A raucous field of 24 IROC race cars will join the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the first time on Aug. 13-16.
The International Race of Champions (IROC) series was the brainchild of businessman and motorsports legend Roger Penske. It was an automotive all-star event with the top drivers of the day competing in identical machinery.
This group is stacked with racing legends from a variety of disciplines, including NASCAR legends Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Bill Elliott, Ken Schrader and Bobby Labonte, as well as Zak Brown, Danny Sullivan, Scott Pruett and many more. Al Unser Jr. will serve as Grand Marshall of the IROC class.
However, the cars also bring significant star power to this group, as Ray Evernham, co-owner of IROC, has helped assemble an impressive field representing all seven generations of IROC cars. The 2025 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will mark the first time in history that all seven generations of IROC cars will be displayed together in one place. Here’s a glimpse of some of the machines that will tackle the 2.238-mile circuit:
1974 Porsche 911
Driver: William E. (Chip) Connor II
The car chosen for IROC’s inaugural series was the fast and reliable Porsche 911 Carrera RSR. Fifteen cars were ordered in a rainbow of colors to enhance television viewing. Chassis 0075, delivered in “Mexico Blue,” was raced in the 1974 IROC series by Formula 1 Ace Denny Hulme, USAC National Champion Roger McCluskey and NASCAR Champion David Pearson.
1975 Chevrolet Camaro
Driver: Shaun Lynn/Alex Lynn
After IROC’s inaugural season using Porsches that ultimately proved to be too expensive to maintain, the series switched to Chevrolet Camaros. Pulled straight from the showroom floor, these cars were outfitted with roll cages and upgraded mechanical components, ushering in the era of the IROC Camaro. This Camaro was campaigned in several events between 1974 and 1977 by David Pearson, Johnny Rutherford, A.J. Foyt, Brian Redman and James Hunt. It notoriously competed in a race at Daytona International Speedway in 1975, where Foyt drove the car in a battle against Bobby Unser. Foyt ultimately ended the race just a few feet short of Unser, which became the second closest finish in IROC history.
1978 Chevrolet Camaro
Driver: Zak Brown
After three seasons using Camaros, many of the NASCAR drivers who competed in IROC encouraged the series to transition to a tube frame chassis for added safety at the superspeedways like Daytona and Michigan. IROC followed this direction and debuted a new IROC Camaro for the 1977-78 season using “bodies in white” directly from General Motors and a modern tube frame chassis built by renowned race car builder Banjo Matthews. Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip drove this 1978 Chevrolet Camaro to victory, and Alan Jones drove it to fourth place during its successful career. Hollywood stars Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Gene Hackman and James Brolin also enjoyed some seat time behind the wheel of this car during a media track day at then-Sears Point Raceway in 1977.
1985 Chevrolet Camaro
Driver: Bill Elliott
For the 1984 IROC season, General Motors and IROC partnered to debut the Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z on the track and in dealerships across the country as an upgraded Camaro street car trim package. Owned by Richard Griot, NASCAR champion Bill Elliott will return to the seat of the 1985 Chevrolet Camaro in which he won the 1988 IROC race at Daytona International Speedway. This golden beauty was also driven by Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Rahal, Scott Pruett and Geoff Bodine.
1990 Dodge Daytona
Driver: Scott Pruett
Prior to receiving its Dodge Daytona bodywork, this car began life as an IROC Camaro and won two races, 1985 Michigan International Speedway driven by Harry Gant and 1986 Daytona International Speedway driven by Al Unser Jr. Gant’s win in 1985 will go down as one of the series’ most legendary championship finishes. Gant entered the final race of the 1985 season at Michigan 12 points behind the championship leader, Darrell Waltrip. Gant would go on to win the race and, by doing so, create a tie with Waltrip in the season-long points race. The tie break was determined based on who had the highest finishing position in the race, which gave Gant the 1985 IROC championship. IROC’s long standing relationship with General Motors came to an end after the 1989 season, resulting in its fleet of race cars, including this car, being rebodied as Dodge Daytonas. After retiring from IROC competition, this car remained in Roger Penske’s private collection until early 2025. It is one of the very few IROC Dodge Daytona race cars still in existence.
1995 Dodge Avenger
Driver: Bruce Canepa
This car was one of the first Banjo Matthews Gen 3 IROC Camaros built, so it spent time as a Gen 3 Camaro, Dodge Daytona and a Dodge Avenger before being retired from IROC competition after the 1995 season. Many of the most iconic names in racing history drove this car, including George Follmer, Emerson Fittipaldi, Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Rahal, Jeff Gordon, Richard Petty, Mark Martin and various others. While this car spent most of its life as a Blue #2, the current livery pays tribute to the Orange Avenger Earnhardt drove at Darlington and Michigan to win the 1995 IROC championship over Martin by a mere four points.
2006 Pontiac Firebird
Driver: Rob Kauffman
For the 1996 season, IROC switched to the Pontiac Firebird. This Firebird was driven to victory lane by Tony Stewart in the third race of the 2006 IROC season under the lights on the Daytona International Speedway road course. This was the second IROC race win of 2006 for Tony Stewart and paved the way for him to win the final IROC series championship.
The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion will feature more than 400 period-correct historic race cars competing throughout the weekend in 14 race groups.
