OldRacingCars.com

Can-Am Challenge Race

Mid-Ohio, 10 Jun 1979

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Alan Jones Lola T333CS [HU7] - Chevrolet V8
#1 Carl A. Haas Racing Teams, Ltd.
50 1h 11m 54.058s
100.128 mph
2 Keke Rosberg Spyder NF-11 [CA-02] - Chevrolet V8
#5 Newman-Freeman Racing
50 1h 12m 36.045s
3 Elliot Forbes-Robinson Spyder NF-11 [CA-01] - Chevrolet V8
#4 Newman-Freeman Racing
50
4 Rocky Moran Lola T333CS [T332 HU29] - Chevrolet V8
#58 American Spirit Racing (see note 1)
48
5 Geoff Lees Lola T333CS [HU2] - Chevrolet V8
#2 Racing Team VDS
48
6 Tim Evans (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T290 [HU27] - Ford BDG
#51 Diversified Engineering Services
47
7 Gary Gove (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B26 [74-08] - Cosworth FVD
#52 Pete Lovely (see note 2)
46
8 Howard Kelly Lola T332/Riley [HU33] - Chevrolet V8
#6 Nagel Racing (see note 3)
46
9 Bobby Brown Lola T333CS [HU11] - Chevrolet V8
#79 Bobby Brown Racing
46
10 Horst Kroll Lola [T330 HU2] - Chevrolet V8
#37 Horst Kroll Racing (see note 4)
45
11 Bertil Roos (Can-Am 2l) 1.6-litre Chevron B27 [27-74-04] - Ford BDD
#34 (see note 5)
44
12 Robert J. Nelkin Lola T333CS [HU6?] - Chevrolet V8
#67 Nelkin Racing
44
13 John McCormack (Can-Am) 4.9-litre McLaren M23 [2] - Leyland P76 Repco V8
#28 John McCormack
28 Overheating
14 John Gunn Lola T332 [HU47] - Chevrolet V8
#39 Gunn's Goodies (see note 6)
18 Transmission
15 John Sorbello Sorbello GM5 [005] - Chevrolet V8
#19 John Sorbello (see note 7)
16 Brakes
16 Al Holbert Hogan HR-001 - Chevrolet V8
#10 Hogan Racing, Ltd.
11 Fuel system
17 S Peter Smith (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre Bobsy - Ford
#54 Red Roof Inns
9 Body damage
18 E. B. Lunken (Sports racing) 2-litre March 73S [14] - BMW M12
#61 E. B. Lunken (see note 8)
9 Suspension
19 Duane Eitel Chevron B24/B28 - Chevrolet V8
#23 E-K Racing
9 Overheating
20 Joe Salyer (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B26/B31 - Ford
#73 System Mechanical Contractors
7 Driver sick
21 George Follmer Prophet - Chevrolet V8
#8 U.S. Racing [Herb Caplan]
5 Broken exhaust manifold
22 Robert L. Douglas (Sports racing) 1.8-litre Lola T212 [HU34] - Cosworth FVC
#74 Red Roof Inns
4 Broken wheel
23 Steven Payne-Herbert (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T294 [T292 HU40] - Ford
#24 Steve Payne-Herbert (see note 9)
2 Fuel injection valve broken
24 Rick Villate (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T294 [T292 HU65] - Ford BDG
#26 RVR Inc (see note 10)
1 Engine
25 Chris Strong (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B36 [36-76-06] - Ford BDG
#96 Chris Strong Racing (see note 11)

26 Chuck Smith (Sports racing) 1.8-litre Chevron B19 [71-6] - Cosworth FVC
#72

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

Qualifying
1 Keke Rosberg (Can-Am) 5-litre Spyder NF-11 [CA-02] - Chevrolet V8 1m 21.95s
2 Alan Jones (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU7] - Chevrolet V8 1m 23.007s
3 Elliot Forbes-Robinson (Can-Am) 5-litre Spyder NF-11 [CA-01] - Chevrolet V8 1m 23.766s
4 Al Holbert (Can-Am) 5-litre Hogan HR-001 - Chevrolet V8 1m 24.583s
5 Geoff Lees (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU2] - Chevrolet V8 1m 25.732s
6 Bobby Brown (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU11] - Chevrolet V8 1m 25.931s
7 George Follmer (Can-Am) 5-litre Prophet - Chevrolet V8 1m 26.457s
8 Rocky Moran (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [T332 HU29] - Chevrolet V8
9 Robert J. Nelkin (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [HU6?] - Chevrolet V8
10 John Gunn (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU47] - Chevrolet V8
11 Tim Evans (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T290 [HU27] - Ford BDG
12 Horst Kroll (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola [T330 HU2] - Chevrolet V8
13 John McCormack (Can-Am) 4.9-litre McLaren M23 [2] - Leyland P76 Repco V8
14 Gary Gove (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B26 [74-08] - Cosworth FVD
15 Bertil Roos (Can-Am 2l) 1.6-litre Chevron B27 [27-74-04] - Ford BDD
16 Howard Kelly (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T332/Riley [HU33] - Chevrolet V8
17 S Peter Smith (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre Bobsy - Ford
18 Chris Strong (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B36 [36-76-06] - Ford BDG
19 Steven Payne-Herbert (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T294 [T292 HU40] - Ford
20 Rick Villate (Sports racing) 2-litre Lola T294 [T292 HU65] - Ford BDG
21 Duane Eitel (Can-Am) 5-litre Chevron B24/B28 - Chevrolet V8
22 E. B. Lunken (Sports racing) 2-litre March 73S [14] - BMW M12
23 Chuck Smith (Sports racing) 1.8-litre Chevron B19 [71-6] - Cosworth FVC
24 John Sorbello (Can-Am) 5-litre Sorbello GM5 [005] - Chevrolet V8
25 Robert L. Douglas (Sports racing) 1.8-litre Lola T212 [HU34] - Cosworth FVC
26 Joe Salyer (Sports racing) 2-litre Chevron B26/B31 - Ford

