CAN-AM
Bruce McLaren, car #4 and Denis Hulme, car #5, led in matching pair of McLaren M8B-Chevrolets during the 1969 Road America Can-Am.
McLaren won by a tenth of a second over teammate Hulme, at 1:51:39. Team McLaren dominated the Can-Am for many years, winning at Road America in 5 straight years (1967-71). These cars featured aluminum Chevrolet engines sponsored by Reynolds aluminum. Photo courtesy Road America Archives.
The Can-Am series of the late 1960s and early 1970s marked a golden era in racing. The series featured the fastest cars of their generation - faster even than Formula 1! Can-Am cars routinely smashed Road America’s track records. During qualifying in 1967, Bruce McLaren set a new track record of 2:12.6. In 1968, Denis Hulme broke that by 2.8 seconds. The next year he did it again, trimming the record by another 3.5 seconds to 2:06.3, and again in 1972 with a qualifying lap of 2:04.562. In 1973, Mark Donohue simply shattered the lap record, becoming the first driver to set a sub-2-minute lap at Road America, qualifying at 1:57.518 driving the Penske team’s Porsche 917/30. Donohue later took the same 917/30 to Talladega Speedway and set the world closed-course speed record at 221.16 mph! Between 1967 and 1973, Can-Am cars reduced the track record by a whopping quarter of a minute!
A McLaren M6A with 525 bhp, fuel-injected Chevrolet engine being prepped for the 1967 Road America Can-Am..
Photo by Su Kemper. Courtesy Road America Archives.
The Canadian-American Challenge Cup series (Can-Am for short) was developed in 1966 for “Group 7” racecars in cooperation between the Canadian Automobile Sports Club (CASC) and the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). The Can-Am had an “anything goes policy” with virtually no limits on engine size or design, chassis design, body aerodynamics, or materials used. Road America historian Tom Schultz stated: “The only rule in the Can-Am was that there were no rules.” Designers had free range to innovate, developing such things as wings, turbocharging, ground-effect aerodynamics, and use of space age materials like titanium.
Powerful, loud, and exciting, Can-Am cars appealed to car loving Baby Boomers. Multitudes of fans came to see the space age cars thunder and roar around the track. Clif Tufte described the thrill of the Can-Am in a pre-race interview in 1977: “Well, the Can-Am car comes out of the corners, makes a lot of noise, looks good, it’s big, and the people ought a admire it.” Top drivers were just as eager to race for the same reasons. An added incentive was the lucrative prize money awarded to winners.
Road Americas’ first Can-Am
Nineteen cars broke track lap records during qualifying runs for Road America’s 1967 Can-Am!
! Bruce McLaren slides his name into the top qualifying slot after setting a new track record of 2:12.6 in his McLaren Chevrolet M6A. Courtesy Road America Archives.
Clif Tufte quickly recognized the success of the Can-Am series, and scheduled Road America’s first Can-Am race for Labor Day weekend 1967. Racers included a who’s who of the racing world, Dennis Hulme, Bruce McLaren, Mark Donohue, Jim Hall, Jerry Hanson, John Surtees, and many others. On the grid were 18 McLarens, nine Lola T-70s, and a Chaparral 2G. Never had such a collection of cars been assembled at Road America! The weekend was truly legendary. Anticipation mounted as the race began.
McLaren Chevrolet M6A’s driven by Bruce McLaren (#4) and Denis Hulme (#5)
Bruce McLaren (#4) and Denis Hulme (#5) lead the field from turn 12, Canada Corner, into turn 13 on the pace lap at the start of the 1967 Can-Am race at Road America. Courtesy Road America Archives.
Bruce McLaren and Denis Hulme’s McLaren M6A-Chevrolet’s led from the start. After Bruce McLaren was forced to drop out when his car ran out of oil, Hulme easily won Road America’s first Can-Am before a record crowd of 51,000, setting a new track average race speed of 104.454 MPH! The McLarens of the “Bruce and Denny Show” continued to dominate Road America’s Can-Am into the early 1970s.
Denis Hulme and his McLaren M8A powered by a 7-liter Aluminum Chevrolet V8 won the 1968 Can-Am at Road America.
Hulme would win three more races that year along with the 1968 Championship. Photo by Gordon Means. Courtesy Road America Archives.
Veteran Formula 1 and sports car driver Pedro Rodríguez prepares his Ferrari 330 P4 for the 1968 Can-Am at Road America.
Photo by Gordon Means. Courtesy Road America Archives.
John Surtees in the Chaparral 2H-Chevrolet passes the Road America barn during the 1969 Can-Am.
The innovative car exemplified the experimentation of the Can-Am, although this turned out to be the least successful of all Chaparral cars. Photo by Gordon Means. Courtesy Road America Archives.
Porche 917-10 Spyder driven by George Follmer to win the 1972 Road America Can-Am.
Follmer went on to be both the 1972 Can-Am Champion and 1972 Trans-Am Champion, the first to win both championships in the same year. Courtesy Road America Archives.
