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Those were the days also when an independent, if he could afford it, could purchase a Lola or a Mclaren, go to(sheese, forgot the big engine guys in California) and buy an engine and go racing. Usually did not have a chance to win but a 3rd or so was possible. Sponsors loved it, fans absolutely loved the wide open type series. World class drivers competed, F1, American, etc.

Troy Rogers also told me the true story about the Chaparral automatic transmission. They did not think it was top secret, no big deal but they ended up playing quite the game with writers of racing back then.

They had arrived at a USRRC race(forerunner of the CanAm) and back then they traveled with a two car open trailer towed by a 1 ton pickup. After taking the cars off the trailer and getting them ready to practice(open paddock with no protection from the rain) they covered the transmission with a blanket to keep the rain off of it. The sports writers surmised and wrote that it was a top secret transaxle and the team was keeping it under wraps. When they read the article they just decided to keep the fun going and continued to always cover them up. Troy laughed and laughed about it even telling me the story in about 93 or 94. That visit with him resulted in a private tour of the Chaparrals and I even got to sit in a couple and discovered how small those cars were both inside and outside. There was a lot of stuff crammed into a tiny space.