 I'm John Seaman. I'm here at Road America racetrack with Keri Kautzer and Robert Ingram. This is the weekend of July 19th to 22nd, 2018. The WeatherTech International Challenge with Brian Redmond presented by HAWK is one of the largest vintage racing events in the country featuring over 400 cars. The historic Can-Am race is one of the feature races. An impressive field of Can-Am cars will celebrate the Can-Am's 52nd anniversary this year. I'm with Dan Davies and he is the chairman of the historic Can-Am series. Dan, would you give us some information about the Can-Am series and this weekend? Well, of course. You know, we've been coming to Road America now for, well, since 1992. It's the driver's favorite Can-Am circuit. And we try to do two, maybe three Can-Am features at vintage races every year. Road America is always a favorite, but we also have done Road Atlanta. We've done Laguna Seca. Occasionally Watkins Glen. But again and again, the guys like coming here. So the Can-Am association really salutes those great unlimited cars that ran from 1966 through 74. It was when excess was barely adequate. And it was also a time when innovation in racing was very special. Aerodynamics? Aerodynamics came along the very start of ground effects, composite construction. There were advances in tire technology. The tire companies didn't have tire dynamometers before Can-Am. So they learned about the technology of downforce and its effect on tires. So it was a very unique time and, of course, great drivers. Denny Hume, Bruce McLaren, A.J. Foyte occasionally and ready. And, of course, Dan Gurney, the fans' favorite. John Surtees and Jim Hall and his magic chaperones. So it was a great time for innovation, great drivers, and really great races. When we asked the drivers their favorite circuit, Road America tops the list. There will also be a historic Trans-Am feature for muscle cars. And a Formula 5,000 anniversary will take place this weekend. On Friday evening, there will be a race car concourse in Elkhart Lake. On Saturday night, there will be a sports car concourse for non-racing cars that will also be judged. I'm with Craig Bennett and he drives the DN4 Shadow. Give us more information about that wonderful, fabulous, fast Can-Am car. Yeah, it was 1974 Shadow driven by Jackie Oliver. It won four of the five races in the 1974 season and took the championship that year. So it's a championship winning car. What are some of the specifications for the drivetrain engine? It's got a 535 cubic inch Chevy engine, right about 900 horsepower. It's got a fuel and four speed gearbox. It's got 16 inch wide rear tires and 10 inch wide front tires. So this Road America track then, the car is well suited for Road America. It loves it here. It was back in the day, it was almost as fast as the 91730s. It's got a lot of downforce. Every year back in Can-Am, every year the technology and engineering got better and better. So the cars went faster and faster. What's your favorite corner here at Road America? I really like Turn 1. I like Turn 1 because it's a lot faster than you think you can go through it. And it really gives you a really good feel when you get it right. When you get it right, you know it. You have some pretty good competition here this weekend. How do you feel about that? Yeah, well my brother's got his Shadow DN2 and he's running very fast. It's his first time out with the car, but he's running very quick with it. Malette has the other DN4 Shadow and he's running very fast. He's been running 203s, which is extremely fast. You had practice this morning. What kind of times are you running? 201. Yeah, it's nice to have Claude out there. A couple of years ago we had the 50th reunion of Can-Am. I remember that quite a bit because I was in a wheelchair. That was the year I was a very, very bad accident at Rhode Atlanta earlier that year that had left me in a coma for 11 days. So I was in a wheelchair for that event. Probably shouldn't even have been here, but my brother drove the car and he ended up finishing second. And then we went on to Laguna with my brother driving the car and he won there. My memories are awesome. They're bad on one respect, but they're awesome because our cars finished first, second, and third at both events. It's hard not to have a great weekend here. Even if the cars are having a little difficulty, it's still a great place to run. It's a perfect track for the Can-Am cars and the crowd is a lot of fun. I'm with Philip Lewis and we're in the Formula 5,000 pits. This is an interesting car and has some interesting history. Philip, tell us about this car. This car is the Mattage AE50 built by Australian race driver and engineer Frank Mattage in the early 70s. He wanted to build a car that was better than his M10 McLaren and this was the car. This is chassis number four of six that were built. Chassis one won the Australian Grand Prix with Frank at the wheel in the very first race that he raced the car. It was a very successful race car. All of the cars that ran were very successful. Both Frank and Johnny Walker who owned this car raced in 73 in the Formula 5,000 LNM series in America. This car is returning to America 50 years later. What are the specs on the engine? Formula 5,000 is all five-liter engines. This car is a Repco Holden. Holden is the Australian General Motors