Dale Earnhardt – The Unmuffled Auto News

Monaco has been called the casino capital of the world. It’s got a lot of wealth squeezed into just 499 acres. For reference, that’s almost five times the size of Disneyland. It’s also the oldest circuit of Formula 1, having been a track since 1929. The route is essentially the same as it was in 1929, which gives you a unique opportunity to see cars with nearly 1000 horsepower blasting around for first place. It’s also one of the few tracks where race cars get to run through the tight streets of a city.

For those of you who watch motorsports, you’re likely going to agree with me that the reason that people are drifting away from watching various races is that it doesn’t seem as exciting anymore. I think it has to do with the fact that the tracks are wide (they can usually take well over three cars at even the narrowest corner), and that the cameramen are getting pushed further away from the action. This last fact might seem trivial and stupid to you, but think about it for a second. Thanks to GoPros (I have nothing against them), automotive enthusiasts are getting used to punching in a search term into YouTube (again, nothing against it) and seeing POV videos of some motorcyclist or crazy driver blasting their way through traffic. You can put a GoPro on just about any surface on a car or motorcycle so that everybody can see the action. That’s all fine and dandy, but we need to do this in the professional racing world.

Many Formula 1 races are actually quite exciting, but they don’t seem like it on your TV. The tracks are so wide that it’s nearly impossible to get a cameraman close to the action. It just doesn’t seem quite as exhilarating as hearing that unearthly shriek coming towards you, the whirs and pops from the turbocharger, and the crackling downshifts sending flames shooting out of the back of the car. There’s only so much action a camera can capture when it’s 100 feet away from the action, instead of ten feet away.

I look forward to Monaco for this reason: it’s one of the few races left where I can feel like I’m right there, even if I’m several thousand miles away from the action. It’s the closest we can get to seeing a modern car whip around one of the most historic tracks in the world.

I feel that Formula 1 has turned into what NASCAR used to be. Think of NASCAR as the WWE Raw TV show, while Formula 1 is like watching a street fight. I know this might seem ridiculous, but if you were into watching wrestling, would you want to see a scripted and pre-ordained fight, or would you want to watch a fight where nothing is scripted or agreed to other than the fight itself?

NASCAR used to hold a special magic for me, and I only watch it at Watkins Glen and Sonoma Raceway now, as most of the drivers are inexperienced on road courses. I’ve talked to several friends about the boring, pre-ordained spectacle that NASCAR has become, even though it’s got just enough reality to make it somewhat worth following.

Formula 1 now holds that magic for me. NASCAR and Formula 1 used to be the bleeding edge of technology, and now it’s up to Formula 1 to do that. NASCAR today is this: you have a larger-than-life personality, put the pedal to the metal, and let Dale Earnhardt., Jr. or Jimmie Johnson take the win. It was a shocker to me when Kevin Harvick became the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. It was completely unexpected, and it helped me somewhat re-kindle my interest in NASCAR. Formula 1 is now truly a test of a driver, his team, and their car. If you want to make a big splash in the racing world, become a Formula 1 driver. I know that what I’ve said has been repeated by many automotive journalists, but it’s worth rehashing.

One last thought (promise!): Monaco is a place that should be high on the bucket list of every automotive and racing fan. It’s incredibly high on mine. I’ve always wanted to do a road trip through Europe of all of the great European tracks (Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Goodwood, Le Mans, Nurburgring, Hockenheim, Monaco, Monza and Imola) in a Pagani Huayra.

I’d love to hear your experiences of NASCAR/Formula 1, and why you agree or disagree with me on this. If you watch another form of motorsport that holds this kind of magic for you, please tell me in the comments section. I enjoy watching all of the off road racing in Baja and the desert. It’s entertaining, and it’s truly a test of a driver.

One of my friends from school wrote an excellent article about the loss of magic in NASCAR for him, and it’s worth a read, as well as this article. http://www.theoakleafnews.com/sports/2015/05/12/is-nascar-fading/

“Spanning the globe to bring you a constant variety of sports; the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The human drama of athletic competition … This is ABC’s Wide World of Sports.” Legendary ABC Sports broadcaster Jim McKay spoke those words every Saturday afternoon for 37 years, from 1961-1998, when ESPN became the premier sports broadcasting channel. Those words of Jim McKay were heard in millions of American homes.

ABC Sports was particularly fond of showing motorsports. Every Saturday afternoon, millions of American children (and adults!) were treated to 90 minutes of non-mainstream motorsports like NASCAR, NHRA, demolition derbies, surfing, and even the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show. While I’ve never seen the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show, it must have been good enough to be shown on one of the very few TV channels on the air at the time. This is when IROC racing entered the motorsports scene in the early 1970’s. It ran for a good 15 years or so, reaching it’s peak around 1980. There was no other place where you could watch NASCAR legends like Richard Petty and Bobby Allison duke it out with F1 legends like Emerson Fittipaldi and Denis Hulme. Throw in Mario Andretti, and you were bound to sit back and watch one hell of a ride.

