IROC Returns! Legendary Drivers Reunited With Historic IROC Race Cars! (Behind The Scenes)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 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 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.
Yea, I agree
NASCAR hasn't done a good job trying to promote the drivers like they did in the 90s especially. Alot didn't care about NASCAR, it was Pretty boy Jeff Gordon vs The Intimidator Dale Earnhardt. I loved the sport back then but some only knew it for that
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.
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
Mark is soooooo smooth! He’s the MAN!!!
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
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
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!
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
So good to see Geoff Bodine back in a race car.
Yes! Not a big IROC guy but loved seeing Geoff!
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.
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 seeing Mark’s son. I wish he had stuck with racing. He was very good.
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!
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
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!
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!
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.
Love seeing those old drivers back in those cars
Greg Biffle was a busy dude this past weekend! He was also wheeling a crown vic at Stafford.
He's great.
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
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!
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!
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.
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!
I remember watching IROC races at Talladega and that was some of the best racing ever
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!
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!!
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 🤘🏻🇺🇸🏁 !!!
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.
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!😉👍
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!
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
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
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
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
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!
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 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!
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.
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
Mitchell and Logan... I've been watch these 2 for some time now. I believe I heard Ray say that part of the reason this IROC get together happened was in part due to them. Different people contacting Ray with vehicles they found because they saw Ray on this channel. I belive Mitchell And Logan should have received a bottle of champagne too! LOL. Anyway... Thanks guys! Great work!
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! 🤙❤️🔥❤️🔥
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.
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!
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.
So incredible to see Mark Martin in that car…. & Bobby LaBonnie too
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 TH-cam. Awesome video!
100% awesome, it is great that you get to capture all of this!!!
Thank you Brad!
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’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!
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!
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🇨🇦” ~
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
Thank you for showing this!
Thank you David!
This amazing event is making me even more curious about the future of IROC’s return. Ah this is so awesome!
I wish this was part of the broadcast, but I’m so glad you and a bunch of people made videos about it.
Amazing job, everybody!
Awesome program Team Stapleton, I wish I’d been there. I’ve got a cool pic of my wife standing next to the Earnhardt lavender IROC car in the garage area at Daytona in 96. We watched the IROC race sitting on the pit wall
I was on the edge of my seat. And yeah 30 minutes after seeing this I thought I wish I was there. Damn cool love it. They did a great job.
3 words. Un fuckin real. One of the top things I have watched in recent decades.
Thank you very much!!
So many childhood heroes...Mark, Al Jr. Danny Sullivan, Davy Jones, the list goes on in one video back together doing racecar stuff, 10/10 awesome. You guys got to be a part of something very special and us in youtubeland are lucky that you could video some of it for us to watch. Though I'm quite fond of old RSR Porsches and 70s Camaros and Firebirds, the 84-89 IROC Camaros are "my generation" if I got what you were saying.
Oh and definitely do a history piece on Bob Sharp if you get the opportunity...who knows, maybe out of that will blossom the hook up to Don Devendorf, John Knepp and Electramotive to complete that arc covering some significant american motorsports history from the 70s to the early 90s...also you can't go wrong with Paul Newman, EFI pioneering, turbos etc. Again there doesn't seem to be a whole lot out there aside from Adam Carolla talking about the Bob Sharp Datsuns he's acquired, a couple of out of print (afaik) books and some quite superficial videos on the last IMSA NPT-90(or 91) and 300ZX Nissans.
You guys are killin it. The thing with Marks trophy, cold chills. The friends and contacts you guys are making cant be overstated. What you guys are doing for not just Nascar but for motorsports is second to none. There goes another T shirt. Thanks guys, this was a treat. Can't wait for the next one.
Thank you very much Greg!
30yrs ,hell , I can’t believe today.,. Great edit folks.,.
Amazing! Thank you for showing this! And thank you Ray Evernham for getting all this going as well. The racers, the cars etc. fantastic! My dad and i watched IROC many times. This brought back so many great memories.
It would be fantastic to get IROC back!
Glad you enjoyed it!!
If I can support a class it'd be everhams irocs.
Great video! Wish there were third gen Camaros on the track though. My dad and I attended the 1986 IROC race at Mid-Ohio, 20 years later I owned a 1985 IROC with the 5.0 TPI motor. Thank you Ray Evernham for bringing back these vintage cars. I'm hoping he brings the series to Mid-Ohio in the near future!
