and it's a shame it doesn't really exist in the same form anymore. What I loved was the necessity to be good with a variety of cars.
So much fun watching this. Also, Sebastien Loeb does not get the respect he deserves
There was also IROC, American version of ROC.
5:10 Never to set foot on a racetrack again... except for European Rallycross which were the perfect use of these cars.
Remember when Wehrlein almost broke his neck when he flipped violently in 2017? 😮
ROC really dropped off lately. Rallycross and sim drivers take it seriously since it's their real time to shine, but a lot of the F1 drivers go there for the fun of it. Chadwick beat Mick and Blakeley (sim racer) beat Vettel in 2022 iirc
Sad to see it not continue in Piteå. Something with the beach protection law. Still it was fun to have it on ice😊
TH-cam putting ads longer than 10 seconds that can't be skipped makes watching frustrating. I had to go back and re-enter the video from history because it was faster than waiting 30-40 seconds for two ads to finish.
One of the first (if not the first) rally super special stage was done at the Rally Australia in 1988 (and was so popular it became a regular fixture of the rally while it was hosted in Perth).
Ok, I'll take my anorak off now.
Here's my idea for a true ROC - have the race for the final round be done with Reliant Robins.
Let's just say that if NASCAR operated like a legitimate sport after 2004, Carl Edwards would've been a 2-time champion.
He proved why when he went toe-to-toe with Schumi.
Schumacher often had a major problem in ROC. His Ferrari contract was extremely strict in that he couldn't be seen in any competitor's car in public, which meant he was most of the time limited to the KTM X-bows or ROC buggies, car's that were essentially cryptonite to his driving style. It's a minor miracle that he and Vettel won the nations cup so often. In the individual competition Schumacher often didn't do too well.
Loved watching ROC when I could
Nothing in motorsport makes me happier than NASCAR and Indy drivers pulling out "upset" victories in non-NASCAR/non-Indy series. Don't underestimate the people who make a living out of being stuck in the world's fastest traffic jams. They're almost certainly better at saving tires and fuel than most other drivers. Kinda surprised there's not more crossover between those two and IMSA
Seeing the entry list for the upcoming event, my money would be on Johan Kristoffersson. That guy is extremely quick on- and off-road.
It amazes me that nobody has picked up on the Rental Karting Championship for TV. That would work for a stadium tour format if done properly.
I actually went to both the ROC events at Wembley. I normally hate Wembley stadium as a concert venue, but as a motorsport venue it was amazing.
I remember it being freezing cold, but nobody gave a damn as it was just so much fun. They even gave demonstrations such as Coulthard in a Red Bull, and at the 2007 one, they drove Colin McRaes championship winning Subaru out into the middle of the stadium and left it there as a tribute.
@@caphowdy666 I went there to watch Walsall in the Football League Trophy about ten years ago. Nightmare to get to.
But have you been to Wembley for Real football? You know, helmets, shoulder pads, the Minnesota Vikings or the Kansas City Chiefs? You know Egg ball. I understand it's immensely popular there. 😃
If that's not Real football, why is the Football Hall of Fame located in Ohio? And no, Pele isn't a member.
@@GregBrownsWorldORacing oh you mean rugby without all the protective gear?
@@whtalt92 Well, kind of. Though I doubt you'd draw more than 150 fans even if the All Blacks played 'The All Americans' at a match in Arrowhead Stadium. We don't know the players, we don't know the rules and the All Blacks, while an elite Rugby Club, don't care about Fahrenheit.
@@AidanMillward I hate Wembley as a venue for many reasons (including the stadium, arena and whatever else they have there). Such a pain to get to in the first place as where I come from the trains in are a good half mile plus away from the venue, and when you get there it is just chaos getting in. And when you are inside it is no better.
You didn't mention the winter race. I think it alternates between tarmac in stadiums and snow every year.
I wish they still did this
I randomly seen highlights (if you can call it that) of the ‘knockout qualifying’ farce at the start of 2016 which I had totally forgotten happened. That was weird. Can I suggest the background of that as a possible video one day?
Kart racing has been a replacement to keep drivers sharp in the off-season and in the last few years more so, sim racing. Also to develop young racers w/o having to spend quite as much $ karting (since even karting has gotten quite expensive) or other racing to get the needed experience.
A few days ago I saw Dave Cam in a BMW M2 race that just happened to have Max Verstapen. Max didn't qualify, worked his way up to 3rd by the end of the race and had tge fastest lap while having to have the quick reflexes & practice avoiding other cars spinning (I saw at least 2 crashes he avoided that would have collected just about everone I know).
ROC 2025 should've also add Team Japan (Katsuta & Sato).
Crossover tracks (is that their official name...? That's just what I know from the DiRT games) are the wildest track designs to me, and you don't even have to keep it balanced, everyone has to do both parts.
I missed the year with Edwards, sadly. I think I'd have laughed myself sick! I've seen any number of years ROCs, until it appeared to drop off the TV (at least on the channels I get). It's a shame because you're right, it's a bit of fun! I never minded who won (I did see Heikki Kovalainen win and was so disappointed that he never lived fully up to that promise in F1. Although any number of wins, including 1, is nothing to be sneezed at.)
Imagine SVG as the TBC for NZ this year... 😅
Totally not related to topic, but if i have ever had the money to put up a Formula 1 team, id call it "Transmission Problems" or something, so if we would finish rock bottom every GP, then you might not notice it and think we suck because we DNF-d, instead of being slow.
