OldRacingCars.com

Can-Am Challenge Race

Road America, 24 Jul 1977

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Peter Gethin Lola T333CS [HU2] - Chevrolet V8
#4 Racing Team VDS
38 1h 26m 38.4s
105.263 mph
2 John David Briggs Lola T333CS ["33-673"] - Chevrolet V8
#71 Briggs Racing
38 1h 28m 11.72s
3 Gilles Villeneuve Wolf WD1 - Chevrolet V8
#2 Walter Wolf Racing
38
4 Patrick Tambay Lola T333CS [HU6] - Chevrolet V8
#1T Carl A. Haas Racing Teams, Ltd.
37
5 Randy Lewis Lola T332 [HU30] - Chevrolet V8
#0 Hogan Racing (see note 1)
36
6 T. Patrick McGonegle Chevron B24 [24-73-02] - Chevrolet V8
#38 T. Patrick McGonegle (see note 2)
36
7 Horst Kroll Lola T300 [HU15] - Chevrolet V8
#37 Team Canada (see note 3)
36
8 Bobby Brown (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre March 77S [77ST-1] - Hart 420R
#79 Bob Brown Racing (see note 4)
36
9 Mike Hall (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T294 [HU75] - Ford
#69 United Racing Ltd. (see note 5)
35
10 S Peter Smith (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B19 [71-6] - Ford
#54 Red Roof Inns
34
11 Charles Nearburg (G7) 5-litre McLaren M8F [M8F/2] - Chevrolet V8
#90 Carter Crompton, Clio, MI (see note 6)
33
12 Leonard Janke (G6) 5-litre McLaren M6B/M8 [M6B 50-09(B)] - Chevrolet V8
#56 Janke Auto Co. (see note 7)
32 Oil pressure
13 Brian Burgess (Sports racing) 1.6-litre Chevron B21/B23 [72-27] - Ford BDA
#13 Brian Burgess
32 Oil leak
14 Dave Johnson (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T290 [HU34] - Ford BDG
#60 David Johnson
28
15 Elliot Forbes-Robinson Lola T333CS [HU4] - Chevrolet V8
#40 Bill Freeman Racing
27 Engine failure
16 Hunter Harris Talon MHS-II [MR1A "007"] - Chevrolet V8
#98 TH-98, Bill Harris, El Macero, CA
27 Gear
17 Tom Klausler Schkee DB1 [2] - Chevrolet V8
#7 Schkee Cars
24 Accident
18 Mort Platt (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B36 [36-76-06] - Ford BDG
#96 Mort Platt (see note 8)
21 Accident
19 Don Breidenbach Lola T333CS ["33-790"] - Chevrolet V8
#77 Briggs Racing
20 Drive shaft
20 Bobby Rahal (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T292 [HU51] - Ford BDG
#14 Red Roof Inns (see note 9)
19 Engine failure
21 Chip Mead Lola T332/Riley - Chevrolet V8
#5 Oftedahl Racing
18 Overheating
22 Bob Nagel Lola T332/Riley [HU33] - Chevrolet V8
#9 Nagel Racing (see note 10)
15 Unknown
23 Evan Noyes Lola T332 [HU51] - Chevrolet V8
#24 Evan Noyes, Jr. (see note 11)
14 Engine failure
24 Doug Schulz Schkee DB1 [1] - Chevrolet V8
#6 Schkee Cars
11 Body damage
25 Dean Dietrich (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T292 [HU65] - Ford BDG Richardson
#43 Richardson Racing Engines (see note 12)
6 Carburetor
26 John Gunn Lola T332 [HU47] - Chevrolet V8
#11 Racing Consultants (see note 13)
5 Unknown
27 George Follmer Lola T332C [HU56] - Chevrolet V8
#8 U.S. Racing [Herb Caplan]
5 Fuel pressure lost
28 Graham McRae McRae GM3 [01] - Chevrolet V8
#36 Jongbloed Racing Wheels
4 Engine failure
29 Tex Arnold (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T294 [HU78] - Hart 420R
#99 Car Shop Enterprises
4 Ignition
30 Thomas C. Jones March 74A [1] - Chevrolet V8
#17 Development 5000, Cleveland Heights, OH
(see note 14)
4 Water pump
DNSF Dick Leppla (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B19/B26 - Ford
#52 Dick Leppla
Did not start final
DNSC Bruce Langson (G7) 5-litre Lola T310 [HU1] - Chevrolet V8
#22 Bruce L. Langson
Did not start (crashed)
T Patrick Tambay Lola T333CS [HU3] - Chevrolet V8
#1 Carl A. Haas Racing Teams, Ltd.
(Only used in practice)

All cars are 5-litre Can-Am unless noted.

