From The Streets of Spain....To The Missouri Dirt

A little over a year ago I got rid of my cable television package. All of my tv viewing comes from over the air antenna tv. That is why I no longer comment on NASCAR and most Indy Racing events. Fox Sports has recently come to my rescue by showing Formula One races on Sundays. After watching Sunday’s European GP from Valencia, Spain, I was satisfied and prepared to put racing behind me and move one to other things. I first made a general sweep through the channels and was shocked and delighted to find CBS Sports was about to show the taped Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series Show-Me 100 on the ½ mile dirt track of the same name. WOW! There could be nothing that fits my personality better than a sophisticated F! race followed by 100 laps of dirt stock cars. I thoroughly enjoyed both races. The F1 picture below comes from AP and the victory lane late model shot is from the Lucas Oil Series website.

Something was happening every moment in the F1 race and it was exciting to have Alonso (Spaniard) come from 11^th to 1^st and cause a lot of excitement. It is not normal to gain ten positions in F!. There has been 7 winners in 8 races and the points are very close. Great stuff!!  I love F1 cars, except for many years now they have had the ugliest noses of any race cars in the history of racing.  If I ran F1 they would be gone.  They mandate many tech aspects of a modern F1 car and one more won't hurt.

I was thrilled to see my first dirt late model race since around 2004. I was shocked to see that many of the same great drives (Billy Moyer, Dennis Erb, etc) were still competing and at the top of their game. While Jimmy Owens led 97 out of 100 laps in Wheatland, MO the racing was still good. The Lucas Oil Speedway was one of the best dirt tracks I ever saw. Even as parts of the track became hard and shiny the track still did not spew dust. Excellent!!

From AP:
VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — Fernando Alonso of Ferrari won an incident-filled European Grand Prix on Sunday to become the first driver to win two races this season, while Michael Schumacher earned a first podium finish since his comeback by coming third.

Alonso jousted his way up from 11th on the starting grid to claim an emotional victory for the Spaniard in front of his home fans after pole sitter Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull stalled on the track midway through the race.

Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus finished second, while Schumacher sneaked onto the podium after Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado collided on the penultimate lap as they fought for third place.

Jimmy Owens Wins Second Straight DART Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway

WHEATLAND, MO

CBS Sports Special 6/24/12

1. Jimmy Owens
2. John Blankenship
3. Dennis Erb, Jr.
4. Austin Hubbard
5. Billy Moyer

USAC STOCK CAR HISTORY

The history and facts at the bottom of this post came from http://www.ultimateracinghistory.com/usacstock.htm

I would love to find a division bio that included the days of AAA sanction. It is the same series. I would add Dover Delaware to the track list you see near the bottom of this page. NASCAR and USAC both competed at Dover in the year the track opened. David Pearson set a world record for a mile on NASCAR’s visit, and later in the year when USAC ran, Don White broke Pearson’s record by four miles per hour. I mention this not to diminish the great David Pearson but only to show how great USAC and drivers like Don White, and their equipment really were. Literally every Indy Car driving legend competed in this stock car division. These were considered the top drivers in the world at that time. Many NASCAR drivers competed in this series. In addition to Fred Lorenzen and Paul Goldsmith, David Pearson, Richard Petty, Bobby Isaac and many more tried USAC. Out of the sports car ranks Roger Penske drove in The Yankee 300 at the IRP road course. Jim Hurtibise drove USAC champ Norm Nelson’s 1966 Plymouth to victory in NASCAR’s Atlanta 500. Nelson himself won a NASCAR Cup division race in Las Vegas in the early 1960s and finished third in NASCAR’s Riverside 500 road race in 1967. He finished behind Dan Gurney and David Pearson with USAC’s Don White coming home fourth. The parity in drivers and equipment was apparent.

I was fortunate to follow this division as a young fan and then a photographer, from 1963 through its demise in the 1980s. I have made many images of the racing days of this series but unfortunately like much of my older work it no longer exists. I never shot slides of this division but many color negatives and many, many b&w negs.

As a fan I saw them compete everywhere from the Kaukauna ½ mile, to the Milwaukee Mile, to the IRP road course, to the 2 mile Michigan International Speedway, to Chicago’s Soldier’s Field. SF was a ¼ mile track that circled the famous football field. In 1967 they ran 4 or five races there in traditional weekly short track fashion. Heats, dashes, semis and a 30 lap feature. There was over 30 thousand people in the stands the night I watched Norm Nelson beat Don White.

