1961 Mosport, Ontario – Stirling Moss accepts the Player’s Cup from A.R. Tilley of the Imperial Tobacco Company. On June 24th, 1961 Mosport held its first professional sports car race. The event was called the Player’s 200 with drivers competing in two 100-mile heats. The overall results would be determined by the combined results of the two races. Spectator attendance was estimated at 40,000 people – the turnout was attributed to the participation of Moss. And, he did not disappoint – driving a Lotus 19, Moss lapped all but two cars in the first heat and took another victory in the second race.
1980 Road Atlanta, Georgia - The Budweiser Rocket was on display during “The Runoffs” at Road Atlanta – probably a show car. The rocket was owned by movie director Hal Needham and driven by, stunt man and part-time race car driver, Stan Barrett. The three-wheel vehicle designed by William Fredrick was powered by a hybrid liquid and solid fuel rocket engine.
1980 Road Atlanta, Georgia - The goal of the group was to exceed the speed of sound on land. Apparently, Barrett obtained an estimated top speed of 739.6-mph (Mach 1.01). Although the team declared the effort a success, there was some controversy. The record was not endorsed by an independent sanctioning body as the team did not meet the criteria requirements for a land speed record run.
1965 Mosport, Ontario – The No. 20 Cooper “King Cobra” was entered in the 1965 Canadian Grand Prix for Lothar Motschenbacher. The King Cobra was the brainchild of Carroll Shelby. Shelby took a Cooper Monaco and fitted it with a 289-cubic inch Ford V8. Several of these cars were produced and achieved great success. Motschenbacher started eleventh at Mosport and finished sixth.
1979 Riverside, California – The International Race of Champions (IROC) drivers prepare for rounds three and four at Riverside International Raceway. In 1979, Peter Gregg won the first race at Riverside and Mario Andretti won the following day. Andretti would win IROC IV and earn $75,000 for his efforts.
1979 Riverside, California – 1974 was the first year for the IROC series. Organizers selected top drivers (usually current champions) from different forms of motorsport to compete in identically prepared cars at various types of venues (road courses and ovals). In the opening season, they competed at Riverside three times and once at Daytona.
1979 Riverside, California – During the inaugural year the drivers competed in Porsche Carreras but the organizers soon discovered 'that not all Porsches were created equal.' The following year they switched to Chevrolet Camaros. It was much easier for the series test drivers and mechanics to set-up the cars so that the performance was consistent and identical. In the years that followed the series also used Dodges and Pontiacs.
1979 Riverside, California – The first title was won by Mark Donohue and the last in 2006 by Tony Stewart. The 1988 edition was the last year the championship was won a non-NASCAR regular. Al Unser Jr. put his sports car, Indy car, road course and oval experience to good use in earning the title. By 1991, the championship competed almost exclusively on ovals and most the drivers came from NASCAR-sanctioned series.
1965 Mosport, Ontario – The Ford X-1 was entered by Bruce McLaren and driven by Chris Amon at the 1965 Canadian Grand Prix. Amon started fourth but retired with overheating problems. This one-off open cockpit version of the Ford GT did have some success. In 1966, the car won the 12-Hours of Sebring with Lloyd Ruby and Ken Miles sharing the driving duties.
1997 Reno, Nevada - A week after setting a new land speed record the Thrust SSC was on display at the Peppermill Hotel and Casino in Reno, Nevada. The record run occurred on October 15, 1997 at Black Rock Desert, Nevada. The vehicle was driven by Royal Air Force fighter pilot Andy Green. The car was developed by Glynne Bowsher, Ron Ayers, Jeremy Bliss and, a previous land speed record holder, Richard Noble.
1997 Reno, Nevada - The vehicle was powered by two Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines - also used in the F-4 Phantom II jet fighter. The two engines produced approximately 110,000-horsepower and consumed 18-litres of fuel per second. The car was 12-feet wide and 54-feet long and weighed 10.5-tons. In setting the record, the British vehicle averaged a speed of 763.035-mph (1227.99-km/h) on a measured mile.
1965 Mosport, Ontario – Pedro Rodriguez raced this Ferrari 365 P2 at the Canadian Grand Prix. Rodriguez started and finished third. The 365 P2 was powered by a 4.4-litre V12 engine. This car had quite a history – it had also been raced at Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring and driven by Nino Vaccarella, Mario Andretti, Bob Bondurant and Masten Gregory.
1977 Mosport, Ontario – During the 1977 Can Am season Gilles Villeneuve raced the Wolf WD1 entered by Walter Wolf. The Wolf team was enjoying a lot of success in Formula One. The WD1 retired in its first outing at Watkins Glen. The high point for the car was at Road America where Villeneuve finished third. At Mosport, he retired as the result of a broken half-shaft.
1965 Mosport, Ontario – The No. 5 Lola T-70 was entered in the Player’s 200 and driven by Hugh Dibley. Dibley did not finish as the result an accident. The T-70 proved to be a very successful model for Lola. In 1966, John Surtees won the inaugural Can Am championship driving a T-70 powered by a Chevrolet V8 engine.
1961 Mosport, Ontario - Corner two at Mosport is still a fast downhill left-hander but the surrounding scenery has changed since 1961. The last of the four cars in the photo is the Comstock Sadler MK.5 driven by Grant Clark during the first Player’s 200. Based on the aggregate results of two heats he finished fifth – the winner was Stirling Moss in a Lotus 19.
2014 Phillip Island, Victoria – On November, 15 in Race 34 of the 2014 Super V8 Championship Jamie Whincup made history. Driving a Holden Commodore VF, Whincup won his twelfth race of the season but more important he secured his sixth Driver’s Championship. In doing so, he surpassed the record of five titles held by Ian Geoghegan, Dick Johnson and Mark Skaife.
1972 Mosport, Ontario – Lothar Motschenbacher gets ready to leave the pits in his McLaren M8D during practice for the season’s first Can Am race. Motschenbacher was best known for his participation in the Can Am series but in 1971 – 72 he also competed, with some success, in the F5000 championship driving a McLaren M18. But from 1966 to 1974 he raced in the Can Am series. Motschenbacher never won a Can Am event but had a number of podium finishes and was second in the 1970 Championship.

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