Heat 1 Laps Time Speed
1Peter Gethin1021m 52.62s109.704 mph
2Gilles Villeneuve10
3Tom Klausler10
4Evan Noyes10
5John David Briggs10
6Bob Nagel10
7Randy Lewis10
8Bobby Brown10
9Mike Hall10
10Horst Kroll10
11Bobby Rahal10
12Hunter Harris10
13T. Patrick McGonegle9
14Doug Schulz9
15Leonard Janke9
16Mort Platt9
17S Peter Smith9
18Charles Nearburg9
19Dave Johnson9
20Dick Leppla9
21Dean Dietrich7
22Chip Meaddid not finish
23John Gunndid not finish
24Don Breidenbachdid not finish
25Graham McRaedid not finish
26Brian Burgessdid not finish
Elliot Forbes-Robinsondid not start
Patrick Tambaydid not start
Tex Arnolddid not start
Bruce Langsondid not start
Qualifying
1 Gilles Villeneuve (Can-Am) 5-litre Wolf WD1 - Chevrolet V8 2m 07.025s 2m 10.574s
2 Patrick Tambay (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU6] - Chevrolet V8 2m 07.195s
3 Elliot Forbes-Robinson (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU4] - Chevrolet V8 2m 07.428s
4 Peter Gethin (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU2] - Chevrolet V8 2m 07.920s 2m 08.091s
5 Don Breidenbach (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS ["33-790"] - Chevrolet V8 2m 09.570s 2m 12.771s
6 John Gunn (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU47] - Chevrolet V8 2m 09.666s 2m 10.136s
7 Graham McRae (Can-Am) 5-litre McRae GM3 [01] - Chevrolet V8 2m 09.925s 2m 12.718s
8 Tom Klausler (Can-Am) 5-litre Schkee DB1 [2] - Chevrolet V8 2m 12.675s
9 Bob Nagel (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332/Riley [HU33] - Chevrolet V8 2m 12.962s 2m 13.917s
10 Evan Noyes (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU51] - Chevrolet V8 2m 14.030s 2m 14.401s
11 John David Briggs (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS ["33-673"] - Chevrolet V8 2m 14.357s 2m 15.308s
12 Chip Mead (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332/Riley - Chevrolet V8 2m 16.367s
13 Randy Lewis (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU30] - Chevrolet V8 2m 17.524s 2m 31.400s
14 Mike Hall (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T294 [HU75] - Ford 2m 17.610s 2m 17.799s
15 Bobby Brown (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre March 77S [77ST-1] - Hart 420R 2m 19.382s
16 Bobby Rahal (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T292 [HU51] - Ford BDG 2m 19.429s 2m 19.464s
17 Horst Kroll (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T300 [HU15] - Chevrolet V8 2m 20.265s 2m 20.830s
18 Hunter Harris (Can-Am) 5-litre Talon MHS-II [MR1A "007"] - Chevrolet V8 2m 20.379s 2m 36.302s
19 T. Patrick McGonegle (Can-Am) 5-litre Chevron B24 [24-73-02] - Chevrolet V8 2m 20.464s 2m 22.048s
20 Leonard Janke (G6) 5-litre McLaren M6B/M8 [M6B 50-09(B)] - Chevrolet V8 2m 21.442s
21 Charles Nearburg (G7) 5-litre McLaren M8F [M8F/2] - Chevrolet V8 2m 23.350s 2m 23.902s
22 Mort Platt (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B36 [36-76-06] - Ford BDG 2m 23.654s
23 S Peter Smith (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B19 [71-6] - Ford 2m 24.452s 2m 24.539s
24 Dave Johnson (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T290 [HU34] - Ford BDG 2m 24.548s
25 Bruce Langson * (G7) 5-litre Lola T310 [HU1] - Chevrolet V8 2m 25.142s
26 Dean Dietrich (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T292 [HU65] - Ford BDG Richardson 2m 25.959s 2m 26.500s
27 Tex Arnold (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T294 [HU78] - Hart 420R 2m 26.913s
28 Brian Burgess (Sports racing) 1.6-litre Chevron B21/B23 [72-27] - Ford BDA 2m 27.933s
29 Dick Leppla (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B19/B26 - Ford 2m 28.008s 2m 32.973s
30 Doug Schulz (Can-Am) 5-litre Schkee DB1 [1] - Chevrolet V8 2m 29.405s
 
* Did not start

Notes on the cars:

