One Last Turn: Personal memories of the Can-Am era’s greatest mechanics, tuners and crews

The missing Can-Am era book that ties it all together – from a different point of view

Can-Am! The words are still magic to a generation of road racing fans to whom the Canadian-American Challenge Cup series represents the pinnacle of the sport they love. And who is to argue? Taking over from the USRRC (United States Road Racing Championship) as the feature sports car circuit in North America from 1966 through 1974, the world’s best drivers and the world’s best racing teams put together cars that followed the rule of the Can-Am series: no rules! Anything went, as long as it had two seats and enclosed wheels. These “rules” set the stage for years of ground-and-pulse-pounding cars powered by bigger and bigger engines and daredevil drivers competing in front of motorsport’s biggest crowds.

Years later the names still carry weight: drivers like Dennis Hulme, Bruce McLaren, Dan Gurney, Jackie Stewart, Mark Donohue and George Follmer. And the cars: McLaren, Lola, Porsche, Ferrari and Shadow. But who was behind those awesome machines and drivers? Who could keep them going when the torque shook loose engine bolts? Who could spend an entire low-paid off-season in small, cold, and drafty race shops looking for an extra edge in performance and reliability? Who could toil in uncomplaining anonymity behind the scenes while the cars and their drivers basked in the considerable glory that went with Can-Am racing? The men portrayed in One Last Turn.

One Last Turn presents the first look at the young men who made it all work. The mechanics who towed the mighty cars on pick-up trucks and worked on them between races and heats in the blazing sun and pouring rain on muddy grassy fields, who drove thousands of miles on the era's two-lane roads, towing a 2,000-pound race car to make the next race’s starting grid.

Illustrated with many never-before-seen photos of the cars and people who made the USRRC and Can-Am great, this is the book that fans of the series have been waiting for.