Kohler International Challenge at Road America 2010 – Report & Photos

Report by Bob Pengraph and photos by author, Jeffrey Dahl and Tim Kemmis

The Kohler International Challenge with Brian Redman and presented by Ford was held from July 15-18, 2010 at Road America near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. This historic 4-mile track in its 55th year of operation was filled with over 400 vintage race cars in 11 groups, many collector car corrals and thousands of spectators eager to see the cars race.

Sanctioned by SVRA, the featured races at the Kohler International Challenge at Road America included a Can-Am grid with 32 cars, a 16-car F5000 grid and a special all-Mustang grid on Saturday. This year also included a tribute to Mark Donohue that was organized by Paul Powell. The Mark Donohue Reunion celebrated the cars and career of the late American racing legend. Sixteen of his winning cars from Indy, Can-Am, Formula One, IROC and Trans-Am were on display and special guests included many of Donohue’s teammates from the early Penske Racing days.

Spectators lined the track to see the Can-Am cars thunder around Road America, with many of the fans having attended every Can-Am race held there. The original Can-Am race series (1966-74) had very few restrictions allowing the use of engines of unlimited displacement, weight and design and tires of any kind. Out of these open guidelines were developed some of the fastest, most sensational and innovative sports racers ever seen. The paddock area that housed these great cars were filled all weekend with people eager to get close to the cars that shake the ground with their brute force.

The field of Formula 5000 entries was rich with a variety of different makes, including Gurney Eagle, Lola, McKee, McLaren, McRae, Shadow and Surtees spanning production years from 1969 to 1976. Among the cars present were the 1969 Gurney Eagle Championship car driven by F5000 Champion Tony Adamowicz, the ex-Brian Redman 1976 Championship Lola T332 now owned and raced by Rick Parsons and Eric Haga reunited with his 1970 Lola T190 he raced in the original SCCA Continental Series in 1970 and 1971.

Bob Pengraph and Jeffrey Dahl from www.nwspeedshots.com were there to capture the event, in addition to Tim Kemmis.

Kohler International Challenge with Brian Redman – Photo Gallery One (photo credit: Tim Kemmis)

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Kohler International Challenge with Brian Redman – Photo Gallery Two (photo credit: Jeffrey Dahl)

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Kohler International Challenge with Brian Redman – Photo Gallery Three (photo credit: Bob Pengraph)

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[Source: Photo credit: Bob Pengraph, Jeffrey Dahl and Tim Kemmis]