1973 Can-Am season
# 1973 Can-Am season

The 1973 Canadian-American Challenge Cup was the eighth season of the Can-Am auto racing series. It consisted of FIA Group 7 racing cars running two-hour sprint events. It began June 10, 1973, and ended October 28, 1973, after eight rounds. The season came amid the Oil Crisis, which ended interest in performance cars after an already-declining market over a several-year period. The golden age of the Trans Am Series ended after the 1972 season, leaving Can Am and Formula 5000 as the frontrunners of the SCCA. The season was also the penultimate season of the series, which would fold after 1974 before being revived in an entirely reworked series based on F5000 a few years later.

## Schedule

For 1973, the schedule was altered as the season continued on. The first race ran in a standard, single race format. Rounds two through four ran as two heats, with the results being determined by combined results. Rounds five through eight ran a Sprint qualifying heat first to determine the starting order for the Cup event. The results of the Sprint and Cup were not combined.

| Rnd | Race | Circuit | Date |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Labatt's Blue Trophy | Mosport Park | June 10 |
| 2 | Carling Can-Am | Road Atlanta | July 8 |
| 3 | Watkins Glen Can-Am | Watkins Glen International | July 22 |
| 4 | Buckeye Cup | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | August 12 |
| 5 | Road America Can-Am | Road America | August 26 |
| 6 | Molson Cup | Edmonton Speedway Park | September 16 |
| 7 | Monterey Castrol Grand Prix | Laguna Seca Raceway | October 14 |
| 8 | Los Angeles Times Grand Prix | Riverside International Raceway | October 28 |

## Season results

| Rnd | Circuit | Winning Team | Results |
| - | - | - | - |
| Rnd | Circuit | Winning Driver | Results |
| 1 | Mosport | #23 Rinzler Motoracing Royal Crown | Results |
| 1 | Mosport | Charlie Kemp | Results |
| 2 | Road Atlanta | #16 Rinzler Motoracing Royal Crown | Results |
| 2 | Road Atlanta | George Follmer | Results |
| 3 | Watkins Glen | #6 Roger Penske Enterprises | Results |
| 3 | Watkins Glen | Mark Donohue | Results |
| 4 | Mid-Ohio | #6 Roger Penske Enterprises | Results |
| 4 | Mid-Ohio | Mark Donohue | Results |
| 5 | Road America | #6 Roger Penske Enterprises | Results |
| 5 | Road America | Mark Donohue | Results |
| 6 | Edmonton | #6 Sunoco Porsche+Audi | Results |
| 6 | Edmonton | Mark Donohue | Results |
| 7 | Laguna Seca | #6 Roger Penske Enterprises | Results |
| 7 | Laguna Seca | Mark Donohue | Results |
| 8 | Riverside | #6 Roger Penske Enterprises | Results |
| 8 | Riverside | Mark Donohue | Results |

## Drivers Championship

Points are awarded to the top ten finishers in the order of 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1.

| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Engine | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Rd 7 | Rd 8 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Mark Donohue | Roger Penske Enterprises | Porsche 917/30 | Porsche | 4 | 15 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 139 |
| 2 | George Follmer | Rinzler Motorracing Royal Crown | Porsche 917/10 | Porsche | | 20 | | 15 | 12 | 15 | | | 62 |
| 3 | Hurley Haywood | Brumos Racing | Porsche 917/10 | Porsche | | 8 | | 12 | | | 12 | 15 | 47 |
| 4 | Charlie Kemp | Rinzler Motorracing Royal Crown | Porsche 917/10 | Porsche | 20 | | 10 | | | 3 | | 12 | 45 |
| 5 | Bob Nagel | Nagel Racing | Lola T260 | Chevrolet | 12 | 6 | | | 6 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 44 |
| 6 | Jody Scheckter | Vasek Polak Racing | Porsche 917/10 | Porsche | | 12 | 12 | | 15 | | | | 39 |
| 7 | David Hobbs | Roy Woods Racing | McLaren M20 | Chevrolet | | 10 | 15 | | | 10 | 2 | | 37 |
| 8 | Scooter Patrick | U.S. Racing | McLaren M8F | Chevrolet | 10 | | 1 | | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 31 |
| 9 | Jackie Oliver | Don Nichols | Shadow DN2 | Chevrolet | | | | 3 | | 12 | 15 | | 30 |
| 10 | Steve Durst | Vasek Polak Racing Motschenbacher Racing | Porsche 917/10 McLaren M8F | Porsche Chevrolet | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | | 8 | 1 | 3 | 29 |
| 11 | Bobby Brown | Commander Motor Homes | McLaren M8F | Chevrolet | | | | 8 | 8 | | 10 | | 26 |
| 12 | Milt Minter | Commander Motor Homes Otto Zipper Alfa Racing | McLaren M8F Alfa Romeo T33/3 | Chevrolet Alfa Romeo | | | | | | | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| 13 | Hans Wiedmer | Hans Wiedmer | Porsche 917/10 | Porsche | 15 | | | | | | | | 15 |
| 14 | Tom Dutton | Burmester Racing | McLaren M8C | Chevrolet | | | 6 | 4 | | 1 | | 4 | 15 |
| 15 | John Cannon | Motschenbacher Racing Commander Motor Homes | McLaren M8F McLaren M20 | Chevrolet | 6 | | 8 | | | | | | 14 |
| 16 | Derek Bell | Motschenbacher Racing | McLaren M8F | Chevrolet | | | | 10 | | | | | 10 |
| 17 | Bob Peckham | Bob Peckham | McLaren M8C | Chevrolet | | | | | | | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| 18 | Danny Hopkins | Commander Motor Homes | McLaren M8F | Chevrolet | | | | 6 | 2 | | | | 8 |
| 19 | Tom Heyser | Tom Heyser | Lola T260 | Chevrolet | | 3 | 3 | | 1 | | | | 7 |
| 20 | Gary Wilson | Gary Wilson | McLaren M8E | Chevrolet | | | | 2 | 4 | | | | 6 |
| 21 | Ed Felter | Blue Magic Corporation | McLaren M8E | Chevrolet | 3 | 1 | | | | | | | 4 |
| 22 | John Cordts | William Overhauser Racing | McLaren M8D | Chevrolet | 2 | | | | | 2 | | | 4 |
| 23 | Warren Agor | Warren Agor Racing | McLaren M8FP | Chevrolet | | | | | 3 | | | | 3 |
| 24 | Pete Sherman | Dave Causey | McLaren M8F | Chevrolet | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | 3 |
| 25= | Peter Gregg | Brumos Racing | Porsche Carrera RSR | Porsche | | | 2 | | | | | | 2 |
| 25= | Hans Müller-Perschl | Hans Müller-Perschl | KWM SP20 | Porsche | | | | | | | | 2 | 2 |