I mean, like the classification would read something like:
15. Jan Magnussen - Stewart Ford
16. Olivier Panis - Prost Peugeot
17. Pedro Diniz - Arrows
18. Esteban Tuero - Minardi Ford
19. John Smith - Suspension Failure
Carl Edwards would have been a champion if NASCAR didn't have a gimmick to end their season. He scored the most points multiple times.
5:07 i gotta say that the whole "museum pieces" comment is a bit untrue.
The resurgance of rallycross was driven hugely by the ex Group B cars now being up for grabs.
11:17 Sometimes Finns just gonna Fin. Nothing you can do.
When it comes to driving there’s probably a Finn who can do it better than you lol
The F1 sprint races should be the current grid plus young drivers thrashing a bunch of tin tops around the circuit.
I think a non-championship event would be good for F1 right now. No current drivers allowed, cash prizes for teams and drivers, merged in to the Abu Dhabi event?
Brilliant run down on what has become an annual bit of fun, as usual. I normally accept different accents & pronunciations, but on this occasion, your 2 word Tazz Man has irked me. One word with a short soft 2nd "a", Tasman. So named after "The Ditch", the Tasman Sea between Oz & NZ. The Tasman Series was staged between both countries, & is what hooked me onto F1 in 1968.
Anyway, rant over, awesome story, keep it up & Merry Christmas to everyone.
We could still see Sebastian Loeb vs Max Verstappen in a no holds barred 3000 horsepower race to the top of Pike’s Peak. Just get Peugeot and Red Bull on board. Oh, and I’m talking about 3000 horsepower per car. Not combined.
I appreciate your effort in trying to pronounce the Finns' names.
Indeed. It's close enough, and that's rare!
While it was in a time before each made their perspective marks in top series, this isnt the first time really to happen. Nascar's mid pack Lake Speed beat some Brazilian bloke for a championship in karts. I think his name was Senna.
The modern 1988+ Race of Champions was founded by 'The Black Volcano' herself, utter legend Michelle Mouton.
They were credited with inventing the head-to head rally 'super-special stage' format, when the RoC found its permenant home on Gran Canaria in the early '90s. (I think the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland was the first world championship rally to copy the format.)
Personally I lost interest after they switched to the stadium events. :-(
The modern RoC doesn't seem to have any connection to the old non-championship F1 events, apart from sharing the same name.
You need to do a video on the kart racing in Paris Bercy stadium 🥵
That's actually not a bad list for this year. A Kyle Larson would be the obvious "I want to see him" candidate for USA. McLaughlin and Gis would be ideal for New Zealand but Paddon isn't bad, either. No British team is a bit disappointing because we've got a few of those "I'll drive everything" drivers with BTCC Champion Jake Hill and Ash Sutton.
Oh, i really, really want to see Rovanperä in ROC with Bottas. It would be Team Finland win, for sure.
I am desperately trying to remember which year it was I saw this in Wembley…08 or 09? The Michael stalled on the line in one event which I must say was amusing…
Damn, not only i watched race of champions
My country also had its own version competing on a street circuit driving karts the weekend after the last race of the year 😂
Which would be this coming weekend if it still was a thing, but sadly got discontinued some years ago
Are those arrows Aidan. Arrows … et tu Millward.
Race of champions was awesome, but nobody took it really seriously.
It was like firendlies in football
While you say “taking it seriously” I view it as trying too hard and preceding to cook what little tires he had. Knowing the stories about Schumi from Nico I would not be shocked to learn that it was him trying to play some mind games with the Yank.
They always say F1 has the 20 best best drivers in the world.. i always think more like 10 best ad im sure we can pick out 10 drivers in other series that are better than the bottom 10 F1 drivers. ROC is such a joy to watch every time.
4:55 is that a snake on track in front of the Delta? If not someone needed to change his dog's feed...
We never got to see Dale Earnhardt vs Ayrton Senna in stock Corvettes. And that still annoys me.
Will we finally get to see Kyle & Max duke it out? 👀👀👀
WEMBLEY CUP REFERENCED 🔥💯💯
Was it not an ROC event where Colin McRae rolled it, landed back on his wheels and then carried on racing?
Also - the death of Group B rallying left a lot of Group B cars sitting around unused.... but at the same time, there was this new thing called "Rallycross" looking around for some cool fast cars, and yep and whole host of the Group B cars found years of service pounding round the Rallycross tracks.
I think the McRae roll was at the X-Games
How many likes on the video to finally have your sinuses checked out?
It couldnt be too hard to throw the grid on some BMW M240 racers or GT4 for a little fun?
Get it back to Gran Canaria in mid December, for rally drivers, as it was when it was an end of season 'fun' event. It's now pretty rubbish........
There\s a proper winter (snow) race, currently hosted in the north of Sweden
It was a spark for a brief while and then just died. I think it slightly went too gimmicky and too heavily reliant upon some sponsored car produced in almost double digit numbers (which is how business works, but corporations aren't always exciting and fun).
Personally I don't mind the F1 guys not going, because it's built for Rally/RallyX drivers, and they're the best on the planet anyway.
I watched this as it aired in America. Listening to the commentators was very frustrating. This racing nationalism is great for fun and pride,but these guys were contemptuous and despairingly mocking the American in an underhanded way. The idea that there’s millions of people on a continent and not one of them can compete with your country’s racing driver is a ridiculous belief.
It was the disdain towards NASCAR in general. They did not take it seriously. Remember, in those years several teams still had ringers to race for them on road courses. And although Carl was ok on road courses, there were better road course drivers in those times.
Motorsports It's a knockout.