subsidiary. But the top end was done by Repco and Repco were of course the engine builders for Jack Brabham, the famous Repco Brabham Formula 1 cars. They branched out into five-liter as well and the Repco Holden was a popular engine. It wasn't as powerful as the Chev's but it was lighter. So it was a bit of a trade-off. With the Repco top end it was a successful engine. Now how do the Formula 5,000 cars go around road America? Well this is like a home track for us. This is my fourth trip here and I keep planning to come back every year. This is a place you want to race the Formula 5,000. They're big, they're fast, there's a lot of power and this is a power track. There are four straights here and we get moving. My car is not running too well today but we pull 169 miles an hour down towards five and at the end of the main straight. Bit slower today, the weather not being so good and the track very green. But this is of course made for Formula 5,000s really because it's big and fast. We have a 115 plus mile an hour average lap and what's there not to like? How long have you had the car and how is it for maintenance? Well you know what man can build, man can rebuild. So maintenance wise it's just a fairly simple engine. The gearbox is a Huland DG 300, they're available parts and so forth for that. All the suspension is hand fabricated, my fabricator is around here somewhere. Everything is all handmade and we know how to make all this stuff so there's nothing too difficult. The technology is exactly the same as F1 was in 72 or 3. The only difference really is the engine and few other things. It's a Formula and everybody had a different idea what would be best and if you look around the pit here there aren't two cars that look the same. I think this is a challenging circuit, there's nothing that I don't like. The carousel is always a problem because you just don't know when it's going to let go and you're going to spear off into the bushes. I'm not crazy about that, the kink is challenging obviously. You always seem to want to overtake someone when you get there and the drivers meeting you always want, don't. So I take their advice, I don't want to paint the wall but through there and down to Canada it's all nice. This is old school courses and like the old school courses around America all built in the 50s and they don't have artificial chicanes or they're just natural terrain, the corners of where they naturally are and for old historic cars this is a track we want to be on. This is an enjoyable racetrack, we come here and we'll keep coming here because this is where we have fun. I'm a George Frye. The car that we're running in F5000 this weekend is a McLaren M10A so this was a McLaren from 1969. The M10 chassis was the same chassis that they used in Formula 1 but as you know the 5000 cars were all running a 5 liter or a 302 cubic inch American power plant so Ford's, Chevy's, a few Mopars have been installed in these cars and so this is one of about 13 and it was initially run by a racer by the name of Sam Posey and then became a car for Essex Racing, Merle Brennan, Dick Brown, several others race this car as we say in period so this is when it was truly a competition car in the series and you know this carried it through its professional life and then lived on the west coast being used in SCCA Sports Car Club of America amateur, semi-pro kind of racing into the early 80s into the 80s yeah and then at that point like a lot of these old race cars it wound up in the back of somebody's shop gathering dust and was silenced for many years and eventually these cars all have gone through a rebirth I think every car has its day and in many forms, many lives and so now in vintage racing it's gone through a restoration for safety and back to its racing specs and so we enjoy running this car I've owned this car now for about 7 years and so it's become very familiar in driving and it's like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes something you're familiar with What tracks do you usually run at? So we are out of Denver, Colorado but I lived in Chicago for 6 years so Road America and Wisconsin has a very special place in my heart I love coming here, I love the people, I love the brats but what's not to like right? So we come here every year if we can but the other tracks we run are sometimes in California or Texas so we'll go to the Laguna Seca or Mazda Raceway track and sometimes down to the Circuit of the Americas which is in Texas and Austin and we have some local tracks as well that are owned jointly by a number of car clubs it's a 2.5 mile circuit that's in Colorado, very close and so we do our testing there and we have some racing there as well but cars like this are really meant for these big, long, high horsepower tracks that's really where they excel and that's where they're an awful lot of fun Do you have many maintenance issues or how easy is it to keep going? That's kind of a loaded question I suppose Yeah, absolutely, these cars are now 50 years old and every race car has maintenance issues even new ones, they have maintenance schedules if nothing else but certainly these old cars you have to always be aware that the engine technology today is far greater than when they ran in period the tire technology is better than when they ran in period so these cars, lots more is