With heavy hearts, the Sports Car Club of America recognizes the passing of Carl Haas, a 2007 inductee into the SCCA Hall of Fame.
Initially a Club Racing driver, Carl was a sports car racing pioneer, becoming the importer of Lola cars and building many successful race teams in Formula 5000, Can-Am, Super Vee and Champ Car racing. Carl took time out from his business to serve the SCCA on its Board of Directors for a total of 12 years, acting as its Chairman for four, and guiding the Club through one of its most critical periods. SCCA President Lisa Noble also noted that in 1985, Carl was bestowed the Club’s highest honor, the Woolf Barnato Award.
“Carl was a titan in the motorsports industry, and an accomplished SCCA racing driver in his own right. During his tenure at the helm of the SCCA, Carl established the professional business bedrock the Club is built on today,” Noble said. “But these are just facts that don’t do justice to the man’s incredible personal presence. I can still see him standing alongside PL Newman on the Road Atlanta pit wall, a huge stogie clenched firmly between his teeth, as they watched the action on track. His impact on our sport remains and I suspect will be present well into the future. What the SCCA is today is part of Carl’s legacy.”
According to the Carl Haas Automobile Imports website, “Carl’s journey began when he first started racing himself in 1952 and won ten races at the Milwaukee Mile racetrack, which forty years later, he would successfully operate from 1992 – 2002. In 1955, Carl won one of the inaugural races at the Road America race circuit and many years later would serve on their board of directors, helping to grow the facility into one of the premier racetracks in the United States.”
In 1967, Carl started his own race team and over the next 44 years won 16 championships and more than 140 races. His amazing ability to choose talented drivers and engineers was a major factor in his team’s success.
Our thoughts are with the Haas family at this time. In lieu of flowers, a contribution can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at 8430 W. Bryn Mawr, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60631 (847/933-2413) or The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp at www.holeinthewallgang.org.
