International Race of Champions. IROC. The best drivers in truly equal cars, competing to see who is truly the best driver. A series to decide who is really better, Richard Petty or Mario Andretti; Cale Yarborough or AJ Foyt. Sounds nice on paper doesn't it? But is it a reality? Or would it be better named the International Race of NASCAR Champions? IRONC, with a couple of other guys thrown in. Lets look at this years invitees:

1. Mark Martin, a four-time IROC champion. He won seven points races in 1998 and was runner up to Jeff Gordon for the NASCAR crown. There is no doubt that he belongs.
2. Kenny Brack, the 1998 Pep Boys IRL Champion with three wins last season. Hard to argue that he shouldn't be there.
3. Greg Moore, two wins in 1998 CART season, an excellent driver, but you have to get the feeling that he wasn't the first choice from CART.
4. Jeff Gordon, three time defending Winston Cup champion, 13 wins in 1998 and blew away the competition last year. A no brainer.
5. Eddie Cheever Jr., 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner.
6. Rusty Wallace, fourth in Winston Cup points with a win at Phoenix.
7. Al Unser Jr., second all-time in IROC wins.
8. Dale Jarrett, third in Winston Cup last year with three wins.

This is a pretty impressive group of drivers. There are four roster spots remaining. Rumors have it that two may be filled by Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 in 1998 and Earnhardt Jr. was the Busch Grand National champion last year. Again, both deserving of the spot. That leaves two spots remaining. I don't know who will be named to fill those spots, but it is safe to say that whomever they name will be from either IRL, CART or most likely, NASCAR Winston Cup. To me, that is where the real problem is. In 1997, six of the 12 drivers came from Winston Cup. Last year again, six of the 12 were Winston cup. The same goes for '96 and '95. The last two selected drivers this year, (presuming that the Earnhardts are chosen) will be successful drivers, but will they be champions?

I would like to submit some candidates that I think should be on this impressive list. How about Frank Kimmel? The 1998 ARCA champion won nine of 22 events. For comparison, Jeff Gordon won 13 of 33 races, an impressive 39% victory ratio, but not as good as Kimmel's 41% last year. I don't know how many of you NASCAR fans follow ARCA, but these are very good drivers and to have a season like Kimmel did last year is impressive and deserving of a spot in the International Race of Champions. I also offer Ron Hornaday. The 1998 Craftsmen Supertruck champion won a tight, season long points battle against Jack Sprague; anyone that watched his emotions play out after winning the title at Las Vegas has to know a little more about how much these drivers love to race. Ron also had a great year, winning six times with 22 top 10 finishes in 27 events. Sprague also had an outstanding year, losing the title by only three points, but there can only be one champ, and Hornaday gets my nod for IROC. My last two nominees are from the World of Outlaws. The 1998 points champion and "King of the Outlaws" Steve Kinser and 1998 Knoxville Nationals Champion Danny "The Dude" Lasoski. Before you dismiss them as being ridiculous suggestions, remember that Kinser was selected to the ‘94, '95 and '96 IROC rosters, scoring a "shocking" win at Talledega in '94 and following it up with a second in '95. I think he proved that a dirt track sprint driver can hang in there on the superspeedways. Dude Lasoski’s win at Knoxville is the equivalent of Earnhardt's emotional Daytona 500 win last year. With a career patterning Earnhardt’s, Lasoski was the winningest driver in the history of Knoxville, and like Earnhardt, he had never claimed his series’ most prized win. 1998 changed that, and like Earnhardt and Cheever, although he didn't win the points Championship, winning the most pressure packed and competitive event of his series makes him worthy of Champion status.

There is one thing about IROC I have never understood. The series gets the best drivers from different forms of racing, puts them in identical cars with specific pit rules and so forth not allowing changes. Why do they only run on superspeedways? This year’s schedule has me shaking my head again. Daytona, Talledega, Michigan and Indy. That hardly seems equitable to me. The NASCAR drivers go to all of these tracks every year, while the other guys may not have ever seen any of them except Indy. I would like to see them run at Daytona, Indy, Sears Point and Knoxville. They can still run identical cars, but let’s even out the odds a little by varying the tracks. I chose Daytona, Indy and Knoxville because of the prestige that comes from winning the Daytona 500, the Indy 500 and the Knoxville Nationals. I chose Sears Point. because I think they should run a road course and can't think of a better choice.

I enjoy the IROC series immensely, and even if none of my suggestions are implemented, I will still watch it. But by adding champions from other divisions and cutting back on the NASCAR drivers, I feel we would have a better opportunity to see who really is the elite in the International Race of Champions.

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