NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett, four-time True
Value International Race of Champions (IROC) champ Mark
Martin, NASCAR Winston Cup championship contender Jeff Burton
and Indy Racing League race winner Mark Dismore complete the
field of 12 drivers for IROC XXIV in the NASCAR 2000 season,
officials announced Wednesday, January 26. The four-race series begins on
Feb. 18 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach,
Fla., and matches 12 top drivers in equally prepared Pontiac
Firebird Trans-Ams. The schedule also includes events on
April 15 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, June 10 at
Michigan Speedway in Brooklyn and Aug. 4 at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway.
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ABC Sports will televise the
Daytona event on March 12 at 5 p.m. ET and the Talladega
race on April 16 at 5 p.m. ET. ESPN will broadcast live
from Michigan on June 10 at 12 p.m. and ABC Sports will
air Indianapolis on Aug. 5 at 5 p.m. ET.
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Mark, of Batesville, Ark., dominated the True Value IROC
series throughout the last decade. He collected a record
breaking four IROC championships, of which three were
consecutive. Representing the NASCAR Winston Cup division,
Mark finished third in points with wins at North Carolina
Speedway and Dover. A formidable competitor wherever he
races, Mark won six of the 14 NASCAR Busch Series Grand
National Division events he ran in 1999. He captured three
Bud Pole Awards and twice went on to victory from the first
starting spot. NASCAR 2000 will be Mark's ninth appearance
in IROC. Jarrett, of Hickory, N.C., returns to True Value IROC
competition as the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup champion. Jarrett
collected four wins in 1999, at Richmond, Michigan, Daytona
and the Brickyard. He scored 29 top-10 finishes and 24 top-5s. Jarrett will be making his fifth appearance in the True Value IROC series.
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Burton, of South
Boston, Va., accepted his third consecutive
invitation to the True Value IROC series. Burton ended up
fifth in NASCAR Winston Cup points with six victories, 18
top-5 and 23 top-10 finishes. Like teammate Martin, Burton
also visited Victory Lane on the NASCAR Busch Series with a
win at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham.
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Dismore, of Greenfield, Ind., joins Greg Ray and Eddie
Cheever Jr. from the Indy Racing League. Dismore ended up
third in Indy Racing League points with a win at Texas, five
top-10 and two top-5 finishes.
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"We are very proud of our driver roster for the 2000 True
Value IROC series," IROC President Jay Signore said. "The
enthusiasm expressed by these top name drivers to compete in
the IROC series will never cease to amaze me. "However,
we are disappointed by the fact that there will not
be any CART representation in our series this year. We were
working hard toward resolving a scheduling conflict when we
received word from invited CART front runners declining our
invitations to compete. "We regret that the 1999 Indy
500 winner Kenny Brack, now driving for Bobby Rahal in
the CART series, falls victim to these circumstances.
Kenny was eager to return to IROC competition this
year; his brand of spirit will be sorely missed."
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The True Value International Race of Champions matches
12 drivers in equally prepared Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am
race cars. At the end of the fourth race the points are
tallied and an IROC champion is crowned. All the IROC race
cars are equipped with Goodyear Eagle radial tires and
specially finished with brilliant DuPont ChromaSystem colors.
The True Value IROC series is sponsored by the Goodyear Tire
and Rubber Company and DuPont Automotive Finishes.
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