1976 IROC Series

Race 1

The IROC Series made their 1st stop of 1976 at the Michigan International Speedway, in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Mario Andretti led the field to the green flag but it was James Hunt who led the first lap as for only the second time in the history of the IROC Series raced at the two mile Michigan International Speedway as just like the first event, no cautions would slow the event and the fans in attendance were treated to a great showing by the eleven drivers. Mario Andretti would take the lead back on Lap 7 but was followed closely by David Pearson and Benny Parsons, who was making his IROC Series debut, and Bobby Allison. However with 35 laps to go, David Pearson would pass Mario Andretti and would use his past Superspeedway experience and would hold on the rest of the way and scored his first ever IROC Series win.

Other Noticeables:
David Pearson scored his 1st win of the year,
Pearson led 1 time for 35 laps, including the final 35 laps,
It was the 1st win of his career in the IROC Series in his 9th start,
Mario Andretti(2nd), Benny Parsons(4th), Brian Redman(7th), Al Unser(9th) and James Hunt(10th) made their IROC Series debuts,
David Pearson, who finished 1st, is the points leader, leading Mario Andretti by 6 points

1.1-David Pearson (35 laps led)
2.7-Mario Andretti (9 laps led)
3.2-Bobby Allison
4.12-Benny Parsons
5.5-Richard Petty
6.9-A.J. Foyt
7.8-Brian Redman
8.10-Jody Scheckter
9.6-Al Unser
10.4-James Hunt (6 laps led)
11.11-Emerson Fittipaldi

Mario Andretti-Pole
James Hunt-1-6
Mario Andretti-7-15
David Pearson-16-50

2 Lead Changes among 3 drivers

Caution Flags: 0 for 0 laps

Margin of Victory: 0.335 Seconds

Time of Race: 44 Minutes and 29 Seconds

To keep things fair with actual IROC rules, the starting lineup for the second race will be the finishing order of the 1st race but inverted.

Here is how the field will line up for the second race of the season at the Riverside International Raceway.

1.3-Bobby Unser
2.2-Emerson Fittipaldi
3.James Hunt
4.Al Unser
5.11-Jody Scheckter
6.10-Brian Redman
7.9-A.J. Foyt
8.1-Richard Petty
9.4-Benny Parsons
10.5-Bobby Allison
11.8-Mario Andretti
12.David Pearson

Race 2

The IROC Series made their 2nd stop of 1976 at the Riverside International Raceway, in Riverside, California.

Bobby Unser led the field to the green flag as many fans remembered the past events at Riverside as only a crowd of less then five hundred showed up to watch the second event of the 1976 season and they were right to stay away. Bobby Unser, who won the year prior to score his first ever IROC win by leading 20 of the 30 laps, came back with a goal to do better this time as despite the two caution flags, Unser was able to lead every single lap, scoring the biggest margin of victory in the series history and scored his second straight win at Riverside.

Other Noticeables:
Bobby Unser scored his 1st win of the year,
Unser led 1 time for 30 laps, including all 30 laps,
It was the 2nd win of his career in the IROC Series and his first since 1975 also at Riverside; 5 races ago,
David Pearson, who finished 7th, kept his points lead, leading Bobby Unser by 8 points

1.3-Bobby Unser (30 laps led)
2.2-Emerson Fittipaldi
3.9-A.J. Foyt
4.4-Benny Parsons
5.10-Brian Redman
6.11-Jody Scheckter
7.David Pearson
8.1-Richard Petty
9.8-Mario Andretti
10.Al Unser
11.James Hunt
12.5-Bobby Allison

Bobby Unser-1-30

0 Lead Changes among 1 driver

Caution Flags: 2 for 4 laps
Lap 8 (Cars #4 and Al Unser Spin Turn 7),
Lap 12 (James Hunt Spin Turn 6)

Margin of Victory: 32.917 Seconds

Time of Race: 1 Hour and 5 Seconds

To keep things fair with actual IROC rules, the starting lineup for the third race will be the point standings but inverted.

Here is how the field will line up for the third race of the season at the Riverside International Raceway.

1.3-James Hunt
2.2-Al Unser
3.1-Jody Scheckter
4.9-Bobby Allison
5.11-Richard Petty
6.4-Brian Redman
7.7-Emerson Fittipaldi
8.5-A.J. Foyt
9.15-Benny Parsons
10.6-Mario Andretti
11.12-Bobby Unser
12.8-David Pearson