Me too. I’m sure once Ray finishes his third Gen it will be out there
Love it. thanks for bringing them back 😀🤘🏁
Absolutely love listening to MM talk about race cars...
What the Hell !!!! You just knocked it all of the park !!! God I love you and your wife !! Best for nascar ole school !! 67 Years old and have seen it all. Keep up the real world about nascar, know one else does it !!!!!
Thank you Charles!
It could not get any better than this, thank you for this race.
Hey man this was an awesome weekend. Glad you helped get the momentum to bring IROC back.
To have so much talent across the world of racing fabulous.Once in a lifeti'm and you captured it.Good for you buddy good for you
Thank you, BTW , Biffle's Late model career was based on Gen 2 Camaro front clips
This was absolutely amazing! Thank you for capturing this. I didn't have anyway to watch it real time. You definitely have made up for that. I remember mark martin driving the crown royal purple firebird that was there. Incredible. Miss them days!
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 great thing about that event. You've already been to my Skinner's place. You've been to mark Martin's place. You've been the many other drivers as well. They're comfortable with you. That's great, awesome.
You've became the new NASCAR, historian.
I agree David. Most of these guys already know us and that makes it extra fun. Everyone’s normal
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
This is amazing...love seeing these gorgeous machines back on the track.
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 have not watched the whole video yet, but what amazing content. Its awesome that Ray is bringing these beautiful cars back where they belong on the track. My favourite cars are the Firebirds, I love the look of them, and they were the ones raced when I got into racing when I was a kid. I wish I was there in person to hear the absolute wicked sounding x-pipe cars.
Thank you Jeffrey!
All I have to say is WOW! That would have been amazing to experience. Great job and thanks for sharing.👍🏼♥️
Like the guy who works with Ray said, "This is gold". Congratulations to Logan and Mitchell......and every else involved. This is the best video yet. Best wishes from Ireland.
Thank you George!
I loved the video so cool to see those guys from my time on track again I hope iroc comes back
That would've been so cool to witness, I love the 70's/80's IROC cars, that Black 70's Z28 was my favorite. Thanks for sharing!
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.
47:37 to 48:25 = Mark Martin has not lost that "urge to win the race", and he drove that IROC race like a champion - oustanding! Thank you Stapleton42 for your great effort and video documentary.
Thank you Don!
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!
The whole thing was great. People talking and stories. Hanging out.
And damn I like the mark martin views that was top notch.
Thanks Brian!
I wish they would bring them back. They used to put on a show. Better than the cup racing.
Mitchell and logan, the IROC returns video was the most entertaining video I've seen in a long time. It was fantastic seeing those old faces and hearing those old voices again hear it really enjoyed it! Thank you again very much for what you guys do. I think you found your niche. God bless both of you👍👍
I couldn’t help but imagine myself in one of those cars when you shared in car camera clips! I saw Mark Donahue in IROC Porsches at Daytona in the 1970s. THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO TO FURTHER THE APPEAL OF RACING. Tim in northern TN
Awesome stuff. We had so much fun at the park. I can't believe Mark Martin sat in our golf cart to sign autographs after the main event! I asked on a couple pages on FB but no reply if anyone has any photos of that. However, Mark Martin did reply to my comment on his post about going to the track. I told him we found his HANS, and he said he was able to get it back. Thanks so much for that. And once again, thanks for posting some cool content to get my son interested in attending the races at LRP. Once he saw that video of Ray's garage, he made it a point to find you at the track. Every where he looked, "'is that him?". I hope you guys had a fun time at Lime Rock. Next time, I am making sure to sneak underneath the advertising banners as the cars pull out from the cold pits.
Yep I gave the hans to Det!
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!!
Awesome work covering this event. Great group of drivers and cars. I remember them all and IROC is part of the reason I became a TA/Firebird/Camaro fan and still have my 2001 to this day. Looking forward to seeing more.
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!
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.
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 👍👍👍👍
Amazing event. So great to see all those guys together on the track again. I would love to see a seniors racing series for these guys. Something fun without the grueling 10 month schedule. And you had great access to everything. Great video, thanks.