The 1987 Can-Am Teams season was the twentieth and final running of the Sports Car Club of America's Can Am Series and the eleventh and final running of the revived series. For 1987, the series added March 85Cs from CART, [1] although some continued to use the old prototypes. Bill Tempero was declared champion. The Marches acted as a "single seat Can Am" group, replacing the old Formula 5000 cars.
The CAT series folded at the end of the year. Tempero subsequently took his ex-Indy car chassis concept and formed the American Indycar Series in 1988.
Date | Track | Location | Winner | Chassis | Engine | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
October 26 | Hallett Motor Racing Circuit | Tulsa, Oklahoma | Al Lamb | Frisbee GR2 | Chevrolet | [2] |
May 3 | Willow Springs | Rosamond, California | Buddy Lazier | March 85C | Chevrolet | [3] |
June 7 | Hallett Motor Racing Circuit | Tulsa, Oklahoma | Al Lamb | Frisbee GR2 | Chevrolet | [4] |
July 19 | Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway | West Allis, Wisconsin | Bill Tempero | March 85C | Chevrolet | [5] |
August 16 | Sanair Super Speedway | St. Pie, Quebec | Bill Tempero | March 85C | Chevrolet | [6] |
September 6 | Pueblo Motorsports Park | Pueblo, Colorado | Bill Tempero | March 85C | Chevrolet | [7] |
November 1 | Phoenix International Raceway | Avondale, Arizona | Bill Tempero | March 85C | Chevrolet | [8] |
Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States.
Denis Clive Hulme was a New Zealand racing driver who won the 1967 Formula One World Drivers' Championship for the Brabham team. Between his debut at Monaco in 1965 and his final race in the 1974 US Grand Prix, he started 112 Grands Prix, resulting in eight victories and 33 podium finishes. He also finished third in the overall standing in 1968 and 1972.
Laguna Seca Raceway is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, United States.
Lola Cars Limited is a British automobile manufacturer founded in 1958 by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England. The company is now owned by Till Bechtolsheimer, which he purchased in 2022. Lola Cars endured for more than fifty years to become one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of racing cars in the world. Lola started by building small front-engine sports cars, and branched out into Formula Junior cars before diversifying into a wider range of sporting vehicles. In 2012, Lola Cars stopped operations. Lola is set to make a return to motorsport in 2024 by joining the Formula E World Championship as a powertrain supplier in a technical partnership with Yamaha with Abt as their customer.
The Caesars Palace Grand Prix was an annual car race held in Las Vegas, US from 1981 to 1984. In 1981 and 1982 the race was part of the Formula One World Championship and featured a 2.268 mile, 14 turn Grand Prix layout; in 1983 and 1984 it became a round of the CART Indy car series and featured a 5 turn 1.125 mile distorted oval layout. Nissan/Datsun was a presenting sponsor of the races. The races were held on a temporary circuit in the parking lot of the Caesars Palace hotel.
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Road Atlanta is a 2.540 mi (4.088 km) road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur sports car and motorcycle races, racing and driving schools, corporate programs and testing for motorsports teams. The track has 12 turns, including the famous "esses" between turns three and five; and Turn 12, a downhill, diving turn. The track is owned by IMSA Holdings, LLC through its subsidiary Road Atlanta, LLC, and is the home to the Petit Le Mans, as well as AMA motorcycle racing, and smaller events throughout the year. Michelin acquired naming rights to the facility in 2018.
Anthony James Allmendinger, nicknamed "The Dinger,” is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the Nos. 16 and 13 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s for Kaulig Racing.
Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 310 Cup Series races and 14 Cup Series owners and drivers championships to go with three Truck Series owners and drivers titles and one Xfinity Series drivers crown. Additionally, the team has 28 Xfinity Series race wins, 26 Truck Series race wins, and seven ARCA Menards Series race wins.
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Bill Tempero is an American former racing driver from Milwaukee. He raced in the CART Championship Car series from 1980 to 1984 competing in full seasons his first two years and partial schedules thereafter. He failed to qualify for both the races he attempted in 1984, so he was not credited with a race start that season. Tempero finished 20th in CART points in 1980 with two top-10 finishes including his series-best result of 6th place at the Milwaukee Mile while driving for Hopkins Racing. He fielded his own car in 1981 and 32nd in points without a single top-ten. He attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1980, 1981, and 1983 but failed to make the field in 1980 and 1983 and crashed while attempting to qualify in 1981.
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The Frissbee KR3 was an American sports prototype racing car, built by Frissbee in 1984 for the Can-Am series. Originally built by Lola Cars as a Lola T330, it featured a 5-litre Chevrolet V8 engine, and was used by Horst Kroll Racing between 1984 and 1987. Horst Kroll used the car to win both the Can-Am and Canadian American Thundercars Championship in 1986.
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