The Milwaukee Mile used to hold four USAC Stock Car races a year. They had to turn away cars. Usually two of the four races were sell outs. The top USAC Stock Car drivers were joined by many of the best of the USAC Indy Car ranks with occasional visits from NASCAR stars. Among the drivers I saw compete here included AJ Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Roger Ward, Lloyd Ruby, Roger McLuskey, Bobby Unser, Al Unser Sr., Gordon Johncock, Tom Sneva, Len Sutton, Curtis Turner, Bobby Isaac, Mario Andretti, Billy Foster, Rusty Wallace and on and on.

Butch Hartman was USAC’s only four time champ.

Some of USAC’s greatest races were held on dirt tracks ranging from ½ mile to one mile in length.   I addition to the fairgrounds tracks in Inianapolis, Springfield Illinois and Duquion Iliinios, Langhorne Pennsylvania and Trenton New Jersey were mile dirts stops until those two were paved.  Milwaukee was a mile dirt in the AAA days but was paved before USAC was formed.

The USAC Stock Car Series

( from Ultimate Racing History)

The United States Auto Club (USAC) began to sanction auto racing in the United States in 1956, after the withdrawal of AAA following the death of Bill Vukovich at the 1955 Indianapolis 500 and a tragic crash that claimed the lives of several spectators at the 24 Hours of LeMans just weeks later. Much like NASCAR's Grand National (now Nextel Cup) circuit at the time, the schedule was comprised mainly of short-track races, both paved and dirt. Several races were also held each year at the Milwaukee Mile.

USAC had an on-again, off-again affair with road racing, with events at Riverside International Raceway in California, Donnybrooke Speedway in Minnesota, Continental Divide Raceway in Colorado, Mid-America Raceway in Missouri, Shelby County International Raceway in Tennessee, Sears Point International Raceway in California, one go-around on the road course at Phoenix International Raceway before switching to the oval track, several races at Indianapolis Raceway Park on the 2.5 mile road course, and, on the international front, at Mosport in Canada.

Eventually, USAC found its way to the big tracks, holding numerous events at Ontario Motor Speedway in California (a clone of the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway), Texas World Speedway, and Michigan International Speedway. Events at these tracks were often held along with Indy car races, with several drivers competing in both races on the same track on the same day, usually in 200 mile efforts each. USAC also sanctioned the first four 500-mile stock car races at Pocono, before NASCAR began to compete there. 500-mile stand-alone races were also held at Texas World Speedway.

Several drivers from the USAC ranks eventually found their way into NASCAR. Paul Goldsmith, for example, started out in NASCAR, switched to USAC for a few years, won two championships, and then returned to NASCAR. Fred Lorenzen made the jump after winning his two championships. Drivers in recent memory with origins in USAC include Joe Ruttman (who actually ran two NASCAR races at Riverside in the 60s while still in his teens, then stuck to local tracks for several years before making his national return in the late 70s), Rusty Wallace, and Ken Schrader. There was a fair amount of crossover from the Indy car side as well; A.J. Foyt won 41 races and three championships in his years in the series, while Roger McCluskey picked up two stock car titles before winning the Indy car championship in 1973. Parnelli Jones also grabbed a title in 1964, while Joe Leonard (1971 and 1972 Indy car champion) and Al Unser (1970 Indy car champion in USAC, as well as 1983 and 1985 CART champion) won Rookie of the Year honors in 1964 and 1967, respectively.

Once CART took over the sanctioning of Indy car races in 1980, the stock car series began to lose its lustre. Most of the superspeedway races dropped from the schedule, and USAC began to cosanction many of their races along with ARCA. In 1984, the final season, only two races were held, on the dirt tracks in Springfield and DuQuoin, both open to ARCA competitors as well. A third race, scheduled as part of the annual 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora, was rained out and never held. Many of the former USAC competitors migrated to other midwest-based organizations, including ARCA, ASA, and ARTGO. USAC did replace the stock cars with a short track late model series (mostly dirt tracks, but a few paved ovals thrown in as well) that ran from 1985 through 1988. After the demise of that series, USAC continued to hold one late model event each fall at the 4-Crown Nationals through 1995; In 1996, the fourth crown became the UMP modifieds and USAC late model racing was no more.

From 1956 through 1984, USAC held a total of 451 stock car races. I have obtained complete results of all races from 1971 through 1984, and have full results of a few others prior to 1971. I also have several partial results of earlier races. (In some cases, those results rather depressingly contain only the name of the winning driver.) I now have a complete listing of all races in series history. Click here for a list of USAC Stock Car race results in the database.

