John Cannon (21 June 1933 – 18 October 1999) was a sports car racer, who competed under the banner of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, though he was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

He raced in the

USRRC The United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) was created by the Sports Car Club of America in 1962. It was the first SCCA series for professional racing drivers. SCCA Executive Director John Bishop helped to create the series to recover rac ...

series, the CanAm Series and the L&M Continental Series (

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...

). In the USRRC he drove for Nickey Chevrolet in a

Dan Blocker Bobby Dan Davis Blocker (December 10, 1928 – May 13, 1972) was an American television actor and Korean War veteran, who played Hoss Cartwright in the long-running NBC Western television series ''Bonanza''. Biography Early life Blocker was born ...

(of ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

'' fame) sponsored Genie/Vinegaroon. In the first year of the Can Am he was the top finishing Canadian propelled by a fourth-place finish in the opening event at his home course,

Circuit Mont-Tremblant Circuit Mont-Tremblant () is a race circuit about south of the village of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. The name of the village of Saint-Jovite was often included in the name of the circuit, but since the village was amalgamated into Mont-Tr ...

. Cannon duplicated that accomplishment in 1968 propelled by a famous win over the dominant

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

team in a very wet race at

Laguna Seca Laguna Seca may refer to: * Laguna Seca Formation, a geologic formation in California * Laguna Seca (Mexico), see Convention of London * Laguna Seca (Santa Clara County), a seasonal lake in California * Laguna Seca, Texas, United States * Rancho La ...

. He also attained top Canadian status in 1973. Cannon also ran in the Continental Series (Formula 5000) in 1969 winning races at Riverside, Sears Point and Mosport in the Malcolm Starr Eagle prepared by Tom Jobe and Bob Skinner and finishing fourth in the standings. In 1970 he won the championship after winning races at Riverside, Kent and Elkhart Lake driving for Malcolm Starr and St Louis trucking magnate Carl Hogan, in the Hogan-Starr Racing McLaren M-10B. Racing in the following Tasman series in 1971, Cannon made the M10 fast but unreliable at Levin and Wigram but against the larger field of talented drivers in the Australian races found the local experience of Matich, Allen, Gardner, Bartlett and McRae very difficult for any foreigner to match, first time in the Antipodes. Cannon participated in one World Championship

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Grand Prix, on 3 October 1971 in the

US Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

at Watkins Glen. He finished 14th, thus he scored no championship points. He also participated in one non-Championship Formula One race, the Questor Grand Prix, finishing up in 12th. During 1971 he also ran strongly in a number of rounds of the European F2 championship, impressing many. Cannon also made 15 starts in the USAC

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive events ...

series while driving on a part-time basis from 1968 to 1974. His best finish was 2nd place in the second race at Circuit Mont-Tremblant in 1968. He also finished a career best 27th in series points that year. He also attempted to qualify for the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

in 1970 and 1974 but failed to make the race both years. In 1975-76 he returned to US F5000 series with a March 741 modified for F5000, and ran in midfield, with best results 4th at Riverside in 1975 and 6th on the same track in 1976 in the last US F5000 races. Although Cannon held the Ferrari dealership (actually, he worked for Hollywood Sports Cars-he did not own it) for LA, finance and engine costs limited his form in highly competitive final years of US F5000, however he proved competitive when he ran a few rounds in the UK Shellsport F5000/F1/Libre series in 1976. He ran the Australian F5000 Rothmans series at the start of 1976, proving as fast as the best Australian F5000 drivers Goss and Schuppan and actually won one round. His last serious racing was two years later in the Australian Rothmans, aged 45 where he managed a single, third place, purely on reliability. He was inducted into the

Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame The Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame (CMHF) is a hall of fame run by the Canadian Motorsport Heritage Foundation as a not-for-profit charitable institution that "honours and recognizes the achievements of individuals and institutions that have ma ...

in 1993. It is widely thought that had Cannon entered the sport seriously at an early age, he might have had a significant F1 career. His son Michael has built a career as a

race engineer A race engineer is a motorsport team member who analyses data to achieve the best performance from the vehicle and driver. The race engineer communicates with the team's data analyst, mechanics, and driver, both between and during races. Off the ...

. During the 2006 season at

Forsythe Racing Forsythe/Pettit Racing was an American racing team that competed in the Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe and Dan Pettit. The Champ Car effort ceased operations after the 2008 unification of North American open wheel racing. Histor ...

in the

Champ Car World Series Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...

Michael was race engineer for

A. J. Allmendinger Anthony James "A. J." Allmendinger (born December 16, 1981) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing. Allmendinger's professi ...

. Ever active, Cannon died in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, USA, from injuries received in the crash of an experimental aircraft.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannon, John 1933 births 1999 deaths Canadian racing drivers Canadian Formula One drivers BRM Formula One drivers European Formula Two Championship drivers Can-Am entrants Tasman Series drivers Trans-Am Series drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers

Complete Formula One World Championship results

See also

References