1977 Can-Am season explained

The 1977 Can Am season was the tenth running of the Sports Car Club of America's prototype-based series. Despite the revived name, however, the new series was entirely unrelated to the previous series which had folded in 1974. Most of the competitive cars were based on Formula 5000 chassis. Also, the first time under 2-litre cars were allowed to race, but with no separate class. Patrick Tambay was declared champion,[1] winning six of the nine races that year for Carl Haas. While Lola chassis dominated the series, a Chevrolet powered Schkee DB1 driven by Tom Klausler won the first race at Mont Tremblant.[2] Other competitive cars included the 1974 champions Shadow, who now used Dodge engines and Wolf with a Dallara-built chassis. While Chevrolet was not the only engine supplier, they swept the entire season. This season also marked a resurgence of interest in SCCA events, with Can Am accompanying F5000 and the Trans Am Series seeing a mild resurgence in the eighties.

Formula 5000 itself would also be classified as "single-seat Can Am", despite two-seater cars also entering the series.

Results

RndCircuitO2L Winning TeamU2L Winning Team[3]
O2L Winning DriverU2L Winning Driver
O2L Winning CarU2L Winning Car
1Mont-Tremblant #6 Schkee Cars #60 Dave Johnson
Tom Klauser Dave Johnson
Schkee DB1-ChevroletLola T290-Cosworth
2Laguna Seca #77 Briggs Racing #94 Harald Kirberg
Don Breidenbach Harald Kirberg
Lola T332-ChevroletKirberg KK2-Porsche
3Watkins Glen #1 Carl A. Haas Racing #79 Bob Brown Racing
Patrick Tambay Bob Brown
Lola T333 CS-ChevroletMarch 77S-Hart
4Road America #4 VDS Racing #79 Bob Brown Racing
Peter Gethin Bob Brown
Lola T333 CS-ChevroletMarch 77S-Hart
5Mid-Ohio #1 Carl A. Haas Racing #17 Great Plains Racing
Patrick Tambay Gordon Smiley
Lola T333 CS-ChevroletLola T292-Ford
6Mosport #1 Carl A. Haas Racing #69 United Racing Ltd.
Patrick Tambay Mike Hall
Lola T333 CS-ChevroletLola T294-Ford
7Trois-Rivieres #1 Carl A. Haas Racing #25 Red Roof Inns
Patrick Tambay Bobby Rahal
Lola T333 CS-ChevroletLola T296-Hart
8Sears Point #1 Carl A. Haas Racing #25 Red Roof Inns
Patrick Tambay Jim Trueman
Lola T333 CS-ChevroletLola T296-Hart
9Riverside #1 Carl A. Haas Racing #25 Red Roof Inns
Patrick Tambay Jim Trueman
Lola T333 CS-ChevroletLola T296-Hart
[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Can-Am 1977 « . Oldracingcars.com . 2011-11-25.
  2. Web site: Mont-Tremblant, 12 Jun 1977 « Single-seater Can-Am « . Oldracingcars.com . 2011-11-25.
  3. Under 2-litre cars were not classified as a class.
  4. Web site: World Sports Racing Prototypes - Can-Am 1977.