USAC Stock Car Championship History

YEAR	Champion	2nd Place	3rd Place	Rookie of the Year
1956 National	Johnny Mantz	Marshall Teague	Les Snow	none until 1963
1956 Pacific Coast	Sam Hanks	Marshall Teague	Les Snow	none until 1963
1956 Short Track	Troy Ruttman	George Seeger	Eddie Gray	none until 1963
1957	Jerry Unser	Ralph Moody	Sam Hanks	none until 1963
1958	Fred Lorenzen	Mike Klapak	Norm Nelson	none until 1963
1959	Fred Lorenzen	Mike Klapak	Nelson Stacy	none until 1963
1960	Norm Nelson	Paul Goldsmith	Tony Bettenhausen	none until 1963
1961	Paul Goldsmith	Norm Nelson	Elmer Musgrave	none until 1963
1962	Paul Goldsmith	Don White	Norm Nelson	none until 1963
1963	Don White	A.J. Foyt	Norm Nelson	Sal Tovella
1964	Parnelli Jones	Norm Nelson	Don White	Joe Leonard
1965	Norm Nelson	Paul Goldsmith	Don White	Billy Foster
1966	Norm Nelson	Don White	Billy Foster	Butch Hartman
1967	Don White	Parnelli Jones	Jack Bowsher	Al Unser
1968	A.J. Foyt	Roger McCluskey	Don White	Dick Trickle
1969	Roger McCluskey	A.J. Foyt	Don White	Verlin Eaker
1970	Roger McCluskey	Norm Nelson	A.J. Foyt	Billy Reis
1971	Butch Hartman	Jack Bowsher	Roger McCluskey	Joe Booher Bud Schroyer
1972	Butch Hartman	Roger McCluskey	Paul Feldner	Chuck McWilliams
1973	Butch Hartman	Ramo Stott	Bay Darnell	Irv Janey
1974	Butch Hartman	Norm Nelson	Ramo Stott	Ken Rowley
1975	Ramo Stott	Butch Hartman	Sal Tovella	Len Gittemeier
1976	Butch Hartman	Ramo Stott	Sal Tovella	Wayne Watercutter
1977	Paul Feldner	Ramo Stott	Sal Tovella	Dave Watson
1978	A.J. Foyt	Terry Ryan	Bay Darnell	Joe Ruttman
1979	A.J. Foyt	Bay Darnell	Rusty Wallace	Rusty Wallace
1980	Joe Ruttman	Rusty Wallace	Bay Darnell	Ken Schrader
1981	Dean Roper	Sal Tovella	Ken Schrader	Rick Hanley
1982	Dean Roper	Bay Darnell	Rick O'Brien	Jeff Schwister Jiggs Lindhorst
1983	Dean Roper	Butch Garner	Rick O'Brien	Roger Drake
1984	David Goldsberry	Ken Rowley	Jim Hall	David Goldsberry

The three images below are not mine.  I did photograph the race in which the third picture  in the series originated. That image however, belongs to Stan Kalwasinski.  The first two images come from Auto Racing Memories.

Jimmy Bryan. 1957 Mercury

Jerry Unser. 1957 Ford. Phoenix, Arizona

#1 Roger McLuskey 1970 Plymouth Superbird....#3 Don White 1969 Dodge Daytona...Taken at The Milwaukee Mile in 1970.

Swiss Colony Howie Lettow Memorial 150

June 13 ,2012

The article below comes from SportsMadison.com

WEST ALLIS — Travis Sauter invested nearly $5,000 in preparation for the Swiss Colony Howie Lettow Memorial 150 and broke even on Tuesday night, clinching one of the biggest race wins of his career.

Hard work by Sauter’s crew, fast test sessions, a tuned-up motor and confidence behind the wheel paid off as the Necedah native held off Chase Elliott and took home a $5,000 paycheck in the 150-lap ASA Midwest Tour race at the Milwaukee Mile.

“You do what it takes and we’re here in victory lane,” said Sauter, who lists his residence as Prairie du Sac. “Yeah, this probably is my biggest (career) win. I won Oktoberfest (at La Crosse Speedway) and that’s probably the second-biggest race in the state. I’m doing good with the big ones.”
Johnny Sauter, Travis’ uncle and a NASCAR Truck Series regular, finished third and Cambridge native Matt Kenseth finished sixth.

Kenseth struggled with his car, but the reigning Daytona 500 winner and former NASCAR Cup champion achieved a decent finish.