  1. Lola T332 [HU30] (Randy Lewis): See full history: Lola T332 HU30.
  2. Chevron B24 [24-73-02] (T. Patrick McGonegle): New for 1973 season. Doug Shierson for Peter Gethin: raced in UK 1973 (won Race of Champions) and US 1973. To Roger Bighouse (Eastlake, OH): raced in US 1974 (7 races); US 1975 (4 races + 1 DNS) - Pat McGonegle (Cincinnati, OH): raced in US 1976 (1 race) and Can-Am 1977 (4 races + 1 DNS); probably the car entered by McGonegle as 'Mannix MX-2' in Can-Am 1978; advertised April 1979 - Danny Johnson (Kewanee, IL) 1979: raced in Can-Am 1979 (1 race), Can-Am 1981 (5 races), Can-Am 1982 (6 races) - Brian R Taylor (now Clive, Iowa) for Mike Engstrand (Des Moines, Iowa): raced in Can-Am 1985 (3 races) - Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) - Anthony Taylor (Blackburn, UK) 2001: due to be rebuilt and raced in FORCE Historic F5000 series (UK) 2001. Then unknown until owned by Greg Thornton in 2011 and raced in UK and New Zealand 2011/12. Badly damaged in a fire at Thornton's garage in June 2012 but completely reconstructed.
  3. Lola T300 [HU15] (Horst Kroll): Invoice date 30 Mar 1972 (sold to 'Haas', colour 'Yellow'). Horst Kroll (Canada) US 1972-1974; driven by Bert Kuehne US 1975 (5 races); Kroll US 1976; damaged in crash at Watkins Glen but rebuilt and converted to Can-Am. Kroll Can-Am 1977; rental car thereafter: e.g. Marcel Talbot Can-Am 1978 (1 race: Trois-Rivieres - 04 Sep 1978), Can-Am 1979 (1 entry in "T300": Road Atlanta - 06 May 1979, entry list only); Mike Freberg 1981; Duff Hubbard 1982; John Macaluso 1983; Walter Lechner 1984; Joe DeMarco 1985 and 1986; John Graham 1986. Rebuilt as "Frissbee KR5" for 1986. Mike Engstrand recalls driving Kroll's T300-based Can-Am car at St Louis and Hallet in 1986; used until 1987 - Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) 1989 - Don Jensen (US) about 1998: used extensively in vintage racing still in Can-Am specification until 2007 - Andrew Kluver (Sydney, Australia) August 2007.
  4. March 77S [77ST-1] (Bobby Brown): Built new for 1974, fitted with a BMW engine and entered by March Engineering for Jean Ragnotti in the European 2-litre Sports Car championship, with Antar sponsorship. Fitted with a Richardson FVC after the first few races, and later with a Cosworth BDG. Retained by March for 1975, fitted with a Hart 420R engine, updated to 75S specification and plated as '75S-U2' for John Lepp to race. The car was retained again for 1976, now to 76S specification and reportedly using the identity '76S-1', now raced by Lepp as part of the Ultramar team. Sold to Bobby Brown (Hicksville, NY) for the 1977 Can-Am season, now using the identity '77ST-1'. Sold to Greg Sorrentino (Troy, Michigan) and raced in 1979. In 1980, it was converted to centre-seat specification with a new body fabricated by Dave Craddock and campaigned in this form by Sorrentino in 1981, described as a March 802. To Charlie Monk (Sarnia, Ontario) for 1982, and then via John Adams Racing & John Kalagian to J. Byron Walker (Detroit, Michigan). Raced by Walker in 1983 and 1984 before being stored. Walker later acquired the 1977 bodywork from EB Lunken, who had used it on his March 73S, and found Lepp's Ultramar livery under the layers of paint. In 2013, Walker was in the process of restoring the car to its 1975 specification.
  5. Lola T294 [HU75] (Mike Hall): Mike Hall bought a new Lola T294 in 1974 for use in SCCA BSR racing. He was highly successful in the car at National level, winning the Run-Offs in 1975, and also competed in the Can-Am series from 1977 to 1980. The car was then sold to Chuck Storrie in Quebec and entered for 'Uncle' Jacques Villeneuve in Can-Am in 1982. It was bought from Storrie by Bob Roy for the 1983 season. Bob recalls selling it back to the US to somewhere in the Great Lakes area. The SCCA log book next records it being raced by Joe Graziano in vintage racing in Oct 1993. Sold by Graziano to Peter Read about 2008 and then to Steve Read in 2010. Prepared by Pete Racely (Sports Racing, Inc.) for the 2011 season. At the beginning fo the 2012 season, HU75 was being raced by Mike Thurlow (Kingsburg, CA).
  6. McLaren M8F [M8F/2] (Charles Nearburg): Two M8Fs were built for 1971 and both were sold at the end of the season to Gregg Young. Young raced M8F/1 himself and wrecked it. M8F/2 was driven by Cevert and then went to Herb Caplan for the last two seasons of the original Can-Am. In 1977, it was raced briefly in the new Can-Am series by Charles Nearburg. (History derived from research done by Can-Am historian and author David McKinney.)
