1977 IROC Series

Race 1

The IROC Series made their 1st stop of 1977 at the Michigan International Speedway, in Brooklyn, Michigan.

James Hunt led the field to the green flag but it would be Bobby Unser who would lead the first lap as for only the third time in the history of the IROC Series, drivers raced on the high banks of the legendary Michigan International Speedway as every event at the track would be won by a different driver, Cale Yarborough(1975) and David Pearson(1976). The entire race was a battle between NASCAR star Buddy Baker and everyone else as the youngster Baker dominated the day leading 34 of the 50 laps but in the last five laps Baker called into his crew that his car felt funny and was passed by Al Unser and a lap later, Baker pitted due to a flat left rear tire.

With his toughest competitor out of the way, Al Unser, whose previous best finish in the IROC Series was 3rd and had never led a single lap before today, would easily hold off Johnny Rutherford for his first ever IROC Series win.

Other Noticeables:
Al Unser scored his 1st win of the year,
Unser led 2 times for 5 laps, including the final 4 laps,
It was the 1st win of his career in the IROC Series in his 5th start,
Al Holbert(7th) and Buddy Baker(10th) made their IROC Series debuts,
Al Unser, who finished 1st, is the points leader, leading Johnny Rutherford by 1 point

1.1-Al Unser (5 laps led)
2.6-Johnny Rutherford (6 laps led)
3.12-Richard Petty
4.7-Jody Scheckter
5.9-Bobby Unser (5 laps led)
6.3-Gordon Johncock
7.4-Al Holbert
8.11-Cale Yarborough
9.10-James Hunt
10.2-Buddy Baker (34 laps led)
11.8-A.J. Foyt
12.5-David Pearson-1 lap

James Hunt-Pole
Bobby Unser-1
Buddy Baker-2-5
Bobby Unser-6-8
Buddy Baker-9-13
Bobby Unser-14
Buddy Baker-15-20
Johnny Rutherford-21
Buddy Baker-22-23
Johnny Rutherford-24-25
Buddy Baker-26-38
Johnny Rutherford-39-41
Buddy Baker-42-44
Al Unser-45
Buddy Baker-46
Al Unser-47-50

14 Lead Changes among 4 drivers

Caution Flags: 0 for 0 laps

Margin of Victory: 0.497 Seconds

Time of Race: 44 Minutes and 31 Seconds

To keep things fair with actual IROC rules, the starting lineup for the second race will be the race results of the first event but inverted.

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

1.8-David Pearson
2.5-A.J. Foyt
3.12-Buddy Baker
4.6-Cale Yarborough
5.1-Al Holbert
6.2-Gordon Johncock
7.11-Bobby Unser
8.4-Jody Scheckter
9.9-Richard Petty
10.3-Johnny Rutherford
11.7-Al Unser

Race 2

The IROC Series made their 2nd stop of 1977 at the Riverside International Raceway, in Riverside, California.

David Pearson led the field to the green flag but it would be A.J. Foyt who would make a three wide pass in Turn 1 and lead the first lap. After the past two previous years where the first Riverside race of the season had been won by Bobby Unser, only a couple hundred fans were in attendance for the race and those who didn't come were right not to. Having started in 7th, Bobby Unser worked his way into second place by the first lap and on the third, he passed A.J. Foyt for the lead and just like he had done the previous two years, Unser pulled away to a dominating win, leading all but three laps, winning for the third year in a row at Riverside and winning by the biggest margin of victory in the history of the series.

Other Noticeables:
Bobby Unser scored his 1st win of the year,
Unser led 1 time for 27 laps, including the final 27 laps,
It was the 3rd win of his career in the IROC Series and his first since 1976 also at Riverside; 5 races ago,
Bobby Unser, who finished 1st, is the new points leader, leading his brother Al Unser by 9 points

1.11-Bobby Unser (27 laps led)
2.5-A.J. Foyt (3 laps led)
3.1-Al Holbert
4.8-David Pearson
5.12-Buddy Baker
6.6-Cale Yarborough
7.7-Al Unser
8.4-Jody Scheckter
9.9-Richard Petty
10.3-Johnny Rutherford
11.2-Gordon Johncock-1 lap

David Pearson-Pole
A.J. Foyt-1-3
Bobby Unser-4-30

1 Lead Change among 2 drivers

Caution Flags: 0 for 0 laps

Margin of Victory: 41.708 Seconds

Time of Race: 54 Minutes and 13 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.

1.8-Gordon Johncock
2.5-David Pearson
3.1-Cale Yarborough
4.10-Jody Scheckter
5.6-Richard Petty
6.7-Buddy Baker
7.2-Al Holbert
8.9-A.J. Foyt
9.12-Johnny Rutherford
10.11-Al Unser
11.3-Bobby Unser