“We started the race and I thought it was going to be all right,” said Kenseth, who ran as high as fourth. “After about the second or third restart, it just wouldn’t go. We kind of struggled for a couple of days, but it was fun racing up there with them guys. At least we got to mix it up with them a little bit.

“There’s 80 cars here and there’s a really good lot of quality cars here. We just never quite got our car perfect. These guys race these things all the time. We just never quite had it.”
Kenseth, who started 22nd, had hoped to race against his son on the one-mile oval. But 19-year-old Ross Kenseth missed the show after failing to qualify in timed sessions and a last-chance race.

“I am happy he’s able to enjoy the experience and comes here and race with some of the best drivers ever,” said Joe Nemechek, a four-time NASCAR Cup race winner. “He’s wheeling the tar out of that thing.”

Matt Kenseth was frustrated with slow cars during test sessions Monday, but on the positive side, he said he was surprised with the large number of race entries.

A portion of the proceeds from the race will benefit the MACC Fund, a Milwaukee-based childhood cancer research organization, and also will honor Watertown native and legendary ASA crew chief Howie Lettow. Lettow, who died of cancer in 2010, worked with Mark Martin, David Stremme and Jimmie Johnson.

“I don’t know if the attraction is the race being at The Mile or that it benefits Howie (Lettow) or what,” Kenseth said. “Certainly the purse isn’t greater than any other race. There’s been races for bigger purses that hardly anybody shows up for. It’s cool to see all this talent and all the cars.”

Kenseth will return to Wisconsin in the next few weeks to compete in the Slinger Nationals at Slinger Speedway. He said he began tinkering on a late-model car over the winter with friend Todd Millard, a Middleton native who is a tire changer on Kenseth’s Roush-Fenway team.

“Todd and I put the car together and decided to race it a couple times this year for something to do,” Kenseth said.

Ernie Derr....IMCA Legend

In the 1950s-1970s (especially the 60s) there were five major stock car circuits that raced very similar cars. NASCAR and USAC were the leaders, with the top teams being factory backed. Most of you know ARCA as they still race today. NASCAR’s West Division raced in five western states on ovals from ¼ mile to super speedways, and ran road races as well. The fifth group was the Midwest based IMCA. At times they are forgotten because they raced mainly on ½ mile dirt ovals, but they spurned many of ARCA’s. USAC’s and NASCAR’s best. Of all the IMCA drivers only one Ernie Derr, can be called a legend.

The article and the photos below come from Midwest Racing Archives, with Lee Ackerman being the author.

Ernie Derr (1) of Keokuk, Iowa races with Ole Brua during an IMCA stock car race. Derr would win 12 IMCA national championships

Ernie Derr by Lee Ackerman

Omaha, Neb. - Did you every watch, Back in the Day on the Speed Channel with Dale Earnhardt Jr.? That’s where Dale Junior hosts a series of old NASCAR Cup races from the 60’s & 70’s originally released as Car & Driver and hosted by Bud Lindeman. Well I’m going to take you back even further as we go look at the International Motor Contest Association Stock Car Series that competed primarily at the county and state fairs from 1949 through 1977. Specifically we are going to take a look at the king of the series, Ernie Derr

When you meet Ernie Derr, you see this small, quiet man and you if didn’t know better you would say he probably lived a quiet life. Nothing could be further from the truth. While Ernie has always been quiet, and to himself, his accomplishments in auto racing and the International Motor Contest Association in particular, simply go off the charts. 328 feature wins and 12 championships in IMCA alone, what else needs to be said.

It didn’t matter what brand of car it was, in 1951 he won in a Mercury, then it was Oldsmobile’s for several years, then a long run with Pontiac’s, then a year with Plymouth’s, and then he simply steamed rolled the competition in his Dodge.

Ernie Derr drove Mercury's, Oldsmobile's, Pontiac's, Plymouth's and Dodge's (shown here) with equal success in the IMCA stock car ranks.

Ernie Derr was born November 29, 1921. While known as the part of what this author calls the “Keokuk Connection”, he actually lived for many years in nearby Fort Madison. He got his start in racing in 1950 after watching brother-in-law, Don White race and thought “it looked like a good way to make a dollar.” That year he finished 17th in IMCA points running only a few races.

On July 1, 1951, Ernie won his first IMCA race winning the prestigious 250 lap feature at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in his Mercury and went on to finish 5th in the points. In 1952, this time behind the wheel of an Oldsmobile, Ernie won 7 IMCA features and finished second in the points. In 1953 Ernie won his first of 12 IMCA championships, winning 15 races in his Oldsmobile beating out brother-in-law Don White for the title. In 1954 Don returned the favor edging Ernie for the title.