being asked of these cars even with an amateur driver like me we're probably pushing these cars from a structural standpoint to a far greater degree than when they were new so we have to keep all that in mind we have to renew the elements of the car that are under constant stress so the suspension pieces and so forth and the parts become more and more hard to find and we have to fabricate a lot of these ourselves so not just anybody can work on these it has to be somebody who really understands that and treats it accordingly while at the same time keeping the car authentic not getting too ahead of yourself and start putting carbon fiber and other new technologies on these cars that really just don't belong there It sure is fun to see these cars run again and I thank you very much for bringing it Absolutely, thank you and thanks for supporting Vintage Racing Our second place Vintage Racing is out of the car Let's go and talk to him real quick How was the run? The run was great, track was fantastic sun was shining, perfect day Outstanding, thanks for being here Alright guys, grab some water, grab some towels This gentleman standing over here ready to give you some probably needs to walk right up to you That'll be good Third place, tell us about the run Ah, first time on a podium ever Great job, what was the best part about being out on the track? Being out there with all my historic trends and friends we go all over the country doing this and it truly is the best group in Vintage Historic Racing Outstanding, thank you so much for being here Your third place finisher Alright, let's talk to Bill First place finisher, congratulations Bill, beautiful car How's it going today? Thank you, it's a great day Our boat in America got a lot of sun It's now out and shining It's the perfect timing for our historic Trans Am podium Bill is going to take the top step Guys, look straight ahead We got some photographers, we got some television cameras Big smiles, get those hands in the air It's your Trans Am podium For the WeatherTech International Challenge Ryan Redmond presented by Hawk Performance Congratulations, everyone Champagne is out, drink it, spray it, blow it Winner 101, Craig Bennett 101X, Kurt Bennett Gorgeous car Congratulations, Craig Congratulations, drink it Whatever you want to do, have a blast Congratulations, it's your Group 1 podium Outstanding Wonderful job Those shadows look wonderful with champagne all over Beautiful cars, we're so glad to see these guys out here Congratulations again gentlemen, thank you so much I'm Dan Davis, Historic Can-Am Association and Victory Lane Every single can-am car is a winner Big hand for every single driver in this group They really drove a great drive Now we'll especially honor our class winners Craig Bennett, you're a double winner You've got a big block in that car And you get the big block award Congratulations Thank you Dan, I really appreciate it Fine job again, assembling a nice group of can-am cars Small block Robert Ryan up here Robert, with a small block You finished very high Thank you Dan Great day Great day for Can-Am and you Yeah, it was good race Good scenery And somebody brought the sunshine That's right Alright, class C3 Which is our FIA cars That of course also ran the can-am Michael Moss, where's Michael Moss? Michael, congratulations A wonderful drive, I thought you might get even on a podium there for a minute Well, thank you guys Thank you for my great crew chief And his best helper Avery What a great weekend Thank you everybody Alright, and now we have our Traditional early cars That represent the early years in the can-am And our two-pray winner Tom Simpson and a McKean And now we have our three former Al And now we have the Braves Tom, you repeat winner, you always put on a good show Let me turn it on Class 1, our USR, our CWR, AC Are you here? I know you were going to run another race Right after this Thanks Dan For putting this together with the can-am For bringing the sun out It's a great group of winners Big hand for our class winners Now, we do have some very special awards Which are, you guys stay up there We're going to do our special awards Two of our very long-term awards That always are Those that have given something special To what we do So, the spirit of can-am We're going to start with the Denny Hume Cup Denny Hume was racing with us here In our first 92 years This is for the individual It has helped the association all year long And a place to award it to ACD Augustly Wow, wow, wow We're a great example of someone that is Entering all of our races all year long And helps us create great grip Okay, and our next winner This is the can-am celebration cup To the driver of the weekend Who has exhibited their true spirit of can-am And an individual that has done extraordinary Perseverance in getting here Warren Briggs of England Wow Well, you've earned it We've been working together to get you here For six months, I believe You even had to change the body on the car To be eligible because it had the wrong body And so forth And just getting here was a great effort And I know you're going on to run the next Can-am at Laguna So you'll enjoy holding this For a few months before you go back Being with me I said he will be in this A great group of drivers Thank you all And a big round of applause to all our winners