Historic Events Only Small Part of the History

by John Krill

This October 3 thru 5, 2003 at Laguna Seca as part of the Road & Track U.S. Sports Car Invitational you will be able to view some of the cars that made the Can-Am Championship one of the great series in auto racing. To see the Can-Am cars of the 60's and 70's drop through the corkscrew at Laguna Seca will be a pleasure. These are the cars that defined modern racing. But the car is only a small part of the history of auto-racing.

Trying to relive a bygone era is a difficult, if not impossible, proposition. Sure there is the cars: McLaren, Porsche, UOP. But where are the men who made it all possible? Where's Jim Hall, Jackie Stewart, Sam Posey, Jackie Oliver, George Follmer, David Hobbs and many others who are shown within the pages of this web site? Where is Carl Haas, Roger Penske, Vasek Polak, and others who financed the cars? Where are the crews who made it possible for champions like Denis Hulme, George Follmer, or Jackie Oliver to be winners and the men who backed them very, very happy?

If you have never seen a Can-Am car roar, and they really roar, around Laguna Seca then for sure to be there October 3 thru October 5. Sit in the Grand Stands and listen to them accelerate toward turn one. Or get a good view of the corkscrew and watch them drop down the hill and then roar down to the next turn. (Can't remember the turn numbers of the new track layout but the corkscrew was turn 6.) Or get over to the back side and watch them scream (Yes they also scream!) towards the top of the hill.

But remember while you are watching all this noise that there is no Bruce McLaren, Denis Hulme, Peter Revson, or Mark Donahue behind the wheel. They're all gone and can never be replaced. But I sure would like to see George Follmer, Vic Elford, Jackie Oliver, or even Sam Posey and his Porsche #20 drive this circuit again.

Another thought would to have Paul Tracy drive a Porsche 917/10 at maximum speed and compare his time with his fast time in a CART open-wheel racer. Now that would be worth the entrance fee.

We may not be able to turn back history but we sure can have some fun with it.

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