In 1955, Ernie decided to try ARCA as well as IMCA and went on to win six events with that series. He was also in fifth place in IMCA in September 1955 with several wins, when IMCA stripped him of his points for running an unsanctioned race. He would win a total of 11 ARCA races in a limited ARCA career.

In 1957 he returned to compete more regularly with IMCA and won several racing finishing fourth in points. In 1958, brotheof those races, they were not in attendance
Like some NASCAR stars, there were races that Ernie had trouble winning. One of those was the Iowa International 300. Ernie had actually won the race in 1951 (his first ever IMCA win) and again in 1953, but those races had been 250 lap affairs. In 1957, the race was extended to 300 laps and gremlins always seemed to bug Derr at the 300. In 1966, he finally got rid of the gremlins and won the Iowa International 300. Once Ernie got things figured out, you were in trouble. He would win the event every year through 1971, the year he retired from full time racing.

Ernie Derr accepts the checkers and the trophy for winning the Iowa 300 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa in 1969.

In 1969, Ernie won 25 of the 30 IMCA features, including the last 12 races of the season. Also that year Ernie was joined on the IMCA circuit by his son Mike, and later son Russ would also compete in IMCA. Mike would go on to win several IMCA events and would battle fellow Keokuk resident, Gordon Blankenship for the 1973 IMCA Championship, losing to Blankenship by just five points.

Following the 1971 season and perhaps realizing that he had done it all, Ernie Derr cut back on his racing endeavors and ended his career at the Fall Jamboree in Knoxville in September 1977. During those last seven seasons, Derr would win 145 out of 245 races contested in the IMCA stock car series.

From 1971 through 1976 Ernie would campaign a limited schedule with the United States Auto Club competing against the likes of five-time series champion Butch Hartman, two-time series champion and winningest driver in USAC Stock Car racing, Don White, 3-time series champion Norm Nelson, former nemesis and 1975 USAC champion Ramo Stott, as well as Al Unser, Roger McCluskey and Tiny Lund. Ernie would log three wins and at least 8 runner-ups and almost always was in the top 5.

Ernie Derr would run only one NASCAR Cup event (then called Grand Nationals). That would be on August 2, 1953 at the Davenport Speedway in Davenport, Iowa. He would finish well done in the running order of that 200 lap event. Of course in 1953, NASCAR was just another series. One wonders what would have happened if Ernie would have lived closer to the heart of NASCAR.

Ernie still lives in Keokuk and keeps busy around the property he owns, and as always he doesn’t say much. He doesn’t have to, his accomplishments say it ALL.

In June, 2005, with the help of Ernie’s son Mike, I got to spend some time with Ernie. I had been told that Ernie was not very easy to talk to, but he finally relented and for about 45 minutes he shared some of his experiences with me, and then it was time to mow the lawn. That and 45 minutes with brother-in-law Don White early in the day, doesn’t seem like a lot of time to learn much about a person, but combined with some comments made by son Mike, it was enough. “Dad simply outworked them.” That and being a very good and smart driver, I think were the secret to Ernie Derr’s incredible success.


..

AAA, USAC, IRL, Indy Car, CART, Champ Car and even NASCAR

For the entire racing season I find myself perpetually calling the current Indy Car series the IRL. It is of course actually called IndyCar.IRL/IndyCar…..CART/Champ Car ? This form of racing has been going through an identity crises since CART was formed and they put USAC’s Indy Car series out of business. All ovals, all road courses, 50/50, 75/25, 25/75. Indy Car racing or whatever you call it, needs to figure out who or what it is. It will never come close to the success it once had, as long as it wanders around aimlessly, trying to figure what they will be next year, or next week

Originally the AAA sanctioned this form of racing. They were usually called Indy Cars in adds, but there was not a true name for these guys. Indy Cars, Big Cars, Championship Cars and Champ Cars were all used. When the AAA got out of racing and USAC was formed, the lack of an official name continued but eventually Indy Cars became the true name. There was also a NASCAR sanctioned Indy Car series in the 1950s.  The cars were the traditional front engine roadsters you saw in USAC at the time, except they had full roll cages.

