IROC History Celebrated at Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

This weekend, some of the greatest drivers in NASCAR and IROC history gathered at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca as part of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. With past IROC machines featured in the Unser Family Cup, the historic American V8s shined under the California sun.

It proved to be a special weekend for everyone involved. Fans got to enjoy seeing the incredible machines that were piloted by the likes of Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Niki Lauda, Cale Yarborough, and countless other legends of motorsports between 1973 and 2006 as part of the original International Race of Champions.

However, the gathering proved just as special to the drivers who attended, several of whom were past IROC competitors who climbed back behind the wheel of cars they had driven in the series themselves. Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, Ken Schrader, Danny Sullivan and Scott Pruett were among those who took part in the event.

Busch's machine for the event was the same Pontiac Firebird he drove in the 2003 IROC finale en route to the series championship that year. Between that and the corps of drivers surrounding him, the weekend was truly a blast from the past for the Las Vegas, Nevada native.

"This has been phenomenal," said Busch during a pre-race interview. "Just, congratulations to Ray Evernham, Rob Kauffman, the whole IROC group. The fraternity of drivers that showed up, I'm just a kid pinching myself. This is way cool. It's the cars that I used to watch as a kid, and I'm out here racing. It's been fun."

"The respect that this group has for one another to all show up and come here to have fun and be in this kind of a setting at Monterey, it's really, really been special to be a part of it," added Gordon.

While the drivers were no strangers to the car, it was the first time for many of them to visit the historic 2.238-mile facility in Monterey County, California.

"I remember this car pretty well," Martin said. "This track is so cool. I wish we would have gotten to race here in our prime. What an amazing place, amazing event. So much fun to reunite with all these great race car drivers."

On the track, Tomy Drissi scored the victory in the Unser Family Cup, holding off Dario Franchitti on the final lap in a battle of matching orange No. 20 machines bearing Tony Stewart's name. After battling throughout the 10-lap contest, Busch passed Gordon on the final lap for the third spot.

Busch recovered from a spin earlier in the race to chase down Gordon and maek the last-lap pass.

The event was the second for the revitalized IROC. In 2024, NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Ray Evernham and Rob Kauffman, announced their acquisition of the rights to the IROC brand and hosted the first IROC event in nearly 20 years at Lime Rock Park.

For more information about IROC and future events, visit iroc-racing.com.