By 1972, Porche challenged Team McLaren with a 1000 horsepower Porche 917-10 Spyder Team Penske put George Follmer in the driver seat after Mark Donohue was injured in a pre-season crash. Denis Hulme in a McLaren M20 Chevrolet took the lead early in the Road America race, but a broken magneto on lap 11 ended his race. Teammate Peter Revson’s McLaren M20 went out on lap 21 with a broken clutch, and ten other entrants suffered mechanical breakdowns as well. Follmer lapped the entire field by lap 38 and easily cruised to victory on the 50th lap.
Mark Donohue’s 1973 win in a Porsche 917-30 turbo was the pinnacle of the Can-Am series at Road America. In qualifying, Donohue set a new track record of 1:57.518 with an average speed of 122.534 mph, a record that stood for 11 years. It was the track’s first under 2-minute lap. Other turbo Porsches led the field. The race was Donohues’ from start to finish. He went on to win all other races in the series, and easily crowned the series champion.
Jackie Oliver’s Shadow DN4-Chevrolet in the pits during 1974 Can-Am.
The car suffered a blown engine on lap 23. Courtesy Road America Archives.
No one could have foreseen the changes coming to the world at large at the end of 1973. The Arab oil embargo impacted auto racing, especially the Can-Am series. Although the embargo was over by the 1974 season, public perception of big V8 gas guzzling racers had changed. The SCCA reduced Can-Am distances by 10% and instituted a minimum fuel economy standard of 3 MPG. Existing Can-Am cars struggled to meet the new specification. The Porshe 917’s couldn’t be detuned and were out, as were other turbocharged cars, and those racing teams left. The only new cars entered in 1974 were the Shadow DN-4's.
What would turn out to be the last ever Can-Am race took place at Road America on August 28, 1974. The Shadow DN4s, driven by George Follmer and Jackie Oliver, captured the front row, and were widely expected to win the race. To everyone’s surprise, neither won! A broken drive shaft knocked Follmer out, and Oliver’s engine blew on lap 23. Scooter Patrick inherited the lead and the win in his three-year-old McLaren M20-Chevrolet. Promoters cancelled the remaining Can-Am races for 1974.
Scooter Patrick stands at the winners’ circle flanked by outgoing Miss Road America, Madonna Fowler, and incoming Miss Road America, Ali Kronke, along with Road America President Clif Tufte
Patrick was the first independent driver to win a Can-Am race. Photo by Robert J. Lewis. Courtesy Road America Archives.
The SCCA cancelled the Can-Am series in 1975 due to economic conditions. Costs to build a Can-Am car had topped $250,000 in 1974. Engines cost $50,000 each, and teams needed several on hand. Ancillary costs for chassis components and tires made it difficult for teams to remain competitive. With high inflation and a recession, teams and promoters were reluctant to commit to the higher financial costs. Clif Tufte was optimistic, hoping the Can-Am race would return someday in some fashion. He told the Sheboygan Press "I'd like to think that it is just being put on the Shelf. ... It certainly is a good name to sell."
Cover of 1981 Can-Am/CRC Trans Am program
Courtesy Road America Archives.
Tufte’s hope nearly came true as the SCCA introduced a new Can-Am series in 1977. Completely unrelated to the former series, the new “one seat” Can-Am was initially based on former F5000 cars retrofitted with closed-wheel body kits. Regulations capped engine size at 5 liters. Some former “two seat” Can-Am racers were allowed to compete the first year, but the engine cap made them uncompetitive. Nonetheless, the series attracted top rate racecar owners like Paul Newman, Carl Haas, Al Holbert, VDS Racing, and John Fitzpatrick.
Holbert CAC-1 Car at Road America 1980 Can-Am.
Photo by Jim Alvis. Courtesy Road America Archives.
1980 was the high point of the new Can-Am era at Road America. The field consisted of 27 cars, many new purpose-built Lola T530 Chevrolets. Al Holbert drove his own creation, a Holbert CAC-1. Newman Racing brought two Lola T530s driven by Elliot Forbes-Robinson and Stephen South. Haas Racing tapped Mario Andretti to drive their Lola T530. Geoff Brabham drove a Lola T530 for Racing Team VDS. South led the race until spinning at turn five resulting in a lengthy pitstop. Holbert took the lead. On lap 19, Andretti’s throttle spring broke, putting the car out commission. Holbert ran out the race and took the checkered flag. A notable achievement for a car designed and built by the driver himself.
By 1983, Can-Am was in decline. Most top racers had abandoned the series for CART and IMSA races. Gone were most of the star teams and drivers. Although 22 cars entered Road America’s 1984 Can-Am, only three were competitive. John Fitzpatrick in a Porsche 956 (the only Group C entered), Jacques Villeneuve, Sr. in a Frissbee GR2 Chevrolet and Jim Crawford in an Ensign N180B Ford. Crawford was knocked out of the race by a blown engine. Villeneuve suffered multiple pitstops to address vibrations. The last few laps and both low on fuel, Fitzpatrick adopted a slow and steady approach while Villeneuve maximized speed. The latter forced Villeneuve stop to refuel as Fitzpatrick slowly continued around the track, crossing the finish line. Fewer than 10,000 spectators turned out for the feature race, and Road America did not renew the contract for 1984.
The legacy of the Can-Am lives on today, both on and off the track. Innovations introduced by the series live on in modern race cars. Historic cars continue to draw crowds, both in displays and when cars thunder around the track during Road America’s vintage events each year.