Notes on the cars:

  1. Lola T333CS [T332 HU29] (Rocky Moran): See full history: Lola T332 HU29.
  2. 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.
  3. Lola T332/Riley [HU33] (Howard Kelly): See full history: Lola T332 HU33.
  4. Lola [T330 HU2] (Horst Kroll): See full history: Lola T330 HU2.
  5. Chevron B27 [27-74-04] (Bertil Roos): Chevron build record says sold via Fred Opert to Doug Shierson Racing. According to Chevron the car used by James King at Mallory Park before being shipped to the USA. (King and Mead owned their own cars in the Shierson team.) Badly damaged by King at Mosport in July 1974 and rebuilt around a new tub. Formula Mar 75 p29 reports, 'King is trying to sell the B27 he drove in 1974 under Shierson's management'. (King still has the plate for this car.) Sold to Lloyd Callaway (Chicago, IL) and used in SCCA racing in 1975 and early 1976, and in some pro races. Callaway advises that the car was sold to Fred Opert in early 1976 in p/x for a new Chevron B34. It was bought from Opert by John Connolly (Brooklyn, NY) who raced it in local SCCA and EMRA events in 1976 and 1977. After Connolly bought a new Ralt RT1 in early 1978, he advertised the Chevron B27 in September 1978 and sold it to Bertil Roos (Blakeslee, PA), who won the Formula Atlantic race at the SCCA 'Bonus' National at Charlotte in April 1979. He then attached fenders to the car and used it in Can-Am, still with its 1600cc Cosworth BDD engine. Roos bought a different Chevron B27 for 1980, and, according to Doug Waters, his 1979 car was sold to someone in California who planned to use it as a sports car with an Alfa Romeo V8 engine. Many years later, in 1999, Sandy Dells Racing (San Diego, CA) sold two B27 tubs to Jim Sparks (San Diego, CA). Dells restored one of these to running condition for Sparks, then sold the other tub and parts on Sparks' behalf to Mike Winebrenner (Louisville, KY) in 2004. Winebrenner was able to identify his monocoque by its SCCA Chicago Region stamping as Lloyd Calloway's 1975 car, but the 74-04 chassis plate is on Sparks' car. Winebrenner's parts were sold in early 2009 to Bud Morrison (Tempe, AZ), who already owned 74-05 and 74-07. It would appear that Sparks' car is built on the original tub, and Morrison's is the replacement tub.
  6. Lola T332 [HU47] (John Gunn): See full history: Lola T332 HU47.
  7. Sorbello GM5 [005] (John Sorbello): See full history: McRae GM1/005.
  8. March 73S [14] (E. B. Lunken): Sold new to Henry Candler (Lakewood, CO) and used by him in a few British sport car races in May and June 1973, before he took it back to the US for SCCA racing in the BSR class. Candler soon decided the car was too quick for him, and he sold the car to his cousin, Edmund Backus Lunken (Cincinnati, Ohio), who entered his cars as E. B. Lunken, and was known to his friends as Ebby. Lunken first raced the car in 1977, then used it in the Can-Am series from 1978 to 1982. There has been some debate over the engine used in the 73S during this time, with some reports that it was a Ford, and others that it was a BMW. Irv Zwicker, who built engine for Ebby, says Lunken used BMW engine with Heidegger rods, Kugelfischer fuel injection and a proprietary intake cam. Lunken still had the car in 2006.
  9. Lola T294 [T292 HU40] (Steven Payne-Herbert): Described consistently as the "prototype" T292, HU40 first appeared at Jarama 5 Nov 1972 where it was raced by Richard Scott. It was then Guy Edwards' works car throughout 1973 after which it was updated to T294 specification and sold by Lola to Martin Raymond for 1974. It went to Stewart Chubb for 1975 and continued to race in the European series. In 1976, Chubb sold the car to Steven Payne-Herbert and it was used in Can-Am and SCCA BSR racing until 1980. Payne-Herbert kept the car until 1989 when it was sold for vintage racing and, three owners later, it was being offered for sale by Grand Prix Classics in February 2011.
  10. Lola T294 [T292 HU65] (Rick Villate): 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.
  11. Chevron B36 [36-76-06] (Chris Strong): 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.

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.