  7. McLaren M6B/M8 [M6B 50-09(B)] (Leonard Janke): One of two cars to have stemmed from a McLaren M6B chassis 50-09. This car was originally raced by Jerry Titus in 1968 but wrecked prior to the Fuji race and rebuilt on a new M6B tub. This second iteration was then crashed by Jay Hills and rebuilt on a M12 tub. The tub from Hills' crash was later sold Keith Germane and built up as a M12 and then rebuilt as a M8 before being sold to Leonard Janke for the 1974 Can-Am. Janke drove this car again in the 1977 Can-Am. It is described as 50-09(B) here as was the second iteration of this divided car.
  8. Chevron B36 [36-76-06] (Mort Platt): New to Mort Platt (Kansas City, MO) and used in SCCA BSR racing from 1976 to 1978, qualifying for the Run-Offs each year. Also used in Can-Am races at Road America in July 1977 and July 1978. Then to Chris Strong (Lawrence, KS) and used in Can-Am in 1979 and 1980. Then probably the car raced by Dick Leppla in Can-Am in 1981 and still being raced in BSR several years later. Then via Ed Henning (early 1990s), Rudy Junco and Steve Fusillo to Brian Stark (Mequon, WI) by around 2004. Still with Stark in 2013.
  9. Lola T292 [HU51] (Bobby Rahal): SCCA driver Jim Busby bought a new Lola T292 for 1973 and competed in the European championship as part of Guy Edwards' semi-works Barclays International Racing team. He departed for his native California after the September Nürburgring race, leaving him time to secure the SCCA Southern Pacific Division BSR title. He was second in the Run-Offs to Jerry Hansen's sister car, HU60. For 1974, the car was sold to Noah Lacona (W. Des Moines, IA) who ran it in SCCA MidWest Division BSR racing for many years, finishing third at the Run-Offs as late as 1983. In 1977, HU51 was raced by Bobby Rahal at the Road America Can-Am. The car was later sold by Lacona to Joe Buzzetta (St James, NY) who also retained it for many years. He sold it to Larry Connor (Centerville, OH) who sold it to Greg Galdi (Lloyd Harbor NY) in February 2011. Since 1994, it has been looked after by Mark Wehrmann of Wehrmann Engineering (Hauppauge, NY).
  10. Lola T332/Riley [HU33] (Bob Nagel): See full history: Lola T332 HU33.
  11. Lola T332 [HU51] (Evan Noyes): See full history: Lola T332 HU51.
  12. Lola T292 [HU65] (Dean Dietrich): The last T292 built went to John Abrahams in South Africa for the 1973 Springbok series. It was co-driven in the series by Charlie Lucas. The car went back to England under the care of Derrick Worthington and was the car raced by Rikki von Opel in the Nürburgring Interserie in June (although that car was listed as a Chevron B26). It was later raced in the Hockenheim 2-litre race in August (Christian Melville), the Brands Hatch 1000 km in September (Worthington and Nigel Clarkson) and at Kyalami in November (Abrahams and Richard Scott). In 1975, it was driven at Le Mans by Worthington and Clarkson and also appeared at the Spa 1000 km and in a couple of UK races. In 1976 it was sold to SCCA driver Dean Dietrich and was used in the revived Can-Am series in 1977. It then went to Rick Villate for two more seasons of Can-Am. To David P. Gough (Atlanta, GA) 1982 and used as a road car. To Ed Swart (Torrance, California) 1997 and then via six other US owners until bought by Cal Meeker (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) in 2013. As its identity was unknown until researched in 2013 by OldRacingCars.com, the car continued to race in Primagaz colours.
  13. Lola T332 [HU47] (John Gunn): See full history: Lola T332 HU47.
  14. March 74A [1] (Thomas C. Jones): Dempster Developments UK 1974: for Mike Wilds at R1 (second), then retubbed for R2 (second). Tested by Taylor prior to R3 Silvestone 6 Apr. For Wilds at R3 (sixth) then replaced by newer 74A/2 and returned to Bicester. Probably for Wilds again after destruction of 74A/2: three or four races (R10, R11, R13?, R14). To Mick Hill UK 1975 - Bill Blackledge (then based in Jamaica) 1976 and then via John Gunn Feb 1977 to Tom Jones: raced in Can-Am 1977 (2 races), SCCA FA 1978, Can-Am 1979 (2 DNS), Can-Am 1980 (1 DNS); retained 2010.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.