Nearly two dozen cars from one of racing’s more golden ages took to the streets of Long Beach last weekend as part of the Historic Motor Sports Association’s Can-Am Challenge, which brought high-horsepower racing to the fabled seaside city streets as part of the 43rd Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The 22 cars on hand for the exhibition ranged from an ex-Penske Racing 1966 Lola T70 to a pair of 1974 Shadow DN4s (above, Craig Edwards photo), encompassing the entire lifespan of the original unlimited sportscar championship, with the other marques represented including McLaren, McKee, Genie, Sting, the Ford Alan Mann Special and the Ti 22 MkII. While half of the cars on hand are now domiciled in California, the remaining entries came from Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and North Carolina.
Although the exhibition — the first time the unlimited Can-Am had raced on a street circuit — was really more of a showcase for these incredible cars that were once the fastest road racing machines on the planet than a race, lap times were kept so that the ex-Jackie Oliver Shadow DN4-Chevrolet of Craig Bennett not only topped every session but won the race itself as well. He was followed home by his brother Kirt in a second DN4, with Claude Malette finishing 3rd in his ex-Dave Causey Lola T222-Chevrolet. All three drivers hail from Wixom, Michigan.
Ilja Burkhoff took 4th with the Peter Bryant-designed Ti 22 MkII-Chevrolet that’s been recently restored by Bob Lee, while Dan Cowdrey claimed 5th place with the aforementioned ex-Mark Donohue Lola T70.
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