This is 1980s AMA Formula One racer Wayne Canale, of Naperville, Illinois, getting pushed out of the pits after making a stop during a WERA six or eight hour national endurance race at Elkhart Lake, Wis., in 1984. Canale and a co-rider were doing the endurance race on a Yamaha TZ750. I’m not certain what engine parts maintenance intervals were on the big TZ, but I’m guessing Canale and friends were pushing the limits during this long endurance race. Unfortunately I do not recall how Canale’s team did that day, or if they even finished the race. Perhaps someone who was there will recall, but I just remember thinking how crazy this group was to endurance race a TZ, a machine specifically built for short sprint races.
Wayne Canale, of Naperville, Illinois, getting pushed out of the pits after making a stop during a WERA six or eight hour national endurance race at Elkhart Lake, Wis., in 1984. Canale and his team raced a Yamaha TZ750 in the endurance event. The big TZ was a most unusual choice for an endurance racer that’s for sure. (Larry Lawrence photo)
Rider Files 
I think I remember that race. I suspect his partner was Pat Lineen(sp)who traveled with him and also had a TZ. I seem to recall some crashes that weekend, but don’t remember if it was the endurance or sprints. I think they were sponsored by Downer’s Grove Yamaha and a couple of interesting characters, but great fun to visit with in the pits.
Ken
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Doesn’t Pat still work at DGY? I think he sold his last bit of TZ750 stuff a couple years ago.
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I was there but don’t recall where these guys finished, if at all. Can’t wait until June when I’ll be back at RA for the AHRMA event riding the very same bike we raced in ’84, the Southeast Sales 1974 R90 BMW.
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Looks like the weekend where we were fogged in for quite some time. I’m pretty sure a good portion of the races were cancelled due to the limited visibility. I also recall a 60-some car accident going through Milwaukee, due to the fog….unless I’m thinking of another weekend.
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Kevin
Funny you should mention the big pileup in Milwaukee. I actually was there coming back from the canceled Sunday sprint races at Elkhart and saw it happen. It started on the northbound lanes of I-94, on the skyway just south of downtown. I started feeling big thumps and hearing crashes. I looked over and saw the collisions taking place. I had my camera in the passenger seat and actually caught some of the impacts on film. Then cars started crashing on my side of the interstate. I put the camera down and started to really focus on getting through. I made it, just barely missing a few cars that had crashed and scattered across the lanes. The next day it made national news and involved something like 160 cars. At the time it was the largest pileup in history.
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Typical photographer, eh Larry? Gee….visibility down to zero, driving down the interstate…great time to take out the camera. I thought it was 160, but wasn’t sure. I heard from a friend who worked for the City of Milwaukee, that it started because some elderly woman missed the ramp to downtown, and backed up on the northbound lanes to get where she wanted to be. Ironically, she was not involved in the accident. Quite a few emergency vehicles were involved, after they arrived to help the initial victims. They hadn’t cleared it by the time we headed south, and the destruction was unbelievable.
As for the race, I think this was the same one that a certain JU was running a Moriwaki(?) GPz550, which decided to become a 3 cylinder at some point during the race. For some reason, I found it humorous watching John pick bits of piston out of the exhaust pipe. Not sure why he was on the Kaw, as I think Team Hammer proper was there as well.
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Ken,
How are you and wheere are you living?
Gary Gibson
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Kevin, you are correct.
I recall multiple riders meetings, and several ‘test’ laps, run between the meetings. These observation laps were run by some of the well established teams, like John’s Team Hammer, Team St. Louis, and my partner & Team Wanker founder, Mike Murphy. Likely some others, but I don’t recall who.
I do remember Mike relaying to us, (Dick Blanton, Crew Chief Richard Wingfield, and myself,) just how scary it was to try going fast. I know the race ended up being less than 3 hours, and I’m thinking it may have been even less than 2 hours. I know I never felt comfortable getting up to full-speed on our RB framed KZ1000 prototype bike, even when the fog lifted enough to start the race.
Thank you for spending the time going through your old photos, Larry. I, for one, really appreciate it! Ken
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Ken,
You’re a Wanker? I remember you guys! I think you sold one of your Endurance bikes to Buzz Pritz, though I thought it was a CB900F, not a KZ. I tried it out at IRP, but by then, the tune was pretty messed up. I remember you guys running at Elkhart, and that bike was FAST.
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