Why does IROC use only "stock cars"?

Whats the point of including other styles of auto racing if you are going to heavily favor a certain segment of the participants more than others. Why not do one race in a Stock car(NASCAR,ARCA.etc), one in an open wheel car (F1,CART.etc),a dirt track car (World of Outlaws or whatever) and a (IMSA,SCCA or whatever its called this year). And vary the style of tracks to. This would be more fair. A road course or two would be sweet. My guess is that its slanted the way it is now because the prime backers are NASCAR fans, drivers, tracks. Thanks in advance.
Dead0man (thats a ZERO, please dont call me OMAN :slight_smile: )

Actually, in its first year IROC used Porsche 911s modified for racing. If I remember correctly, when they switched to a different car (can’t remember what, but it was mass-produced American) they said the Porsches had too much variation among the cars. The whole point of the series, of course, was to have the cars as equal as possible.

I agree with you about the tracks, though. There should be more road courses.

After the first year, they changed to Camaros. I also think they ought to use a mix of 2 ovals and 2 road courses, like they used to until the late 80’s.

The two real options are stock cars or CART type open wheeled cars.

Look at the venues they have available to race on and stock cars become the best choice. As for cost, stock cars win again. Making them as generic as possible? Stock cars win again. Popularity? Stock cars.

Hijack:

Looking at NASCAR, etc., one thing has always puzzled me… does anyone anywhere actually race REAL stock cars?

That is, STOCK cars–ones that roll off the assembly line, that ordinary consumers could buy, and that aren’t tweaked to all heck or constrained in specific ways (engine capacity, etc.) so that all of the cars are nearly equal.

I would find that sort of race fascinating–send the mechanics off to a dealer showroom six months before the race, have them buy whichever car they prefer, and only allow them to modify it as necessary for track safety (better tires, seat belt, roll cage, maybe remove the CD changer in the trunk…). Then find out which manufacturer REALLY makes the best car.

I autocross my MR2. The organizer finds a big airport strip or parking lot and lays out a course with cones. Cars go one at a time and are divided into different classes based on stock performance and modifications.

http://www.scca.org organizes most of the amateur racing scene in the United States.

The Sony video game series Gran Turismo is a buy if you’re interested in racing “normal” cars. Most of the large makes are included.

Well, you can go to your local oval track on a Saturday night and see cars that actually rolled off a dealer’s lot at one time, and there are various spec series and amateur classes that race converted street cars.

But if you’re talking about big-time professional racing, you’re about 25 years too late. At one time, NASCAR stock cars really were stock. In an interview I saw one time, Richard Petty was talking about the evolution of the stock car. He basically said that at first, everything was stock. But then everyone would be breaking a certain part, so NASCAR let them make that part a little stronger. Then they’d start breaking something else, and so on until you get what we have today.