Taken from jayski.com</P>


Been asked......what's up with IROC? UPDATES Crown Royal?: The International Race of Champions opener is still up in the air. The folks at IROC are apparently waiting to get the final, final, final OK from a new series sponsor. Daytona Intl Speedway is reserving them space on the Speed Weeks schedule (Feb. 13).(Daytona Beach News Journal)(12-19-2003)
UPDATE: have heard nothing on who could drive [no one has been named or rumored] or what model of cars they will run...if the series is run in 2004.....and on ThatsRacin.com, the Daytona International Speedway Speedweeks schedule has practice and race times listed, the official IROC site: www.irocracing.com has simply the following: 2004 Announcements Coming Soon!.(1-7-2004)
UPDATE 2: The International Race of Champions will not be part of the 2004 Brickyard 400 weekend schedule, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced Friday. Since 1998, IROC had staged one of its four races at IMS in conjunction with the NASCAR race. IROC, which uses 12 drivers from different racing series in identically prepared cars, had lost its sponsor, True Value, after last year's race. An announcement about a new IROC sponsor [Jayski hears it is Crown Royal? OR Smith and Wesson?] and format could come as early as next week. NASCAR's Jimmie Johnson won the 2003 IROC race at IMS. Drivers from NASCAR won each of the six IROC events staged at IMS, with Mark Martin taking the first three local races.(Indianapolis Star)
UPDATE 3: from the official IROC site: Stay Tuned to IROCracing.com For a Momentous Announcement Regarding the 2004 Season on Thursday, January 15th!(1-10-2004)
UPDATE 4: hearing it is Crown Royal being the new title sponsor...a multi-year agreement will be announced on Thursday, supposedly the first race will be at Daytona on Feb 13th and will start at 5:00pm/et and they will race under the lights. Live TV on Speed Channel. As for cars: hearing they will run the same IROC chassis that they ran last season which were were Firebirds but Pontiac isn't a sponsor so they have been dubbed "IROC chassis". Have heard nothing about drivers, but expect Cup, Busch and Truck champs for sure.(1-12-2004)
UPDATE 5: IROC will undergo a vast facelift this season, including new venues for three of its four races and a $1 million payoff to the winner, ThatsRacin.com has learned. The series, which annually pits 12 drivers from various forms of motorsports in four, 100-mile races competing in equally prepared Pontiac Firebirds, lost its sponsor last season, but has obtained Crown Royal as a replacement which will be unveiled during a major announcement Thursday, sources said. In fact, signage describing the "Crown Royal IROC Series" is already on display at Daytona International Speedway. According to sources, several other changes are planned:
......Races will be dropped from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
......The series season opener will continue to be held at Daytona, on Feb. 13 this season but the three additional races in 2004 are planned for Texas (April 2) ; Richmond, Va. (Sept. 9); and Atlanta (Oct. 30).
IROC is considering a proposal to allow participants to utilize numbers on their IROC entries the same as they use in the series in which they regularly participate. For example, Nextel Cup driver Kurt Busch's IROC car will carry #97. Busch won the 2003 IROC championship, including the series' race at Talladega and $250,000. As part of the new sponsorship package, IROC will pay out $1 million to the winner of its series, while the remaining 11 participants will each be paid the same amount, likely less than $100,000 each, sources said.
As in previous seasons, a vast amount of the drivers in the series will have connections to NASCAR, as IROC has extended invitations to several drivers in NASCAR's Nextel Cup series, including 2003 champion Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon. All but Gordon are expected to accept.
One driver who would have had an invitation, but had to decline is 2003 NASCAR Busch Series champion -- and now Cup driver -- Brian Vickers. Since the IROC series will now be sponsored by a liquor company, Vickers, 20, cannot participate because he has not yet reached the legal age limit to consume alcohol. Participants are also expected to come from the Indy Racing League and perhaps the World of Outlaws, among others.(ThatsRacin.com)(1-13-2004)

redriderbob</P>