1979 Can-Am season
{{Short description|Motorsport season in 1979}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Motorsport season
|series = Can-Am
|title = Can-Am season
|link = Can-Am season
|year = 1979
| next = 1980
}}
The 1979 Can-Am season was the twelfth running of the Sports Car Club of America's prototype-based series and the third running of the revived series. Formula One legend Jacky Ickx was declared champion,{{Cite web|url=https://www.oldracingcars.com/canam/1979/|title=Can-Am 1979 « OldRacingCars.com|website=www.oldracingcars.com}} winning five of the ten rounds and finishing second at Road Atlanta.{{Cite web|url=https://www.oldracingcars.com/results/result.php?RaceID=C79A?RaceID=C79A|title=Race not found « OldRacingCars.com|website=www.oldracingcars.com}} Chevrolet again dominated the season. The top chassis builders were Lola, Prophet, and Spyder, with Vern Schuppan finishing third at Watkins Glen in an Elfin{{Cite web|url=https://www.oldracingcars.com/results/result.php?RaceID=C79E?RaceID=C79E|title=Race not found « OldRacingCars.com|website=www.oldracingcars.com}} and Al Holbert finishing third at Road America in a Hogan.
1979 would also mark the introduction of a second class for prototypes with engines under 2000cc. That class was won by Tim Evans in his Lola T290.
Results
The scoring system was 9-6-4-3-2-1 points awarded to the first six classified finishers. All results counted.
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" |
| Round
! Circuit ! Date ! Winning driver ! Team ! Car |
|---|
| 1
| {{flagicon|USA}} Road Atlanta | May 6 | {{flagicon|FIN}} Keke Rosberg | {{flagicon|USA}} Newman-Freeman Racing | Spyder-Chevrolet |
| 2
| {{flagicon|USA}} Charlotte | May 20 | {{flagicon|BEL}} Jacky Ickx | {{flagicon|USA}} Carl A. Haas Racing Team | Lola-Chevrolet |
| 3
| {{flagicon|CAN}} Mosport | June 3 | {{flagicon|BEL}} Jacky Ickx | {{flagicon|USA}} Carl A. Haas Racing Team | Lola-Chevrolet |
| 4
| {{flagicon|USA}} Mid-Ohio | June 10 | {{flagicon|AUS}} Alan Jones | {{flagicon|USA}} Carl A. Haas Racing Team | Lola-Chevrolet |
| 5
| {{flagicon|USA}} Watkins Glen | July 8 | {{flagicon|FIN}} Keke Rosberg | {{flagicon|USA}} Newman-Freeman Racing | Spyder-Chevrolet |
| 6
| {{flagicon|USA}} Road America | July 22 | {{flagicon|BEL}} Jacky Ickx | {{flagicon|USA}} Carl A. Haas Racing Team | Lola-Chevrolet |
| 7
| {{flagicon|USA}} Brainerd | August 19 | {{flagicon|BEL}} Jacky Ickx | {{flagicon|USA}} Carl A. Haas Racing Team | Lola-Chevrolet |
| 8
| {{flagicon|CAN}} Trois-Rivières | September 2 | {{flagicon|USA}} Elliot Forbes-Robinson | {{flagicon|USA}} Newman-Freeman Racing | Spyder-Chevrolet |
| 9
| {{flagicon|USA}} Laguna Seca | October 14 | {{flagicon|USA}} Bobby Rahal | {{flagicon|USA}} U.S. Racing | Prophet-Chevrolet |
| 10
| {{flagicon|USA}} Riverside | October 28 | {{flagicon|BEL}} Jacky Ickx | {{flagicon|USA}} Carl A. Haas Racing Team | Lola-Chevrolet |
FINAL STANDINGS
| class="wikitable"
|POSITION |DRIVER |COUNTRY |GPs |WINS |POINTS |ENTRANT |CAR-ENGINE |
| 01
|Jacky Ickx |Belgium |9 |5 |51 |Carl A. Haas Racing Team |Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| 02
|Elliott Forbes-Robinson |United States |10 |1 |45 |Newman-Freeman Racing |Spyder NF-11-Chevrolet |
| 03
