CAN-AM
Space Age Cars Thunder Around Road America
Bruce McLaren, car #4 and Denis Hulme, car #5, lead in matching pair of McLaren M8B-Chevrolets during the 1969 Road America Can-Am. McLaren beat Hulme by a tenth of a second. These cars featured aluminum Chevrolet engines sponsored by Reynolds Aluminum. Photo courtesy of Road America.
The Can-Am series from the late 1960s and into the early 1970s marked a golden era in racing. The cars were the fastest of their generation - faster even than Formula 1 cars of the time!
Can-Am cars smashed Road America’s track records year after year. During qualifying in 1967, Bruce McLaren set a new track record of 2:12.6. In 1968, Denis Hulme broke that record by 2.8 seconds. The next year he was even faster, trimming the record by another 3.5 seconds to 2:06.3, and then in 1972, he set the qualifying lap record at 2:04.562. That was thought to be very quick, but in 1973, Mark Donohue shattered the lap record, becoming the first driver to set a sub-2-minute lap at Road America, qualifying at 1:57.518 with Team Penske’s turbocharged Porsche 917/30. Donohue later took that 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 had reduced the track record by a whopping quarter of a minute!
Origins of the Can-Am
A McLaren M6A with 525 bhp, fuel-injected Chevrolet engine being prepped for the 1967 Road America Can-Am. Photo by Su Kemper. Courtesy of 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 series had an “anything goes policy” with virtually no limits on engines, chassis design, aerodynamics, or materials. 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, ground-effect aerodynamics, turbocharging, and use of space age materials such as titanium.
Powerful, loud, and exciting, Can-Am cars appealed to car loving Baby Boomers who came to see the cars thunder and roar around the track. Road America President Clif Tufte described the thrill of the Can-Am 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 eager to race, and lucrative prize money was on offer.
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 such as Dennis Hulme, Bruce McLaren, Mark Donohue, Jim Hall, Jerry Hanson, World Champion 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 race drew a record crowd of 51,000! Anticipation mounted for a legendary weekend.
Bruce and Denny Show
Team McLaren’s McLaren M6A-Chevrolets, driven by Bruce McLaren (car 4) and Denis Hulme (car 5), lead the field of the pace lap coming out of Canada Corner, 1967. Courtesy of Road America.
Bruce McLaren and Denis Hulme’s McLarens led from the 1967 race from the start. Hulme easily won Road America’s first Can-Am, setting a new track average race speed of 104.454 MPH, after teammate McLaren was forced to drop out when his car ran out of oil. The McLarens of the “Bruce and Denny Show” continued to dominate Road America’s Can-Am into the early 1970s.
World Chamption 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 Can-Am Championship. Photo by Gordon Means. Courtesy of 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 of Road America Archives.
World Chamption John Surtees in the Chaparral 2H-Chevrolet passes the Road America barn during the 1969 Can-Am. This innovative car exemplified the culture of experimentation in the Can-Am, even though it turned out to be the least successful of all Chaparral cars. Photo by Gordon Means. Courtesy of Road America Archives.
Porsche Competition
George Follmer drove this Porsche 917-10 Spyder 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 of Road America Archives.
By 1972, Team McLaren’s dominance was challenged by Porsche’s turbocharged 1000-horsepower 917-10 Spyder. At Road America, Denis Hulme, in a McLaren M20-Chevrolet, took the early lead, 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. Ten other entrants suffered mechanical breakdowns. That let George Follmer in his Porsche 917-10 lap the entire field by lap 38. He easily cruised to victory in the 50-lap race.
The next year, Mark Donohue’s win in a Porsche 917-30 turbo was the highlight of the Can-Am series at Road America. In qualifying, Donohue set a new lap record of 1:57.518, averaging 122.534 mph. It was the track’s first under 2-minute lap, and a record that stood for 11 years. Donohue went on to win all the other races that year to become the series champion.
Oil Embargo spells end for Can-Am
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.
