OldRacingCars.com

Canadian American Prototype Thunder Car Race

Pueblo Motorsports Park, 6 Sep 1987

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Bill Tempero March 85C [51] - Chevrolet V8
(see note 1)
56 1h 23m 34.64s
88.445 mph
2 Al Lamb Frissbee GR2 - Chevrolet V8
Texas American Racing Team
56 1h 23m 44.85s
3 Buddy Lazier March 85C [08] - Chevrolet V8
(see note 2)
56
4 Mike Engstrand Chevron B24 [24-73-02] - Chevrolet V8
(see note 3)
54
5 Jim Gradel March 847 [01] - Chevrolet V8
53
6 Wayne Rutherford March 85C - Chevrolet V8
52
7 John Raecker Chevron B24/B28 - Chevrolet V8
51
8 Horst Kroll Frissbee-Lola KR3 [Lola T330 HU2] - Chevrolet V8
(see note 4)
39
9 Cliff Dawson (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre March 832 [2] - Hart 420R
38
10 John Macaluso Frissbee-Lola [HU11] - Chevrolet V8
37 Engine
11 Randy Zimmer (Can-Am) 5.9-litre March 83C - Chevrolet 358 ci V8
35 Clutch
12 Mike Snow (Can-Am) March 85C [11] - Pontiac
(see note 5)
32 Engine
13 Bill Scott March 85C - Chevrolet V8
31 Differential
14 Dave Smith Shadow DN10 [DN8/3A] - Dodge V8
29 Overheating
15 Robert Rushmore (S2000) 2-litre Lola T592 - Ford Pinto ohc
29 Rear suspension
16 Fred Parkhill Lola T333CS [T332 HU39] - Chevrolet V8
(see note 6)
24 Leaking oil
17 Danny Collins (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre Macho - Ford Pinto ohc
24 Engine
18 Jim Del Russo (Can-Am 2l) 2.6-litre Rondel M1 [201] - Mazda 13B twin rotor
(see note 7)
18 Gearbox
19 Bill Hill (Can-Am 2l) 2.6-litre Lola T360 - Mazda 13B twin rotor
#73 (see note 8)
14 Engine

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

Qualifying
1 Al Lamb (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee GR2 - Chevrolet V8 1m 25.59s
2 Mike Snow (Can-Am) March 85C [11] - Pontiac 1m 25.69s
3 Bill Tempero (Can-Am) 5-litre March 85C [51] - Chevrolet V8 1m 27.3s
4 Buddy Lazier (Can-Am) 5-litre March 85C [08] - Chevrolet V8 1m 29.2s
5 Randy Zimmer (Can-Am) 5.9-litre March 83C - Chevrolet 358 ci V8 1m 29.67s
6 Bill Scott (Can-Am) 5-litre March 85C - Chevrolet V8 1m 30.18s
7 Jim Gradel (Can-Am) 5-litre March 847 [01] - Chevrolet V8 1m 31.75s
8 John Macaluso (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee-Lola [HU11] - Chevrolet V8 1m 31.77s
9 Wayne Rutherford (Can-Am) 5-litre March 85C - Chevrolet V8 1m 32.87s
10 Horst Kroll (Can-Am) 5-litre Frissbee-Lola KR3 [Lola T330 HU2] - Chevrolet V8 1m 33.02s
11 Mike Engstrand (Can-Am) 5-litre Chevron B24 [24-73-02] - Chevrolet V8 1m 34.5s
12 Jim Del Russo (Can-Am 2l) 2.6-litre Rondel M1 [201] - Mazda 13B twin rotor 1m 35.21s
13 John Raecker (Can-Am) 5-litre Chevron B24/B28 - Chevrolet V8 1m 37.11s
14 Fred Parkhill (Can-Am) 5-litre Lola T333CS [T332 HU39] - Chevrolet V8 1m 38.98s
15 Cliff Dawson (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre March 832 [2] - Hart 420R 1m 39.64s
16 Bill Hill (Can-Am 2l) 2.6-litre Lola T360 - Mazda 13B twin rotor 1m 40.07s
17 Robert Rushmore (S2000) 2-litre Lola T592 - Ford Pinto ohc 1m 40.87s
18 Danny Collins (Can-Am 2l) 2-litre Macho - Ford Pinto ohc 1m 43.78s
19 Dave Smith (Can-Am) 5-litre Shadow DN10 [DN8/3A] - Dodge V8

Notes on the cars:

  1. March 85C [51] (Bill Tempero): Bill Tempero's #2 March 85C Can-Am car was identified at Willow Springs in 1987 by Martin Spetz as 85C-51 "ex-Rahal".
  2. March 85C [08] (Buddy Lazier): Buddy Lazier's #19 March 85C Can-Am car was identified at Willow Springs in 1987 by Martin Spetz as 85C-08 "ex-Rahal".
  3. Chevron B24 [24-73-02] (Mike Engstrand): 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.
  4. Frissbee-Lola KR3 [Lola T330 HU2] (Horst Kroll): See full history: Lola T330 HU2.
  5. March 85C [11] (Mike Snow): Mike Snow's #26 March 85C-Pontiac Can-Am car was identified at Willow Springs in 1987 by Martin Spetz as 85C-11 "ex-Rahal runner Indy '85".
  6. Lola T333CS [T332 HU39] (Fred Parkhill): See full history: Lola T332 HU39.
  7. Rondel M1 [201] (Jim Del Russo): The prototype Rondel was used for testing in late 1972, before the first production cars were built. It was taken to Hockenheim 8 April 1973 as team spare, and to Pau as a spare for Tim Schenken, but not raced. Its history is then unknown until 1974, and it appears it has been acquired by Fred Opert to use as a set of spares. After Mike Rand crashed his car, wrecking the monocoque, 201 was supplied to Ron Ignatowski (Milford, CT), who rebuilt Rand's car on 201's tub with a BRM 1-litre engine and used it in SCCA Formula C. In 1980 it was sold to Randy Zimmer (Buffalo, NY) as the basis for his Can-Am car. He raced it with a Volkswagen engine in 1982 and then with a Mazda rotary engine from 1983 to 1986. Zimmer then entered it for Jim Del Russo in the 1987 CAT championship, and raced it a few more times himself in 1989, 1990 and 1994. Then retained for many years until Zimmer sold it to Seann Burgess (Markdale, Ontario) in 2019.
  8. Lola T360 (Bill Hill): Doug Moe (Bremerton, WA) owned a Lola T360 in the 1980s, which had been fitted with sports car bodywork and a Mazda engine. Exactly when Moe started racing the Lola is unclear, as he had a series of BSR class "Mazron" sports racing cars that he used in ICSCC events from 1977 (the "Mk 1"), 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981 (the "Mazron Mk V"). The name would suggest a Chevron-Mazda combination. Moe was reported to be driving the Lola T360 in 'B' Sports Racing with Mazda engine in September 1985, and as he does not appear in the ICSCC points table for the 1983 or 1984 seasons, that would suggest he first raced it in 1985. The T360-based car was raced by Bill Hill in the CAT championship in 1987, after which it was reportedly stored. Early in 2003, Moe sold the the car to Allan T. Chou (Westfield, NJ), and in 2009 it was being restored. Bought from Chou in 2012 by Guilbert Twiss (Pittsfield, MA). Bought from Twiss by Dean Baker (Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada) in 2022.

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.