Ray Evernham kicking the tires on an IROC rebirth, and memories flood in | KEN WILLIS

Hate to spend much time on something that may turn out to be nothing, but even if it’s a longshot hope, let’s hope something actually comes of the potential IROC rebirth.

Early this week, Hall of Fame crew chief Ray Evernham and venture capitalist Rob Kauffman announced they have acquired rights to the old IROC brand and intend to go racing with it — albeit in a toes-in-the-tide fashion to start.

At first blush, this seems like a potential winner because along with utilizing modern racing stars — at least we assume that’d be the plan — you have the strong whiff of nostalgia, and boy is nostalgia big with a certain chunk of the race-fan demographic.

The start of the 1999 IROC race at Daytona.

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Some quick background for the youngsters, as well as any lifers whose recollections of such things may have dimmed a bit.

IROC started by Roger Penske, others

IROC — the International Race of Champions — was put together in 1973 by Roger Penske, Les Richter and Mike Phelps, with Jay Signore running the day-to-day operations. The concept: Four races in 12 equally prepared cars, with 12 accomplished racers from multiple forms of auto racing.

Over time, each of the four races would be part of a NASCAR weekend, starting at Daytona and then three other high-profile tracks through the season. Porsche Carerra was the car in Year 1, but IROC went with American muscle cars thereafter — Chevy Camaro, Dodge Daytona, Pontiac Trans Am.

Mark Donohue was the first season’s champ, with Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt (twice), Bobby Unser and both Al Unsers also winning championships. But as NASCAR grew and swallowed the TV market, IROC eventually became an oval-track series at NASCAR venues, which explains why it was dominated by NASCAR racers over its last 18 years.

That’s not to say “interlopers” like Scott Pruett, Tommy Kendall and Hurley Haywood didn’t give ’em hell from time to time. But best among the outsiders was Little Al Unser, whose willingness to go toe-to-toe with Dale Earnhardt and others — particularly at Daytona — showcased his amazing overall abilities.

IROC at Daytona was a Dale Earnhardt playground

February after February, Daytona’s IROC race, paired on Friday with the old Goody’s Dash Series race, was often the highlight of Speedweeks, in terms of the on-track product.

Six of Dale Earnhardt’s 34 overall Daytona wins came in either a Dodge or Pontiac on IROC Fridays. But it’s his seventh-place finish in ’01 that’s forever etched into the Daytona/Earnhardt memory bank — a broadside from Eddie Cheever, the remarkable save through the grass, followed by all that happened shortly thereafter (you really should look it up).

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Following his Daytona IROC win in 2000, Dale Earnhardt plopped down next to NASCAR president Bill France Jr. in the Victory Lane bleachers.

In the midst of all the IROC years, a young mechanic and former racer named Ray Evernham was hired by Jay Signore to help prep the cars. That job got Evernham started on his way to all the eventual NASCAR glory with Jeff Gordon, and he always talked fondly of those early years massaging the cars and working with test drivers Dave Marcis, Dick Trickle and Jim Sauter.

An annual highlight of a long-ago Speedweeks was the day, or two, when nothing was happening but IROC testing. Sitting on the pit wall with those three Wisconsin racers, during a few moments of down time, was always an experience.

Even better when they had an IROC rookie — Steve Kinser, Helio Castroneves, others — peppering them with questions about this vehicular voodoo known as the Daytona draft.

Before the big show, somebody had to make sure the IROC cars were set to go. Here with Jim Hunter at Darlington are Dick Trickle, Dave Marcis and Jim Sauter 🏁 #IROC pic.twitter.com/xNuREcGTcT

— LilRedDave 🏁 (@LilRedDave) October 16, 2018

The old IROC brand gives Evernham a head-start

Yep, nostalgia.

That, for now, is what the IROC brand offers. If Evernham and Kauffman can bring some modern life to it, a lot of us are on board. Put some current NASCAR stars up against racers like Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon, Tom Blomqvist and, of course, Helio, and let’s see what happens.

Scheduling, driver availability and the all-important network components would have to be worked out, but heavier weights have been lifted before.

Ray Evernham and Jeff Gordon were among the most successful crew chief/driver combos in NASCAR history.

Just a few years ago, Evernham was part of the group that developed the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), which has completed three successful six-race, mid-summer seasons. He gave up any hands-on operation of SRX after the first season and now seems eager to do it again — with differences, we assume, between the ongoing SRX product and what he envisions.

The devil is always in the details, but an established brand — or at least the logo! — gives Evernham and Kaufman a running start, which is always useful when a race is at hand.

— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: IROC gets Ray Evernham jolt; Dale Earnhardt would love it, here’s why