US Formula B 1970

The 1969 champion Mike Eyerly stayed in FB for 1970 and this time completely dominated the season with eight wins and three second places from 13 races in Fred Opert's Chevron B17B. Allan Lader, in an Opert-run Brabham BT29 was equally far ahead of the rest with two wins to add to the five times that he finished second to Eyerly.

Third was Jacques Couture in the mysterious Lotus "69B" that does not appear in Lotus records and may be a F2-style upgrade to his Lotus 59B. He recorded two back-to-back wins in the summer but retired too often to be a contender for overall honours.

The Chevron B17B and Lotus 69B were almost one-offs in the series with most drivers opting for the proven Brabham BT29. Future SCCA boss Nick Craw was fourth in the series in another Opert BT29 and Matt Spitzley was fifth in his private version. Three of the seven SCCA Divisions (see right) were also won by BT29s.

The races

19 Apr 1970 > Riverside

24 May 1970 > Edmonton

07 Jun 1970 > Seattle

14 Jun 1970 > Laguna Seca

28 Jun 1970 > Sears Point

05 Jul 1970 > Dallas Int Motor Speedway

18 Jul 1970 > Elkhart Lake

01 Aug 1970 > Mont-Tremblant, St Jovite

16 Aug 1970 > Brainerd

29 Aug 1970 > SCCA Formula B Race at Elkhart Lake

07 Sep 1970 > Lime Rock

13 Sep 1970 > Mosport Park

27 Sep 1970 > Mid-Ohio

25 Oct 1970 > Sebring

Championship events shown in bold

Continental Championship table

1. Mike Eyerly Chevron B17B 190 pts 8 wins
2. Allan Lader Brabham BT29 144 pts 2 wins
3. Jacques Couture Lotus "69B" 74 pts 2 wins
4. Nick Craw Brabham BT29 65 pts  
5. Matt Spitzley Brabham BT29 50 pts  

Previous: the 1969 season

Brian Nelson, visiting from Northern Ireland in the Crosslé 18F, won the other race the season finale at Sebring in October. A big non-championship event at Road America in August was also won by the unstoppable Eyerly.

Fred Opert regarded Eyerly as one of the best drivers he ever worked with but his career floundered when he went to the 1971 Tasman series with a badly-prepared Surtees TS8 F5000 car and ran out of finance. He only raced a few more times in FB.