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. In response, the SCCA reduced Can-Am race distances by 10% and instituted a minimum fuel economy standard of 3 MPG. Can-Am cars struggled to meet the new standard. The Porsche 917’s could not be detuned and were out, as were other turbocharged cars. As a result several racing teams had to leave the series. The only new cars entered in 1974 were a pair of Shadow DN-4's.
The last ever original Can-Am race took place at Road America on August 28, 1974. Shadow DN4s driven by George Follmer and Jackie Oliver had 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. Oliver’s engine blew on lap 23. Scooter Patrick inherited the lead and the win in his three-year-old McLaren M20-Chevrolet. Patrick was the only the second independent driver to win a Can-Am race in the series 9-year history. Remaining races were soon canceled by Can-Am promoters, ending the season.
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. Photo by Robert J. Lewis. Courtesy of Road America Archives.
The SCCA cancelled the Can-Am series outright in 1975 due to economic conditions. Costs to build a Can-Am car had topped $250,000. Engines alone cost $50,000 each, and teams needed several on hand for each race. 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. Despite the end of the original series, Clif Tufte remained optimistic. He hoped the Can-Am would return someday. 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."
Revived Can-Am
Cover of 1981 Can-Am/CRC Trans Am program. Courtesy Road America.
Tufte’s hope nearly came true when the SCCA introduced a new revived Can-Am series in 1977. Completely unrelated to the former series, the new “one seat” Can-Am was initially based on modified F5000 cars. Former open wheel racers were retrofitted with closed-wheel body kits to mimic the previous series. Regulations capped engine size at 5 liters. During the first year some former “two seat” Can-Am racers were allowed to compete. Unfortunately, the 5-liter engine cap made them underpowered and uncompetitive in the field. Nonetheless, the revived series attracted top-rate racecar owners like Paul Newman, Carl Haas, Al Holbert, and John Fitzpatrick.
Al Holbert's CAC-1 car at Road America for the 1980 Can-Am. Photo by Jim Alvis. Courtesy of Road America Archives.
1980 was the high point of the revived Can-Am era; the race proved to be an exciting competition. The field at Road America 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 5 resulting in a lengthy pitstop. This put Holbert in the lead. On lap 19, Andretti’s throttle spring broke, putting his car out commission. Holbert then drove unchallenged to take the checkered flag. A notable achievement for a car to win designed and built by the driver himself.
By 1983, the re-invented Can-Am was in decline. Most top racers had abandoned the series for CART and IMSA racing. 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 were all about fuel consumption. Fitzpatrick adopted a slow and steady approach while Villeneuve went all out for speed. That forced Villeneuve stop to refuel while Fitzpatrick slowly continued around the track, crossing the finish line for the win. Unfortunately, fewer than 10,000 spectators turned out for the feature race, and Road America did not renew the contract for 1984.
Although gone, the legacy of the Can-Am lives on today, both on and off the track. Engineering innovations live on in modern race cars. Historic Can-Am cars continue to draw crowds, both in displays and when the cars thunder around the track during Road America’s vintage events each year.
[Sources: Interviews with Road America staff Tim Kemmis, John Ewert, Julie Sebranek, Mary Lou Haen, Spring 2024. Schultz, Tom. Road America: Five Decades of Racing at Elkhart Lake. Indianapolis, IN: Beeman Jorgensen Inc., 1999; Schultz, Tom. Celebrating 50 Years of Road Racing. Elkhart Lake, WI: Road America, 2004; Road America. Can-Am entry lists and race results. Road America Archives, Elkhart Lake, WI; Canadian-American Challenge Cup: Road America. Digitized film. Produced by Charles Keller et al. Triangle Production Inc., 1967. Road America Archives; Can-Am at Road America. Digitized film. Narrated by Earl Gillespie. Multex Inc., Milwaukee, WI, 1977. Road America Archives; "Black Flag Can-Am Series." Herald Times-Reporter, November 21, 1974; "Cancel Can-Am; Cite High Costs." Sheboygan Press, November 20, 1974.]