The late Chris Economaki was always commentating on some form of motorsports, and his talent showed during the pre-race commentary of IROC V. IROC V was the 5th IROC season, and the year was 1978.

While most younger Camaro enthusiasts will think that IROC was simply an option package developed for the Camaro starting in 1985, there’s more to the story. The story behind IROC goes all the way back to 1973 with Roger Penske, Les Richter, and Mike Phelps (no relation to the swimmer of the same name!) all had the amazing idea to put 12 of the world’s greatest race car drivers in identical cars to compete on road courses and NASCAR superspeedways alike in a four-race series. Richter was cautious enough to say that the IROC series might not determine who the best driver was, “but we sure go a long way towards that goal.”

The first IROC season was the 1974 season, and it kicked off on October 27, 1973. It consisted of 4 events with all racing done in identically-prepared Porsche 911 RSR’s. For the 1975 season, Chevrolet came on board, and the Chevrolet Camaro was the car of choice.

Here are some pictures that have only recently been released to the public. Enjoy.

Bobby Allison leads the field in what looks like IROC IV or something like that. He has a rear-view mirror filled of Mario Andretti and an unknown driver in the black Camaro.
The late Chris Economaki was synonymous with auto racing, and here he is doing what he always did best: pre-race commentary on the grid during IROC V, which was the 1978 season.
IndyCar, Formula One, and NASCAR winner Mario Andretti leads the way at Daytona. Mario was a regular invitee in the early years of the IROC series and took the championship in 1979.
Three-time Indy 500 winner and 1975 IROC champ Bobby Unser gets a little nudge from four-time Indy champ and two-time IROC champion A.J. Foyt.
Bobby Unser returns the favor to A.J. Foyt
Mario Andretti gets a mirror full of Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Alan Jones, Tom Sneva, and Neil Bonnett.
I’m not sure how, but my best guess is that a tire or some large piece of debris from another car made it’s way to Formula One racer Ronnie Peterson’s windshield during IROC II. It looks like the right side of the front spoiler and grille got hit as well.
Al Unser comes up on Bobby Allison at Riverside International Raceway in what looks to be IROC II or III.
Richard Petty and A.J. Foyt negotiate the “S” turns at Riverside. Petty was known as The King of NASCAR, but an IROC championship eluded him. His best finish was 5th at IROC V.
Richard Petty, A.J. Foyt, and Brian Redman battle for position at Riverside during IROC III’s 1976 season. Foyt took home the championship later that year.
Johnny Rutherford goes a little too wide at Riverside.
Bobby Allison looks to escape unscathed during IROC VII in 1980. The same cannot be said for Darrell Waltrip and Mario Andretti. Ouch.
Being who the racers are in this group, this looks like IROC XIII in 1989. You have A.J. Foyt, Scott Pruett, Dale Earnhardt, and up top is IROC XV champion Rusty Wallace.
Rubbin’s racin,’ and this witness mark on Earnhardt’s Camaro proves that these guys are just as competitive in the IROC world as they are in their native NASCAR country.
Two CART and two NASCAR guys. This is from IROC VIII. The one and only year (1984) Cale Yarborough took the series title.
Here are two NASCAR guys in familiar territory. Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt had many battles in their regular “company cars,” and this IROC race was no different.
Here is another great matchup between CART/F1 racer Emerson Fittipaldi and NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt. This looks to be IROC VIII, in which Earnhardt finished Ninth and Fittipaldi came in Eleventh for the season.
Go time!
It’s hard to get used to Dale Earnhardt in anything other than a black car, but in 1989 he raced (at least once) this white Camaro. As a side note, this was the final year of the Camaro in IROC racing. In 1990 the switch was made to the Dodge Daytona. Scott Pruett is leading the field in the No. 8 Camaro, Dale Earnhardt is 2nd in the No. 7 Camaro, Al or Bobby Unser Jr. is 3rd in the No. 10 Camaro, and Rusty Wallace is 4th in the No. 12 Camaro.
Tavis Highlander drew up this IROC fifth-gen a few years ago, and he gave a little taste of what the series’ cars might have looked like if the series was still going today. You’ve gotta admit that this car looks seriously evil. I like the NASCAR wheels. Somebody needs to build this car.

That’s all of the never-before-released pictures. Tell me which picture is your favorite. I like all of them. The digital drawing is cool, but it needs the name of a driver to be on the windshield, but I like it just the way it is.