Can-Am Challenge Race

Sears Point, 25 Sep 1977

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

Notes on the cars:

1. McLaren M8D [M8D/3] (Merle Brennan): One of the three 1970 Team McLaren M8Ds, this car was driven by Gurney and Gethin. It was converted to M8F specification for 1971 as a works spare and was later sold to Herb Kaplan for the 1973 season when it was driven by Scooter Patrick. It was raced by John Cordts in the final season of the original Can-Am. In 1977, it was driven by Merle Brennan in the revived Can-Am series. (History derived from research done by Martin Krejci.)
2. Bazeley Mk.1 (Andrew Bazeley): Andrew Bazeley (San Diego, CA) raced the Bazeley Special in Can-Am in 1977. He qualified ninth out of 19 at his first race, at Laguna Seca in June, but was the first retirement. At Sears Point in September he qualified 15th out of 25, and finished an impressive seventh of the 14 finishers. Finally at Riverside in October, he qualified 20th of 34 qualifiers, and finished 12th of 21 finishers. The car was reportedly cannibalised to make the Bazeley Mk 2.
3. Lola T296 [HU88] (Jim Trueman): Sold new by Carl Haas to James Trueman of red Roof Inns (Columbus, OH), and supplied with a Swindon BDX engine. Raced by Trueman in Can-Am but also by Bobby Rahal in two Canadian Can-Am events. Raced again by Trueman in Cam-Am in early 1978. Sold at some point to Rahal's father Michael G. Rahal who sold it to John Timken (Lyme, CT) in July 1978. Timken raced it for the rest of that season and into 1979. Marcus Pye recalls that Timken crashed it at some point but kept the damaged car for many years. In the late 1990s, Timken sold it to Fred Kaimer (Concord, CA) who raced it in vintage events. Still being raced by Kaimer in 2013. Sold to Bobby Rahal in 2021.
4. Chevron B26 [74-08] (Gary Gove): After the closure of Red Rose Racing, Roger Hire struck a deal to run works-assisted Chevron B26s in 1974 under the name Forge Mill Racing. John Lepp ran the main car and Rafael Barrios joined the team to run a second B26, now positively identified as chassis 74-08. This car only raced once in 1975 but was then bought by Robin Smith to be used in endurance and Interserie in 1976. Gary Gove (Tacoma, WA) acquired it for Can-Am in early 1977 and raced it for three seasons, winning the Pacific Coast title in 1978 and the last BSR title at the Run-Offs. It went to John Graham in Canada for the 1981 season and then to Luc Behar-Bannelier for 1982. The B26 was sold to Gil Baird for Thundersports in England in 1983 then to Richard Piper for another three seasons during which time it was converted to DFV power before moving to Ireland in the late 1980s where it stayed for nearly 15 years. It was sold back to the US again around 2003 and has raced in US vintage racing.
5. Lola T294/T296 [HU77] (Edwin G. Abate): Sold new to Ed Abate (Monte Sereno, CA) late 1974 and raced in SCCA BSR racing from 1975 to 1977 and in Can-Am in 1977 and 1978. Abate was second in the Run-Offs in 1976 and won in 1977. After one further Can-Am appearance in 1978, the Lola was sold to Garth Pollard, a Canadian then resident in Costa Mesa, California. He raced it in Can-Am in 1979 before selling it to Mike Hill (Quesnel, BC) who used it in local events before advertising it in April 1982 and selling it to Geoff Davie in Toronto. Davie sold it to Don Wood (Bournemouth, England) in Sep 1988 who had the car prepared by Ian Jones and raced it in the BRDC British C2 Sportscar Championship event at Donington in 1990, co-driven by Autosport legend Marcus Pye. Wood sold the car back to an American owner in 1992 and as of 2011 it is owned by a Californian owner.
6. Lola T332 [HU51] (Evan Noyes): See full history: Lola T332 HU51.
7. McLaren M8L [M8E 80-04] (Dick Workman): Originally raced in Can-Am in 1971 by Vic Elford, this McLaren M8E, chassis 80-04, was later raced by Bill Cuddy, Merle Brennen and others. It was then acquired by Dick Workman who raced it in the 1977 Can-Am series. In 1979 it was bought by Chuck Haines and restored. Chuck still owned it in 2005 and this history is derived from his advert.
8. Lola T332 [HU42] (Mike Roche): See full history: Lola T332 HU42.
9. McLaren M8D [M8D/4] (Hal Whipple): The prototype M8F was rebuilt as a M8D late in 1970 for Denny Hulme and became M8D/4. This car went to Tony Dean in 1971 and was rebuilt on a new tub after an accident. This rebuilt car, sometimes now called a M8E, was raced by the Roy Woods team in 1971, Bill Overhauser in 1972 and 1973 and then Hal Whipple in 1974. In 1977, Whipple drove the car again in the revised Can-Am series. (History derived from research done by Can-Am historian and author David McKinney.)
10. Surtees TS8 ["010"] (Dale Mahar): Dale Mahar entered a Surtees TS8 in the Can-Am race at Sears Point 25 Sep 1977 but is shown as "no time recorded" so may not have been present. Southern Californian Mahar had previously raced a 1966 Plymouth Barracuda for Har-Ma Engineering (Ventura, CA) in Trans-Am from 1966 to 1969. According to Kurt Engelmann's excellent myf5000.com, in January 1981, Dale Mahar (Thousand Oaks, CA) advertised a "1969 Titan TS-9 F5000 305 Chevy" which could well be the same car. The TS8 was acquired from Mahar by James Hale (Lebanon, New Hampshire) in 1980 or 1981, and used it in hillclimbs in New England in the 1980s. The TS8 has chassis plate TS8-010 and came with a spare TS9 monocoque, numbered TS9-08.

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.