The 1974 Canadian-American Challenge Cup was the ninth and final season of the original Can-Am auto racing series. It consisted of FIA Group 7 racing cars running half hour Sprint races followed by hour-long Cup races. It began June 16, 1974, and was cancelled after the fifth round on August 25, 1974.
The 1973 season had been dominated by the turbocharged Porsche 917/30 of Team Penske driven by Mark Donohue, and then came the 1973 oil crisis. As response, CanAm limited fuel consumption. The new, nimble Shadow DN4 dominated a short season in which even several underpowered old 1969 Porsche 908/02 scored points.
Following the cancellation of the series, many teams turned to the new Camel GT Challenge, although the cars were not of the same type as had been used in Can-Am. The Can-Am name would return in 1977, although the formula used would vary greatly from the original series, concentrating instead on open-wheel-based chassis.
Schedule All rounds had a Sprint qualifying heat first to determine the starting order for the Cup event. The results of the Sprint and Cup were not combined. Events held at Edmonton International Speedway and Laguna Seca Raceway were cancelled during the course of the season, while the final round of the series at Riverside International Raceway was cancelled by the track owner in August 1974.
Rnd Race Circuit Date 1 Labatt's Blue Trophy Mosport Park June 16 2 WQXI Can-Am Road Atlanta July 7 3 Watkins Glen Can-Am Watkins Glen International July 14 4 Buckeye Cup Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course August 11 5 Road America Can-Am Road America August 25 - Los Angeles Times Grand Prix Riverside International Raceway October 27 (cancelled)
Season results Rnd Circuit Winning team Results Winning driver 1 Mosport #101 Phoenix Racing Organizations Results Jackie Oliver 2 Road Atlanta #101 Phoenix Racing Organizations Results Jackie Oliver 3 Watkins Glen #101 Phoenix Racing Organisations Results Jackie Oliver 4 Mid-Ohio #101 Phoenix Racing Organisations Results Jackie Oliver 5 Road America #8 U.S. Racing Results Scooter Patrick
Drivers Championship Points are awarded to the top ten finishers in the order of 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1.
Pos Driver Team Car Engine Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Rnd 4 Rnd 5 Total 1 Jackie Oliver Phoenix Racing Organisations Shadow DN4 Chevrolet 8.1L V8 20 20 20 20 2 82 2 George Follmer Phoenix Racing Organisations Shadow DN4 Chevrolet 8.1L V8 15 15 15 45 3 Scooter Patrick U.S. Racing McLaren M20 Chevrolet 8.1L V8 12 12 20 44 4 Bob Nagel Nagel Racing Lola T260 Chevrolet 7.6L V8 10 10 10 10 40 5 John Gunn Racing Specialties Lola T260 Chevrolet 7.0L V8 8 2 1 12 23 6 Lothar Motschenbacher Motschenbacher Racing McLaren M8F Chevrolet 8.1L V8 8 12 1 21 7 Dick Durant Burmester Racing McLaren M8R Chevrolet 7.6L V8 4 6 8 18 8 Dennis Aase Dennis Aase Porsche 908/02 Porsche 3.0L Flat-8 4 6 4 3 17 9 Herbert Müller Herbert Müller Racing Ferrari 512M Ferrari 5.7L V12 10 6 16 10= Brian Redman North American Racing Team Penske Racing Ferrari 512MPorsche 917/30 Ferrari5.7L V12Porsche 5.4L Turbo Flat-12 15 15 10= John Cordts Performance Engineering McLaren M8F Chevrolet 8.1L V8 15 15 12 Hurley Haywood Brumos Racing Porsche 917/10 Porsche 5.4L Turbo Flat-12 12 12 13= Monte Shelton Monte Shelton McLaren M8F Chevrolet 7.6L V8 8 8 13= Gary Wilson Sting Racing Team Sting GW1 Chevrolet 7.0L V8 8 8 15 David Saville-Peck Ennerdale Racing Costello SP8 Oldsmobile V8 2 3 2 7 16= Gene Fisher Bailey Speed Shop Lola T222 Chevrolet 7.0L V8 6 6 16= Roy Woods William Overhauser Racing McLaren M8D Chevrolet 7.6L V8 6 6 18 Bill Cuddy Bill Cuddy McLaren M8F Chevrolet 7.6L V8 1 4 5 19 Horst Petermann Horst Petermann Porsche 908/02 Porsche 3.0L Flat-8 4 4 20= Harry Bytzek Rainer Brezinka Porsche 908/02 Porsche 3.0L Flat-8 3 3 20= Arturo Merzario Autodelta Alfa Romeo 33TT12 Alfa Romeo 4.0L V8 3 3 20= Bob Lazier Page Racing McLaren M8E Chevrolet 7.6L V8 3 3 23 Mike Brockman Jim Butcher Racing McLaren M8C Chevrolet 7.2L V8 2 2 24= Tom Butz Lodestar Enterprises McLaren M8FP Chevrolet 7.6L V8 1 1 24= William Morrow Bill Morrow Lola T163 Chevrolet V8 1 1
References