With the recent announcement that Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. will be retiring from full-time racing at the end of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, there could not be a better time to look back at the future NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee’s career.
There are plenty of races that one could watch to admire Truex’s natural ability (his dominant win at the 2016 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway comes to mind, where he led 392/400 laps). But let’s take a look at two potentially forgotten wins by the soon-to-be 44-year-old driver: the 2005 and 2006 International Race of Champions series finales at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
2005
IROC XXIX was the 29th season of the Crown-Royal-sponsored historic series. For readers that may be unfamiliar with the series, IROC was a four-race season made up of drivers who had won a racing championship of some sort in their respective series. The drivers would pilot identical equipment — with no spotters — through a point-based system. At the end of the brief season, one champion driver would be crowned the champion of champions.
The 2005 season consisted of 12 drivers from eight different racing series: Scott Pruett (Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series), Sébastien Bourdais (Champ Car World Series), Hélio Castroneves (Indy Racing League), Bobby Hamilton (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series), Mark Martin (NASCAR Nextel Cup Series), Truex (NASCAR Busch Series), Steve Kinser (World of Outlaws), Buddy Rice (IRL), Max Papis (Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series), Matt Kenseth (NASCAR Cup), Danny Lasoski (World of Outlaws) and Kurt Busch (NASCAR Cup).
Martin won the series opener at Daytona International Speedway, while Bourdais took the checkered flag in race two, held at Texas Motor Speedway. Martin again claimed victory in race three, coming at Richmond International Raceway (now Richmond Raceway), and Truex won the season finale at Atlanta.
The race in Atlanta (Oct. 29) was your classic IROC race. From the drop of the green flag, the field of experienced drivers battled door-to-door in identical Pontiac Trans Ams.
Truex started ninth but quickly dropped from the outside lane to the inside, racing three-wide with Martin and Hamilton. Utilizing the draft, Truex moved up via the inside line to fifth place. Quickly, he jumped up into the outside line to follow a hard-charging Martin to the front of the pack.
Coming out of turn 2, Truex brushed the outside wall. However, the contact did not stop the No. 8 Pontiac from moving up into fourth place before contact with another car sent him back into sixth.
Following a caution for a slow car (Rice in the No. 15), Truex settled into a line right up next to the outside wall. Slowly, he advanced from the rear of the field to the top five.
With 45 laps remaining, Mike Joy, who was providing commentary for Speed, commented that Truex was the “raciest” driver in the field, making aggressive passes both high and low in an otherwise single-file field. Not five laps later, Truex passed Martin for the lead.
Following the second caution — a mandatory, competition caution where points were awarded to the top three — Truex led the field back to green with 25 laps remaining. Bourdais challenged Truex in the outside lane, but some strong pushes from Martin helped Truex reestablish his lead.
Although Martin tried to advance on the No. 8, Truex led the remainder of the race to collect his first IROC win when the race ended under caution following a last-lap wreck involving Pruett and Hamilton.
“Man, that was awesome,” Truex told Speed. “First, I got to congratulate Mark [Martin]. He does a heck of a job at these things, and I was real nervous with him behind me on that restart, but just a lot of fun.”
Martin was crowned the 2005 IROC champion, while Truex finished second, 21 points behind.
2006
IROC XXX was the 30th and final IROC season. Once again, it consisted of four races. However, 2006 featured 13 drivers from seven different series.
Those drivers were Ted Musgrave (NASCAR Trucks), Martin (NASCAR Cup), Sam Hornish Jr. (IRL), Truex (NASCAR Busch), Scott Sharp (IRL), Wayne Taylor and Max Angelelli, who shared the No. 10 car (Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car), Kinser (World of Outlaws), Ryan Newman (NASCAR Cup), Papis (Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car), Kenseth (NASCAR Cup), Tony Stewart (NASCAR Cup) and Frank Kimmel (ARCA RE/MAX Series).
Kenseth won the season opener at Daytona, while Stewart took wins at both Texas and the Daytona International Speedway road course. Truex once again rounded out the season with a win at Atlanta.
The 2006 IROC showing in Atlanta (Oct. 28) displayed similar racing as the previous year. Truex started eighth and used the high line to hold his position with the increased momentum the outside line provided.
For the first half of the race, Truex both battled and worked with Kenseth and Newman, swapping sixth, seventh and eighth place repeatedly, while Martin continued to expand on his leading position. With only a few laps until the competition caution, Truex raced side-by-side with Stewart to take third place, a point-rewarding position, before the caution flew early for a spin by Kimmel off the front bumper of Kenseth’s No. 17.
When the yellow was lifted, Truex pushed Martin out to a comfortable lead, reminiscent of Martin’s push to Truex the previous year. However, Truex didn’t follow Martin. Instead, he quickly jumped to the outside line and unsuccessfully challenged the veteran for the lead, falling back to third.
Following a caution for a solo spin by Papis, Truex muscled past Martin on the outside to take the lead, sending Martin back to third behind Newman. Newman then took the lead from Truex, sending the No. 8 back into a three-wide mess for third. Martin then squeezed Truex against the wall to clear the pack, challenging Newman for the lead.
The No. 6 of Martin and No. 12 of Newman slammed doors down the entire front stretch and into turn 1, allowing Truex, Kenseth and Stewart to close in for a four-wide battle for second. Newman was forced to hold off Truex, who had help with a big push from Kenseth.
With seven laps to go, Truex and Kenseth caught Newman, switching the lead between the three of them. Truex continued to use the outside momentum to his advantage, diving to the inside on corner exit to pass Newman. Newman then did the same thing in the following corner. The battle for the lead concluded on the last lap following an inside pass in turn 3 by Truex, who had Kenseth glued to his back bumper.
“Oh, that was a lot of fun,” Truex told Speed. “Me and [Ryan] Newman were going at it pretty heavy there. Matt [Kenseth] was pushing me along pretty good there.”
Stewart was crowned the 2006 IROC Champion while Truex finished third in points, eight points behind Kenseth and 20 behind Stewart.
The Return of IROC – Will Truex Participate?
The conclusion of the 2006 IROC series seemed like the final season for the series. That was until IROC Holdings, LLC, owned by Ray Evernham and Rob Kauffman, announced the return of the champion series in 2024. The return of IROC is meant to be a celebration of the historic series. Fans can expect to see former IROC drivers behind the wheel of vintage IROC racecars at Lime Rock Park this July 19-20.
It is not yet known whether there will be future IROC events held or if it could have another championship season.
With the return of IROC for a single weekend and the nostalgic reasoning, should IROC have more races down the road, can we expect to see IROC’s final winner, Truex, return for a future race? With Truex keeping the door open for NASCAR Xfinity Series races and a potential Daytona 500 appearance, it wouldn’t be surprising for the New Jersey native to return to the series.
About the author
Ty joined the Frontstretch team in February of 2024 as a Contributor covering Sunday news. He has two books available on Amazon: A Perfect Sundae and Chartreuse: Crime & Horror Short Stories.
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Bring IROC back…same rules and format.
No way. Not the “all NASCAR tracks, 9 Cup drivers and 3 Indycar drivers” format.
It’s transformed into today’s NA$CAR!
Exactly right 👍 you beat me to it. That’s exactly what Nascar is running now.