|Geoff Lees |United Kingdom |10 |0 |32 |Racing Team VDS |Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| 04
|Keke Rosberg |Finland |10 |2 |29 |Newman-Freeman Racing |Spyder NF 11-Chevrolet |
| 05
|Bobby Rahal |United States |6 |1 |25 |U.S. Racing |Prophet-Chevrolet |
| 06
|Al Holbert |United States |8 |0 |9 |Hogan Racing Ltd. |Hogan HR 001-Chevrolet |
| 06
|Alan Jones |Australia |2 |1 |9 |Carl A. Haas Racing Team |Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| 08
|Rocky Moran |United States |9 |0 |6 |American Spirit Racing |Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| 08
|John Morton |United States |7 |0 |6 |U.S. Racing; John Morton Racing |Prophet-Chevrolet; Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| 08
|Vern Schuppan |Australia |5 |0 |6 |Theodore Racing Team |Elfin MR8A-Chevrolet |
| 11
|Bill Tempero |United States |9 |0 |5 |Bill Tempero Racing |Lola T332C-Chevrolet |
| 12
|Bobby Brown |United States |9 |0 |4 |Bobby Brown Racing |Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| 13
|Tim Evans |United States |10 |0 |3 |Diversified Engineering Services |Lola T290-Ford |
| 13
|Horst Kroll |Canada |8 |0 |3 |Horst Kroll Racing |Lola T332-Chevrolet; Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| 13
|John Gunn |United States |7 |0 |3 |Gunn´s Godies |GG 5-Chevrolet |
| 13
|Randy Lewis |United States |3 |0 |3 |Randy Lewis; Carl A. Haas Racing Team |Lola T332-Chevrolet |
| 13
|Geoff Brabham |Australia |2 |0 |3 |Hogan Racing Ltd. |Hogan HR 001-Chevrolet |
| 13
|George Follmer |United States |2 |0 |3 |U.S. Racing |Prophet-Chevrolet |
| 13
|Howdy Holmes |United States |1 |0 |3 |Newman-Freeman Racing |Spyder NF 11-Chevrolet |
| 20
|Michael Allen |United States |6 |0 |1 |Don Weber |Lola T332CS-Chevrolet |
| 20
|Tony Cicale |United States |4 |0 |1 |Cicale Champion Racing |Ralt RT1 1/2-Hart |
| NC
|Gary Gove |United States |10 |0 |0 |Pete Lovely Volkswagen |Chevron B26-Ford |
| NC
|Randolph Townsend |United States |6 |0 |0 |Newman-Freeman Racing |Spyder NF 11-Chevrolet |
| NC
|S. Peter Smith |United States |6 |0 |0 |Red Roof Inns |Bobsy 2L-Ford |
| NC
|Duane Eitel |United States |5 |0 |0 |E-K Racing |Chevron B28-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Robert J. Nelkin |United States |5 |0 |0 |Robert J. Nelkin |Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Dean Dietrich |United States |4 |0 |0 |Dean Dietrich |DRL Hawke 79 |
| NC
|E. B. Lunken |United States |4 |0 |0 |E. B. Lunken |March 73S-BMW |
| NC
|Howard Kelly |Canada |4 |0 |0 |Howard Kelly |Lola T332 RNF-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Leonard Janke |United States |4 |0 |0 |Janke Auto Company |Lola T332-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Michael Brayton |United States |4 |0 |0 |Michael Brayton |Wolf Brayton 001-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Chris Strong |United States |3 |0 |0 |Chris Strong |Chevron B36-Ford |
| NC
|Gerre Payvis |United States |3 |0 |0 |Gerre Payvis |Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| NC
|John McCormack |Australia |3 |0 |0 |John McCormack |McLaren M23-Repco |
| NC
|John Sorbello |United States |3 |0 |0 |John Sorbello |Sorbello GM5-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Bertil Roos |Suécia |2 |0 |0 |Bertil Roos |Chevron B27-Ford |
| NC
