IROC Series Needs Help

The Crown Royal International Race of Champions (IROC) series was formed in 1973 to attempt to prove who is the best driver in the world. The idea is to take the best drivers from different types of racing, put them in identically prepared cars and see who wins.

Since the series debut in 1973 the series has progressively become less friendly to non-NASCAR drivers. Now the races are all held in NASCAR-like stock cars. All of the events are held on NASCAR ovals during NEXTEL Cup race weekends. Drivers from other series face unreasonable odds and as a result the top drivers from other series don't bother to race in IROC unless they are trying to get a NASCAR ride.

Solutions

So how do they fix it? Simple. IROC needs to return to the founding principles of the series. Find the best drivers from all forms of motorsports and give them a fair chance to win.

The problem is how to attract the top drivers and get them to take time away from their already demanding schedules. The answer here is to reward them. IROC needs to pay the winners more than they would make for winning a race in their native series. Big paydays will attract the top names which in turn will add legitimacy to the competition.

2004's $1,000,000 payday for Champion Matt Kenseth is a step in the right direction, but only one driver can be champ. IROC needs to continue this trend and pay more for the individual races as well as pay big money throughout the field. To attract Champions you need to treat them like Champions.

Next, IROC has to level the playing field. Racing on four NASCAR race tracks in stock cars serves no one except NASCAR. It's simply not fair the way it is.

My ideal IROC schedule is in the table below.

This schedule would spread the racing across multiple disciplines and give all drivers a fair chance. This also would allow the winner to legitimately claim the rights to "The Worlds Best Driver."

This solution could rescue a dying series and make it a legitimate forum for the world's best drivers to race on even terms. This will attract higher quality drivers from around the world which in turn would attract more fans and more money.

The IROC series is a great idea and with these suggestions it could fulfill it's promise.