IROC I

Richard Petty's Porsche Carrera from IROC I

IROC I was the inaugural International Race of Champions, which was held at two tracks over two weekends in 1973 and 1974. The first three races were held October 27 and 28, 1973 at Riverside International Raceway and the final race was held on the Daytona International Speedway road course on February 14, 1974. Champion Mark Donohue won $54000 and the championship, which was determined by prize money rather than points. The races were contested in Porsche Carrera RSR race cars. This was the only IROC to be contested entirely on road courses. Only the top 6 finishing drivers competed in all four races.

The roster of drivers and final points standings were as follows:[1]

Rank Driver Winnings Series
1 United States Mark Donohue $54,000 SCCA Can-Am
2 United States Peter Revson $21,200 SCCA Can-Am
Formula One
3 United States Bobby Unser $19,100 USAC Champ Car
4 United States David Pearson $14,600 NASCAR Winston Cup
5 United States George Follmer $16,000 SCCA Can-Am
6 United States A. J. Foyt $9,900 USAC Champ Car
7 Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi $8,300 Formula One
8 New Zealand Denny Hulme $6,000 Formula One
9 United States Bobby Allison $5,400 NASCAR Winston Cup
10 United States Richard Petty $5,400 NASCAR Winston Cup
11 United States Gordon Johncock $5,100 USAC Champ Car
12 United States Roger McCluskey $5,000 USAC Champ Car

Note: Jackie Stewart was originally scheduled to compete but retired from racing two weeks prior to the first race. He was replaced by A.J. Foyt, who had previously declined an invitation saying the all road course format was unfair to oval racers.[2]

  1. ^ IROC season statistics at racing-reference.info, Retrieved March 8, 2007
  2. ^ "A.J. Foyt Enters Race of Champions". Los Angeles Times. (California). Associated Press. October 18, 1973. p. 49.