IROC VII
IROC VIIwas the seventh year ofIROCcompetition, which took place in 1979 and 1980. The format carried over fromIROC VIin that three qualifying races were held for participants fromNASCAR,CART,and Road Racing (which primarily consisted ofFormula One,SCCA,andIMSA). The top four finishers in these qualifying races then earned the chance to race in the two final races atRiverside International RacewayandAtlanta Motor Speedway.It used theChevroletCamaroin all races, and this was the final year for the series before it went on hiatus until 1984.Bobby Allisonwon the oval finale en route to the championship and $75,000.
The final points standings were as follows:[1]
Rank | Driver | Points | Winnings | Series |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bobby Allison | 41 | $75,000 | NASCAR Winston Cup |
2 | Darrell Waltrip | 32 | $35,000 | NASCAR Winston Cup |
3 | Rick Mears | 31 | $22,000 | CART |
4 | Gordon Johncock | 26 | $21,000 | CART |
5 | Mario Andretti | 25 | $20,000 | Formula One USAC Champ Car CART |
6 | Johnny Rutherford | 24 | $19,000 | CART |
7 | Neil Bonnett | 20 | $18,000 | NASCAR Winston Cup |
8 | Don Whittington | 15 | $17,000 | IMSACamel GT |
9 | Bobby Unser | 14 | $15,500 | CART |
10 | Buddy Baker | 14 | $15,500 | NASCAR Winston Cup |
11 | Peter Gregg | 11 | $15,000 | IMSACamel GT |
12 | Clay Regazzoni | 9 | $15,500 | Formula One |
Race results
[edit]Qualifying Races
[edit]NASCAR Qualifying Race, Michigan International Speedway
[edit]- Neil Bonnett
- Bobby Allison
- Darrell Waltrip
- Buddy Baker
- Cale Yarborough
- Benny Parsons
- Dale Earnhardt
- Donnie Allison
CART Qualifying Race, Michigan International Speedway
[edit]- Gordon Johncock
- Bobby Unser
- Rick Mears
- Johnny Rutherford
- Wally Dallenbach
- Mike Mosley
- Tom Sneva
- Danny Ongais
Road Racing Qualifying Race, Riverside International Raceway
[edit]- Mario Andretti
- Peter Gregg
- Don Whittington
- Clay Regazzoni
- Alan Jones
- John Watson
- Keke Rosberg
- Emerson Fittipaldi
Final Races
[edit]Road Racing Final, Riverside International Raceway
[edit]- Darrell Waltrip
- Bobby Allison
- Mario Andretti
- Rick Mears
- Gordon Johncock
- Johnny Rutherford
- Neil Bonnett
- Buddy Baker
- Bobby Unser
- Clay Regazzoni
- Peter Gregg
- Don Whittington
Oval Final, Atlanta Motor Speedway
[edit]Darrell Waltripstarted on the pole position, withBobby Allisonon the outside of the front row. As the field came across the start/finish line to complete lap 2, fourth placeMario Andrettitriggered a huge pileup. Andretti clipped the back of Waltrip's car, who then collectedNeil Bonnettinto the outside wall. Andretti crashed to the inside wall, and a chain reaction wiped out almost the entire field. Leader Allison was ahead of the crash, andRick Mearssomehow escaped cleanly. Eight cars were involved, with seven too damaged to continue. After a 40 minute red flag, the race resumed with five cars left. On lap 41,Don Whittingtongot loose coming out of turn four and crashed on the mainstretch. It necessitated another red flag for cleanup.
Only three cars were left to race to the finish. Allison took the lead with two laps to go. Mears and Rutherford battled side-by-side for second, as Allison went on to win the race and clinch the title. Johncock was the only other car running, but 8 laps down due to damage sustained in the big crash.[2]
At the end of the race nine of the twelve cars suffered significant damage. With eight of them badly wrecked, and no contract to continue the series, IROC would go on hiatus until1984.[3]
- Bobby Allison,66 laps
- Rick Mears,66 laps
- Johnny Rutherford,66 laps
- Gordon Johncock,58 laps
- Don Whittington,41 laps (crash)
- Darrell Waltrip,2 laps (crash)
- Neil Bonnett,2 laps (crash)
- Mario Andretti,2 laps (crash)
- Buddy Baker,2 laps (crash)
- Bobby Unser,2 laps (crash)
- Peter Gregg,2 laps (crash)
- Clay Regazzoni,2 laps (crash)
References
[edit]- ^IROC season statistics at racing-reference.info,Retrieved March 8, 2007
- ^"Allison Wins IROC Final Over Mears, Rutherford".The Indianapolis Star.March 16, 1980. p. 29.RetrievedMarch 14,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Harris, Mike (December 9, 1983)."The International Race of Champions returns in '84 after three-year hiatus".St. Lucie News Tribune.p. 24.RetrievedMarch 14,2023– viaNewspapers.com.