CAN-AM REDUX: THUNDER ROAD AT LAGUNA SECA!

The guttural rumble of Can-Am cars from an “anything goes” era of motorsports delighted enormous crowds during its heyday. They’ll be back at the inaugural Spring Classic at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on May 19-21. Sports car racing’s booming popularity following WWII resulted in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and the CASC (Canadian Automobile Sports Club) founding the Can-Am Series for Group 7 type sports racers in 1966. Armed with sponsorship from Johnson Wax, the Can-Am Series was ...
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ROLEX REUNION: SHOWDOWN IN SALINAS!

Tireless Mike Matune wraps up his Monterey Car Week coverage with action from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Every August brings the Granddaddy of U.S. historic racing events to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Salinas, CA, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (RMMR). A celebration of the best in racing history captivates with four track days and a dazzling array of cars. The Penske/White Ferrari 512M, above, is certainly eye-catching. Finished to a very high standard, typical of Penske Racing, the...
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PENSKE’S CAN-AM PORSCHE 917: THE FINAL CHAPTER!

Stephen Cox blogs about the most iconic of the thundering Turbo Porsche 917s. 
 Part VII: The Legacy. “In two of the races – Atlanta and Elkhart Lake – the car lapped the entire field. That’s doing something. This was an unbelievable car.” – Chief mechanic John “Woody” Woodard. Porsche enjoyed a dominance in 1972 that McLaren could only dream of. McLaren’s five-year stranglehold had been crushed, and Porsche had earned their first Can-Am Challenge Cup. But many years passed before the pa...
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PENSKE’S L&M 917 PORSCHE: UNTOLD STORY OF CAN-AM’S MOST FAMOUS CAR!

Stephen Cox blogs about the most iconic of the thundering Turbo Porsche 917s. 
 Part VI: The Title. “The talk around the pit area was that no one could touch them. They knew that it was the beginning of the end of Can-Am. The L&M Porsche was making history.” – Marilyn Motschenbacher Halder. No other track on the Cam-Am schedule offered sweet corn and bratwurst like the little food stand at Elkhart Lake. Everyone on the  circuit looked forward to it. The stand remains there today, j...
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PENSKE’S L&M 917 PORSCHE: UNTOLD STORY OF CAN-AM’S MOST FAMOUS CAR!

Stephen Cox blogs about the most iconic of the thundering Turbo Porsche 917s. 
 Part V: The Turning Point. “Mark [Donohue] and the other people behind the Porsche are not lighthearted types. They take the whole thing very seriously.” – Pete Lyons, Road & Track.  Thankfully, Penske Racing had only two weeks to stew in their misery. The next race was scheduled at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The teams generally arrived in the middle of the week. If no track time was available ...
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PENSKE’S L&M 917 PORSCHE: UNTOLD STORY OF CAN-AM’S MOST FAMOUS CAR!

Stephen Cox blogs about the most iconic of the thundering Turbo Porsche 917s. Part IV: The Embarrassment. “I had a five-liter, naturally-aspirated nothing.” – George Follmer With what appeared to be a fully developed, dominant racecar, Porsche was ready for their public unveiling. They chose the third race of the season at Watkins Glen as their moment of truth. After all, everything seemed perfect. The teething problems with the L&M Porsche’s turbocharger dump valve at Mosport surely ...
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PENSKE’S L&M 917 PORSCHE: UNTOLD STORY OF CAN-AM’S MOST FAMOUS CAR!

Stephen Cox blogs about the most iconic of the thundering Turbo Porsche 917s. PART III: The Replacement.  “We drove by the seat of our pants. We had to muscle the car around the track. We did not have cool suits.” – George Follmer George Follmer arrived in Atlanta early Friday morning in a rented Ford Crown Victoria. “I didn’t know him from Adam,” said chief mechanic Woody Woodard. “But I’d certainly heard his name. He was a good guy.” Marilyn Motschenbacher Halder, then marrie...
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PENSKE’S L&M 917 PORSCHE: UNTOLD STORY OF CAN-AM’S MOST FAMOUS CAR!

Stephen Cox blogs about the most iconic of the thundering Turbo Porsche 917s.  PART II: The Accident.  “A doctor specializing in football injuries told him, no, his sore left knee was really a knot of shredded ligaments. There was surgery and a six week plaster cast and a career grounded.” – Pete Lyons, Road & Track. The story had to be cleaned up for the press. If the truth came out on national television, nobody at Porsche or Penske Racing was going to be happy about it...
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AULT PARK CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE: 37th ANNUAL!

One of the top Concours in the Midwest is still going strong, showcasing everything from multi-million-dollar exotics to an old school Gasser!  Mike Matune captures the highlights. The 37th Ault Park Concours d’Elegance took place in Cincinnati, OH last weekend. Going early to a Concours gives you the opportunity to get some interesting shots, like a Porsche 919 racer being offloaded. The car features a two-liter V4 turbo engine with dual hybrid systems.  Here’s an incredibly st...
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PENSKE’S L&M 917 PORSCHE: UNTOLD STORY OF CAN- AM’S MOST FAMOUS CAR!

Stephen Cox blogs about the most iconic of the thundering Turbo Porsche 917s.   Part 1, The Beginning. “I loved those days. I loved those times. I loved the people. It wasn’t like now where everybody goes and hides in their motor homes. Everyone was there for each other.” – Marilyn Motschenbacher Halder Mosport International Raceway had an innocent charm that’s long been missing from today’s clinical, overly sanitized racecourses. The grass was too high. There were no sand traps. The ...
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