IROC – The Unmuffled Auto News

So, we all remember that big post I did a while back on the best cars for winter, right? Well, these cars will fit into almost everybody’s budget. They’re sure to put a big smile on your face, and you’ll miss them because of the fun factor – not for being collectible.

Any Subaru (preferably turbocharged):

Subies come in all shapes and sizes. The older they get, the cheaper they get. They also come with less amenities than your couch. That being said, any Subaru from the last 20 years will likely only need basic work done to it (tires, alignment – if you’re lucky. All Subaru engines need a new head gasket at some point). It will take you through all kinds of weather, and the AWD will save your butt all over the place. Plus, they are fun to drive, and they don’t need tire chains in the winter!

This is a Subaru in it’s natural element…

If you can’t swing the WRX, go for something older.

This is the Subaru SVX. It was Subaru’s much-maligned sports car of the early 1990s turbo hype. It wasn’t very successful on the racing circuit, but you can stuff a late-model Subaru engine into one without too much work. It looks funky, but it will be the only sports car from the 1990s that is driving around your town in the winter.

Long-bed, full-size pickup trucks:

They come in all shapes and sizes. You can get them with a regular cab, extended cab, or crew cab. They come with engines in all shapes and sizes. If you get a heavy-duty version, you can get a job as a snowplow driver with it. You just go to the dealer and have them install a snowplow kit, go to the local chamber of commerce, and become a snowplow driver. Snowbelt towns are always in critically low supply of snowplow drivers (for very good reason), but they lure folks in with benefits (hot drinks) and reasonable pay. You can pick them up for next to nothing, but make sure that it is in good running condition. Oh, and it should be 4X4. If it’s a GM pickup, you can yank the engine out and put it into that poor project car in your garage that just needs an engine. It will run forever, and you can go to any junkyard in the country and find parts for it.

1980s Chevrolet Camaro:

You know/remember them well. The IROC-era Camaro’s that had little more than big wheels and body kits on top of pitiful engines. Well, most states don’t require smog for cars like that. That means you can go straight to nelsonracingengines.com and get yourself a 2,000 horsepower, twin-turbo Chevy small-block V-8. Oh, and get a set of studded tires. You’ll never be stuck again. Or, you can just get a crate naturally-aspirated small-block Chevy engine for a few thousand. You can throw on a better set of suspension, have good summer tires in the garage, and go autocrossing and bombing around the roads in the summer. Sounds like a good package to me. Oh, and you can get them for a few grand. You’re thinking what I’m thinking.

This is stock.

This is not stock.

Jeep Wrangler:

It’s a Jeep. Need I say more? It will take you anywhere and everywhere without complaining. You don’t buy a Jeep and keep it stock. It’s got one of the largest aftermarkets in the world. You can build a rock-crawler, a dune-basher, an autocross machine, and a dragster. Oh, and everything in between. Lift kits can range from about $1,000-5,000. That leaves you plenty of money for tires, wheels, interior doodads, engine/transmission upgrades, and various other items. What I’m saying is you can do anything to a Jeep, and somebody else will have done it before you. There is no first. Just make sure that the heater works. Oh, and getting one with the bullet-proof 4.0-liter I6 is a good choice.

This is stock. Notice how small the wheels and tires are? Yeah, that will have to change.

This is an infamous Willys. Look up “LSX Willys” on YouTube for proof. It’s the ONLY Jeep in the world to beat a Corvette ZR1. I think all that it needs is a set of studded snow tires and a fearless driver.

That’s all I have for you today. If you have a hilariously cheap winter beater that you drive all of the time in the winter, tell me in the comments section. I might even do a part II!

“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.