|Charlie Kemp |United States |2 |0 |0 |Charlie Kemp |Lola T332-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Chuck Smith |United States |2 |0 |0 |Chuck Smith |Chevron B19/21-Ford |
| NC
|Gary Hirsch |Canada |2 |0 |0 |Gary Hirsch |Porsche 908/02 |
| NC
|Hurley Haywood |United States |2 |0 |0 |Vasek Polak Racing |Chevron B21-BMW |
| NC
|Jeff Miller |United States |2 |0 |0 |Jeff Miller |Lola T496-Ford |
| NC
|John Timken |United States |2 |0 |0 |Essex Racing Service |Lola T296-Ford |
| NC
|Mike Hall |United States |2 |0 |0 |United Racing |Lola T294-Ford |
| NC
|Price Cobb |United States |2 |0 |0 |Price Cobb |Lola T332-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Rick Villate |United States |2 |0 |0 |RVR Inc. |Lola T294-Ford |
| NC
|Roman Pechmann |Canada |2 |0 |0 |Roman Pechmann Racing |Lola T290-Ford |
| NC
|Bob Allen |United States |1 |0 |0 |Bob Allen |SSE 003-Ford |
| NC
|Bob Nagel |United States |1 |0 |0 |Nagel Racing Enterprises |Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Brad Frisselle |United States |1 |0 |0 |Brad Frisselle |Frissbee-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Danny Johnson |United States |1 |0 |0 |Danny Johnson |Chevron B24-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Dave Hoover |United States |1 |0 |0 |Dave Hoover |Lola T300-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Garth Pollard |United States |1 |0 |0 |N.S.F.Racing |Lola T294/6-Ford |
| NC
|Gordon Hamilton |United States |1 |0 |0 |Ticker Tape Racing |Chevron B36-Ford |
| NC
|Hal Whipple |United States |1 |0 |0 |Hal Whipple |Spartan MK3-B-Chevrolet |
| NC
|James Woodruff |United States |1 |0 |0 |Titan-Woodruff Brothers |Lola T430-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Jerry Hansen |United States |1 |0 |0 |Midwest Federal |Lola T333CS-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Jim Gustafson |United States |1 |0 |0 |Jim Gustafson Racing Team |Jackal 79-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Jim Gutfreund |United States |1 |0 |0 |Great Plains Motor Racing |Lola T292-Ford |
| NC
|Joe Salyer |United States |1 |0 |0 |Joe Salyer |Chevron B26/31-Ford |
| NC
|Mike Roche |United States |1 |0 |0 |Roche Racing |Lola T332-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Patrick Gaillard |France |1 |0 |0 |Patrick Gaillard |Schkee DB2-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Rick Knoop |United States |1 |0 |0 |Rick Knoop |Lola T332CS-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Robert L. Douglas |United States |1 |0 |0 |Robert L. Douglas |Lola T212-Ford |
| NC
|Steven Payne-Herbert |United States |1 |0 |0 |Steven Payne-Herbert |Lola T294-Ford |
| NC
|Tom Spalding |United States |1 |0 |0 |Tom Spalding |Schkee DB2-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Bill Henry |United States |0 |0 |0 |Bill Henry |Lola T296-Ford |
| NC
|Don Kehr |United States |0 |0 |0 |Don Kehr |Chevron B28-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Hugh Kleinpeter |United States |0 |0 |0 |Hugh Kleinpeter |Ralt CCK |
| NC
|Jay Jacobs |United States |0 |0 |0 |Genoa Racing |Chevron B21/23-Ford |
| NC
|Patrick McGonegle |United States |0 |0 |0 |Patrick McGonegle |Lola T332-Chevrolet |
| NC
|Richard Guider |United States |0 |0 |0 |Richard Guider |Chevron B25-Ford |
| NC
|Robert E. Dugo |United States |0 |0 |0 |Robert E. Dugo |Lola B.A.D. 1-Chevrolet |