With the United States’ 250th anniversary celebration underway, motorsports fans were treated to a nostalgic surprise on Thursday. The Freedom 250 Grand Prix announced that IROC will join the IndyCar weekend in August for a blockbuster support race.

The IndyCar race is all set to take place around the streets of Washington, D.C, on August 23. However, a day before the IndyCar race, the iconic International Race of Champions will hit the D.C. streets, featuring many NASCAR and IndyCar icons. 

On Tuesday, @Freedom250GP made the announcement on X, writing:

"JUST ANNOUNCED: @irocofficial Presented by @chevrolet is joining the Freedom 250 Grand Prix! The legendary series puts champions from different motorsports disciplines on track to race for glory. We can’t wait to see legends race on the streets of Washington D.C., August 22 -23!"

Per the Freedom 250 GP's press release, the drivers set to join the IROC race are former NASCAR Cup champions Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte, Rusty Wallace, and Bill Elliott. They will race alongside former Indy 500 champions Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, and Dario Franchitti.

The IROC race will take place on Saturday, August 22, on the seven-turn, 1.7-mile street track that will run around the National Mall and some of Washington’s iconic monuments, such as the Smithsonian Museum.

This announcement has sparked widespread excitement across the motorsports world.

Fans react to NASCAR and IndyCar veterans joining the IROC race

Under SBJ's Adam Stern's X post about the IROC announcement, fans shared their excitement for the momentous crossover. Doing so, one fan also tagged former NASCAR driver Mark Martin to ask if he would be present at the event.

"This made my summer.  I'm over the moon I was able to get both days tix.  @markmartin are you going?  Not to race, of course," they wrote.

Another recalled the 2001 season of IROC and commented:

"So it’s a 25 year throwback, IROC circa 2001."

Another fan revealed that they had spotted several IROC cars being prepared at the former SRX series co-owner Ray Evernham’s shop back in Martinsville. They wrote:

"I drove past the Ray everingham shop in Mooresville and saw a bunch of these IROC cars out being prepped and wondered what was going on."

Yet another fan expressed their desire to see former Formula 1 drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, among others, racing in the event. They wrote:

"We need Daniel Ricciardo, Vettel, Raikkonen…some F1 representation"

Another pointed out a key logistical aspect about why IROC is perfect as a support race for IndyCar's Freedom 250 GP, writing:

"Awesome - this is the perfect choice given the lack of paddock space."

This will be the first time IROC will be racing after it shut down its operations back in 2008, two years after its last race in 2006.

What are your thoughts about the event? Let us know in the comments. 

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Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Yash Kotak