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! 😉
