Does anyone remember the International Race of Champions? When I first began covering motorsports it was one of my favorite racing “leagues,” although the season consisted of just four events.

In case you didn’t know, IROC is no more. In March, the series held a public auction to liquidate cars, tools, equipment and memorabilia, citing a lack of sponsorship and interest from manufacturers as the reasons for its demise.

The 2007 season was “postponed,” and in February IROC officials announced it was officially going out of business.

And that’s too bad because this was about the only time you ever got the true superstars of one sport together for one 100-mile race. It was the “Skins Game” of the gas and oil set.

The concept was to find the all-around racing champ by putting competitors in cars that were identically prepared. The only variable was the adjustment of the steering wheel and seat position to accommodate the size of the driver.

The pit crews were put together by IROC itself, preventing any driver from having a team that might try to tweak things during a race.

After the four events were completed, the winner was awarded a $1 million prize, which made it one of the most lucrative series going. When the series began in 1974, it took a high-end approach as drivers tooled around various venues in Porches. From 1975 to 1989, Camaros were the vehicles of choice, while Dodge Daytonas were used from 1990 through 1993.

Dodge Avengers took to the tracks in 1994 and 1995 and from 1996 to the end guys like Mark Martin and Tony Stewart competed in Trans Ams.

If there was one major knock to IROC it was that it was heavily weighted in favor of stock car drivers. Although it would include stars of open wheel series and even occasionally World of Outlaws pilots, the races were run on NASCAR tracks in cars that were more like NASCAR machines that not.

Its first six champions were open wheel guys, but its last 20 hailed from NASCAR Cup competition. Martin was the most dominant, claiming five crowns, while the late Dale Earnhardt won the title four times.

Often an IROC race was lost in the shuffle of a big NASCAR weekend, usually run on a Saturday before a Busch (now Nationwide) event. Still, it was hard to find a driver who didn’t like both the concept and the competition.

“I’ve been so proud to compete against the best of the best in the IROC series,” said Mario Andretti, who was champion in 1979. “It’s been a great part of my career and I don’t think I could have truly considered my career complete unless I would have competed in IROC.”

With sponsorship dollars at a premium — even the big boys at NASCAR and the IRL have some problems in that department — I guess it’s no surprise that something like IROC would fall to the wayside. Still, I think it was an underrated form of racing.

And if somehow, some way a similar league ever comes along in the future, it might be worth embracing.

After all, wouldn’t you love to see Kyle Busch go door-to-door with Danica Patrick?