The six photos below were made by me in either the 2005 or 2006 seasons. They are at the Milwaukee Mile. The top photos are from Champ Car (formerly CART), and the bottom three shots are from the IRL (now Indy Car). It shows the aero differences in the cars from each series at that time. From a fan’s perspective, I think both were pretty. I always thought I favored Champ Car’s appearance but it is pretty much a toss up for me. Below those six photos you see pictures of some 2012 Indy Cars.   Those pictures came from the Indy Car website. I have been very critical of the physical appearance of this car. I will admit that from a front view, they look pretty much like any modern Indy Car. You can kind of see the very wide side pod and this car has the rear wheels partially covered. They look like a ½ Indy Car, ½ sports car from the side or top. They do not do either Indy Cars or sports car justice.  I have heard a fair amount of grumbling from both the fans and the press, but my guess is that we will adjust to the cars eventually.

Champ Car/CART

IRL/IndyCar

Current IndyCar

 

I managed to catch the Canadian G.P. Formula One race yesterday on Fox Sports.  It was a good race with Lewis Hamilton getting his first victory of the season.  More importantly F1 is having a season like they have never seen before.  Seven races and seven different winners.  This is F1?  Amazing.  Hamilton took over the points lead.  That point standings is amazingly close. 

This may be the season to pay attention to F1.

Yesterday's finish  Note the two young drivers Grosjean and Perez with podium finishes.  Also notice there are three different manufacturers in those three position.

1.Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes

2.Romain Grosjean Lotus-

3.Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari

Current point standings

1.
Lewis Hamilton

2. Fernando Alonso

3. Sebastian Vettel

4. Mark Webber

5. Nico Rosberg

6. Kimi Raikkonen

7. Romain Grosjean

8. Jenson Button

9. Sergio Perez

10.
Pastor Maldonado



The CanAm Series 1966-1974......1977-1986

To me the Sports Car Club of America's CanAm series was the world's most exciting road racing series.  I followed it from 1966-1974, which I believe were the golden years. I remember so well the Mclaren and Lola Chevys, the ground hugger, winged Chevy Chaparral of Jim Hall.  Then there was the "atomic bomb" type Porsche's driven by Mark Donahue and George Follmer. It was magic!

The information below, including the book cover photos, came from Deep Throttle
http://www.deepthrottle.com

Year Driver Chassis Engine Wins

1966 John Surtees (GB) Lola-Chevrolet 3

1967 Bruce McLaren (NZ) McLaren-Chevrolet 2
sbee-Chevrolet 3

1986 Horst Kroll (CDN) Frissbee-Chevrolet 1

CanAm Clips

1966:The Can-Am, which evolved from the United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC), with its "almost anything goes" philosophy, debuts, creating some of the greatest sports racers ever seen on the track. John Surtees wins first ever Can-Am race on the Mont Tremblant circuit in St. Jovite, Quebec. 1969: At Road America, Bruce McLaren beats teammate Denny Hulme by .01 seconds in the closest finish in series history. 1969: So dominating were Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme after the first qualifying session at Bridgehampton, that the entire team skipped the afternoon qualifying session to go water skiing. 1970: Jim Hall debuts his Chaparral 2J Ground Effects Vehicle at Watkins Glen. A.K.A., The Fan Car. One of the most bizarre creations in racing history. 1973: Mark Donohue debuts the all powerful Porsche 917/30 capable of racing with 1,100 hp (with 1,500 hp seen on the dyno) and wins the last six races in a row as Porsche ends the McLaren era. And effectively, the Can-Am. 1974: Jackie Oliver wins four of the five events, the first four in a row. The final race in Riverside is canceled, and the series is suspended. 1977: The Can-Am returns after a two hiatus. However, this time the series is restricted -- some would say strangled -- to a 5-liter engine maximum, and essentially full-bodied F5000 and Indy cars. Patrick Tambay wins six of the last seven races. 1979: A 2-liter class is formed. 1980: Patrick Tambay wins the first six races he enters. 1983: This Jacques Villenueve is the brother of Gilles, and the uncle of the younger Jacques. 1984: Michael Roe sets Can-Am season records for wins (7), pole positions (10), and fastest race laps (10). 1985: Lou Sell becomes first 2-liter entrant to win a Can-Am race outright, taking the overall victory at St. Petersburg. He'll repeat that feat the following year in St. Louis. 1986: Paul Tracy becomes the youngest winner at the age of 17 in the second Mosport event. Only four events are held and there is no 2-liter class champion awarded as interest in the Can-Am wanes, eventually leading to its demise.

For future posts I am looking at any or all of USAC's divisions, The SSCA Trans Am Series and maybe the history of, or a current look at NASCAR's Modified Division.