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MidWest Division SCCA Formula B 1967

By 1 September, with six of the Division's nine Nationals complete, only Roy Grange had scored any points in the FB class but a late flurry of activity ensured that all three invitations to the Runoffs could be issued. Peter Botsford's BRE in Boulder, Colorado had acquired a pair of LeGrands Mk 3Bs and Grange took one of these to a walkover victory at the Ponca National in July. He also won his class in a Regional at Continental Divide in July and competed in the Pro FB races at War Bonnet and Mont-Tremblant. Botsford himself had raced one of the cars at the Bridgehampton Pro race in May, then took one to a class win at the Continental Divide National in early October.

Second place in the division fell to George Graves from the little-known West Rocky Mountain Region in an Elva 300 which had been fitted with a 1500cc Cosworth-Ford engine and was good enough for a second place finish behind David Webster's Brabham BT21A at War Bonnet on the very last weekend of the season. None of the three drivers took up their place at the Runoffs.

Final standings

1. Roy GrangeLeGrand [Mk 3B]Colorado13 pts
2. George GravesElva [300]W Rocky Mountain10 pts 
3. Pete BotsfordLeGrand [Mk 3B]Colorado9 pts 

† Indicates total includes points earned out of home division.

1967 Schedule

22 Apr 1967Stuttgart AirportArkansas Region
06 May 1967Bottomless LakesRio Grande Region
28 May 1967War BonnetWichita Region
01 Jul 1967Ponca CityOklahoma Region
22 Jul 1967IndependenceKansas City Region
19 Aug 1967Lake AftonWichita Region
16 Sep 1967Mid-America RacewaySt Louis Region
01 Oct 1967Continental DivideColorado Region
07 Oct 1967War BonnetNortheast Oklahoma Region

Stuttgart Municipal Airport hosted a 3-mile race circuit from 1959 onwards. Bottomless Lakes was a very intruiging 7.7-mile course set in the Bottomless Lakes State Park, 15 miles southeast of Roswell, New Mexico. War Bonnet Raceway Park was very active for a few years in the late 1960s. Ponca City was a street circuit through the Oklahoma city's park that had been in use since 1961, usually on 4 July. Independence used a 2.25-mile circuit at Independence Municipal Airport organised by Kansas City Region. Lake Afton typically held its National in mid-August. Mid-America was Mid-America Raceway in Wentzville, MO, and COntinental Divide Raceway were the only purpose-built facilities available.

The main changes from the preceding season were the losses of Garden City and Alliance. Garden City was an event organised by Wichita Region and the Garden City Shrine Club at the long-lost Shrine Raceway Track about ten miles east of Garden City, Kansas, and Alliance was the Cattle Capitol Sprints, an event held at Alliance Airport, Nebraska by Colorado Region. With these two disappearing in 1967, the centre of gravity of the Division moved significantly to the east.

Midwest Division sources

Race results for Midwest Division Nationals from 1970 to 1978 have been kindly provided by veteran MiDiv historian Rocky Entriken. We also have some background information from Competition Press up to about 1973, when its interest in such events waned considerably, but we know little of the goings-on away from these events and are are keen to acquire or borrow 1960s, 1970s and 1980s copies of SCCA regional publications from this Division. The key ones are:

  • Checkpoint (Kansas City Region)
  • Course Record (Arkansas Region)
  • The Echo (Southern Illinois Region)
  • Exhaust Notes (Nebraska) - full archive available at nrsccahistory.com.
  • Gasket Gazette (Oklahoma Region)
  • Neokla Observer (NE Oklahoma Region), renamed Sports Car Observer in 1980
  • The Offside Undo (Kansas Region)
  • Redline (Colorado Region)
  • Steerin’ Column (Mid-South Region)
  • Wheelspin (St. Louis Region)
  • Witches Wail (Wichita Region)

We are also keen to get scans of entry lists from SCCA Nationals for this division.