Jeff Gordon surprised everyone when he decided to come out of retirement and race in the International Race of Champions in 2026. Along with him, Kurt Busch, a former NASCAR champion, also joined in. IROC has a history of motor sports icons participating in their events, and this year’s grand party isn’t going to be any different. While we have Gordon and Busch already lined up, there’s a possibility Dale Jr. might feature as well.

Speedway Motorsports owner wants Dale Jr. in IROC

Marcus Smith, the president of Speedway Motorsports, LLC, recently sat with Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Dale Jr.’s sister. During their conversation on the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Smith shed light on how Ray Evernham, the executive director of IROC, managed to arrange the event.

“Well, this is a great opportunity,” Smith said. “We’re going to host an IROC race in April around this really special event we call the Heritage Invitational. Mr. Hendrick and I have a partnership on the 10 Tenths Club, and we’ve got a beautiful track, 2 miles. It’s going to be, it’s an amazing car show and part of the car show working with Ray Evernham, who’s our executive director of the event.”

Following this, Smith mentioned how he wanted to race in the event and wanted Dale Earnhardt Jr. to join him in the IROC. Given Earnhardt Jr.’s experience in NASCAR and legendary status, one would not mind having him in IROC. It is worth noting that Jr. doesn’t have any NASCAR commitments this year and will focus on late-model racing. So, there is an outside side that he might consider this proposal by Smith.

“Ray and Rob have put together the IROC series to kind of bring it back, but it’s the classic IROC cars. So we’re going to be racing the classic IROC cars, and drivers are going to come back and enjoy some racing at the Ten Tenths circuit. It’s a lot of fun. I want to race. I think Dale should race. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Marcus Smith concluded.

Junior competed in IROC races from 1999 to 2000, and one of the closest finishes he had in the series was when his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., beat him by just 0.007 seconds at Michigan.

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The IROC is a prestigious motorsport competition that ran from 1973 to 2006. This competition invited drivers from all motorsport competitions, and put them in identical cars with just one simple goal: to determine the “champion of champions.”

According to the latest reports, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch will join the likes of IMSA champions Scott Pruett and Tommy Kendall, Trans Am champion Tomy Drissi, and former NASCAR race winner Max Papis.

The aforementioned drivers will then join NASCAR veterans, such as Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, and Ken Schrader. The race will take place in Concord, North Carolina, on April 10, 2026.

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When Dale Jr. received his father’s IROC fire suit

Life often comes with sudden surprises, and it applies to Dale Jr., too, when he received a priceless gift from a fan. Back in 2015, nearly 14 years after his father’s death, Junior received the late Earnhardt’s fire suit.

Sharing the incident, the former NASCAR driver took to Twitter and wrote, “Moments ago, a fellas walked up and handed me my fathers 2001 IROC uniform. Quite emotional exchange. Completely floored me. Many thanks.”

According to reports, Dale Earnhardt donned the fire suit during the 2001 International Race of Champions, which took place on February 16. Shockingly, Earnhardt participated in this race just two days before that year’s Daytona 500, the fateful race where he lost his life.

Fast forward to 2026, Dale Earnhardt’s son now has his fire suit and an opportunity to participate in the IROC. As this year’s Daytona 500 inches closer, it will be interesting to see if Dale Earnhardt Jr. agrees to don a new fire suit to race in the International Race of Champions.