TMS set to host IROC race
By John Sturbin
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Texas Motor Speedway apparently is close to adding another prestigious event to its 2004 motorsports schedule.
Officials of the International Race of Champions Series have scheduled a teleconference for "major announcements" on Thursday afternoon, when IROC president Jay Signore is expected to name TMS as one of four venues on the all-oval schedule. Signore also will announce a new title sponsor for the series, which previously has been financially backed by TrueValue Hardware.
Signore will be joined on the call by NASCAR Nextel Cup Series driver Kurt Busch, the reigning champion from IROC XXVII.
Contacted at IROC headquarters in Tinton Falls, N.J., on Monday night, Signore said IROC was "in negotiation with them [TMS officials], but you'll have to wait until Thursday. You'll find out on Thursday."
Eddie Gossage, executive vice president and general manager of TMS, declined to confirm the 1.5-mile quadoval in Fort Worth would play host to its inaugural IROC race this spring.
"IROC will announce their plans Thursday," Gossage said. "For me to say anything before that wouldn't be appropriate. We're always trying to make the schedule better. If we were successful in landing an IROC race, that would be a real home run."
IROC would become the sixth major series competing on TMS' 24-degree banked paved oval. The lineup already includes NASCAR's Nextel Cup, Busch Grand National and Craftsman Truck series, and the Indy Racing League's IndyCar and Infiniti Pro series.
IROC is an invitational series matching 12 championship drivers from different forms of motorsports in equally prepared Pontiac Firebird stock cars, running on Goodyear radial racing tires. Drivers from NASCAR's three major touring series, the IRL and Championship Auto Racing Teams typically have dominated IROC fields.
The series is designed to eliminate mechanical advantages and produce a winner based solely upon driver skill. The format consists of four 100-mile sprint races, usually staged as a Saturday afternoon "support race" during a NASCAR Nextel Cup weekend. Points awarded at each event determine the overall champion.
The 28th edition of IROC is scheduled to open at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Feb. 13, two days before the Nextel Cup season-opening Daytona 500. No other IROC dates have been confirmed, but the series finale at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway fell off the '04 Brickyard 400 weekend schedule last Friday. Last year's schedule included Daytona, the 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway and IMS, which had served as host for the IROC finale since 1998.
Because the series has been dominated by NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers, the race at TMS is expected to be run in conjunction with the Samsung/RadioShack 500 weekend in Fort Worth April 1-4. NASCAR's Busch Series is scheduled to run its O'Reilly 300 at TMS on Saturday, April 3, creating the possibility of an IROC night race at TMS on that date. Or, IROC could be run on Friday, April 2, after Cup qualifying.
Over 100 drivers representing stock car racing, road-racing, the World of Outlaws and Formula One -- a list that includes Indy-car legends A.J. Foyt of Houston and Johnny Rutherford of Fort Worth -- have competed in the series since 1974. The late Mark Donohue won three of four events contested on road-courses that year. The series was not run from 1981-83 and gradually has morphed into an all-oval format. IROC drivers last ran on a road-course on Aug. 10, 1991, when NASCAR's Rusty Wallace won on the 2.45-mile layout at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Beginning with IROC XVI in 1992, every series race has been contested on an oval track.
NASCAR drivers have captured 15 consecutive championships dating to IROC XIII in 1989. That run includes titles won by NASCAR champions and native Texans Terry Labonte (1989) and Bobby Labonte (2001); four titles won by the late Dale Earnhardt of NASCAR (1990, 1995, 1999, 2000) and four by NASCAR's Mark Martin (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998).
TMS 2004 SCHEDULE
April 1 O'Reilly Auto Parts Qualifying (NASCAR Busch Series)
April 2 O'Reilly Auto Parts Qualifying (NASCAR Nextel Cup Series)
April 3 O'Reilly 300 (NASCAR Busch Series)
*April 3 International Race of Champions (tentative)
April 4 Samsung/RadioShack 500 (NASCAR Nextel Cup Series)
June 10 Qualifying Night (NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Indy Racing League IndyCar series)
June 11 O'Reilly 400k (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series)
June 12 Bombardier 500k (Indy Racing League IndyCar Series)
Oct. 15 Pole Day (NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Indy Racing League IndyCar Series)
Oct. 16 Silverado 350k (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series)
Oct. 16 Texas 100 (Indy Racing League Infiniti Pro Series)
Oct. 17 Chevy 500k (Indy Racing League IndyCar Series)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Sturbin, (817) 390-7408
[email protected]
