When I was a little kid growing up in northern Illinois, my dad brought me up to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin a few times to see the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (CanAm) races at Road America. I can not recall which years we attended, and I’m sure it was later in the 60s than the event shown above, which was the series’ first season… but I do have a few vivid memories of the events themselves, notably:
- The fact that you felt these cars go by more than you saw or heard them.
- I can recall huge straw bales being used as “safety barriers” around the outside of the course.
- Jim Hall’s Chaparrals were my favorites. Not only was the big wing really cool (and these videos show well how it worked, or didn’t as the case may be) but it also made his cars easy to spot for my then small size.
- The big orange McLaren cars always won. My beloved Chaparrals were always the bridesmaid.
- Most of all, it was really cool to spend time with my Dad, doing something he really enjoyed doing.
We also attended other races in the region, notably some open-wheel events such as Indianapolis (just qualifying, not the actual event) and another oval-track race in Wisconsin which I can’t recall the name of right now. But it was always the sports car races such as CanAm that I liked the best. Realizing now that in many ways this was a pivotal time in racing history, I recognize that I am privileged to have witnessed it first-hand, even as a small child.
The list of names involved in this particular race in Las Vegas reads like a “who’s who” of legendary drivers.
A little digging on YouTube turned up an event from ’67 that took place at Road America:
I may have been there, so keep your eyes peeled for a little blond kid on his dad’s shoulders! 😉
Like you, chuck, I was lucky to have seen these beasts in action and I saw a good number of the drivers mentioned in the vids. I was lucky enough to see them fairly up close and these are the *only* V-8-engined race cars I go weak in the knees over!
Unbelievable, brutal beasts and, IMHO, the pinnacle of American racing in the 20th century.
Chuck, when you’re in town, we *must* go visit Harry Mathew’s collection: He’s a genuine nice guy, and he owns the `very~ same McLaren that Denny Hulme was driving in that ’67 video. Last I visited, he owned (and drove’em HARD) a number of 60’s-period Can Am cars; to me, they were the most beautiful race cars EVER.
Harry’s a long-time friend, and…bring LOTSA memory for your camera, fort his coolection is one of those ‘Garage Mahals” we mere mortals only get to visit!
http://www.mathewscollection.com
Well, I watched Parts 1 and 2 over…nope, no little blond kid!
🙂
I did, however, relive my time around that wonderful track; Yolanda and I attended and co-drove in the 1988 25th anniversary of Formula Vee there, and WHAT A HOOT!
I’d only ever driven Colorado’s short tracks and had never been on a really long, really fast track like Elkhart Lake. It was eye opening to drive! 130 mph, in a *Vee*!