Here it is, folks: IROC's new car for the 2011 series! This baby will be tearing up ovals and road courses alike!
What's that you say? The IROC (International Race of Champions) Series is defunct, dead, disbanded? Okay, yes, I knew that. But we recently ran across this awesome hypothetical concept in Camaro Performers magazine, and I had to share it. The design is by one Tavis Highlander -- there can be only one -- who has quite an array of design talents. Tavis explains his concept:
"Since the races for our hypothetical '11 season will be run in the United States on a combination of speedways and road courses, the IROC cars will be prepped similarly to Sprint Cup cars. Limited underbody aerodynamics will be allowed, so a low chin, adjustable splitter, and side skirts keep the airflow underneath to a minimum. Steelies and slicks handle the banked ovals and road courses with similar ease. The round exhaust routed through the side skirts is more akin to a LeMans GT1 car, but the resulting flames will please the crowds at the nighttime races."
Wouldn't they just? It's too bad this is just a hypothetical.
For those unfamiliar with IROC, it was launched in 1974 as a pure test of driver ability. The purity was achieved by setting up a small fleet of identical stock cars and inviting drivers from different disciplines to race them. Richard Petty raced in the inaugural year, when they ran the Porsche Carrera. (He came in 10th place out of 12).
Dale Earnhardt won the race a handful of times, as did Mark Martin. More recently, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart all claimed championships. In fact, when one looks at the records, it seems clear that NASCAR drivers dominated in the IROC series. (Hmmm.) Sadly, the series lacked the sponsorship to continue after 2006.
Getting back to the car, though: who wouldn't love to see that car racing in the Sprint Cup series? Slap on a blinding paint scheme and myriad sponsor logos, and we're there! If this doesn't get Chevrolet to rethink running the Imapala, nothing will!
André Guelfi Miguel Ángel Guerra Roberto Guerrero Maurício Gugelmin
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