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Northern Pacific SCCA Formula B 1971

NoPac's Formula B category grew again, now with 19 drivers scoring points against the 14 of 1970 and several new cars appearing.

Mike Hansen swapped his Brabham BT21C for a new BT35 and retained his title comfortably from Allan Lader who also swapped his BT29 for a BT35 mid-season. Lader was too busy winning the national Pro series to worry too much about the Divisional title. Behind these two, Peter Darr took third place in his Chevron but nobody else scored more than nine points. Amongst these, William Monson had acquired a brand new Lotus 69, Ron Householder had a decent car in the ex-Lader Brabham BT29 and Jon Milledge also raced a BT29, probably Archie Snider's car. Another second-hand BT29, the ex-Mike Hiss car, is believed to have been Ernie Haze's mount.

The Winkelmanns and LeGrands were now fading away, only Jon Woodner's Winkelmann-based "Excar" proving a competitive proposition. Laguna Seca specialist Bob Wenz continued to race his antique Cooper T71/73, which although entered as a T76 began life as Bob Gerard's 1.5-litre F1 car from 1964. Amongst the Brabhams, Gordon Strom and Dewey Harless are believed to have had BT29s, possibly the same one, and John Ransom had the ex-Ron Brown/Gerry Bruihl/Russ Harness BT18 but the Brabham of Bud Rude is still a mystery.

Final standings

1. Mike HansenBrabham [BT35]San Francisco34 pts
2. Allan LaderBrabham [BT29 and BT35]Oregon24 pts 
3. Peter DarrChevron [B15B]Oregon17 pts 
4. Jon WoodnerExcarSan Francisco9 pts 
5. Dewey HarlessBrabham [BT29]Oregon7 pts 
6. William MonsonLotus [69]Northwest6 pts 
7. Richard "Bud" RudeBrabhamOregon6 pts 
8. Bob WenzCooper ['T76']San Francisco6 pts 
9. Robert HallLotus [69]San Francisco4 pts 
10. Ron HouseholderBrabham [BT29]Northwest4 pts 
11. Ernie HazeBrabham [BT29?]San Francisco4 pts
12. Jon MilledgeBrabham [BT29]San Francisco4 pts
13. Skip AdrianWinkelmannSan Francisco4 pts 
14. John F RansomBrabham [BT18]Oregon3 pts 
15. Gordon StromBrabham [BT29]San Francisco3 pts 
16. Robert WinkelmannWinkelmannSan Francisco3 pts
17. Wes McNayLeGrandSan Francisco3 pts
18. Chuck BillingtonBourgeaultSan Francisco2 pts 
19. Gary GoveBrabham [BT21C]Northwest1 pt   

† Indicates total includes points earned out of home division.

Northern Pacific Division SCCA Nationals in 1971

09 May 1971SeattleNorthwest Region
13 Jun 1971Portland International RacewaysOregon Region
20 Jun 1971Laguna SecaSan Francisco Region
25 Jul 1971SeattleNorthwest Region
29 Aug 1971VacavilleSan Francisco Region
12 Sep 1971Portland International RacewaysOregon Region

When Sports Car published the Final Standings for NPDiv, just these six Nationals were shown: Northwest Region at Kent (Seattle) on 9 May and on 25 Jul; Oregon Region at Portland for the Rose Cup Races on 13 Jun and the Oregon GP on 12 Sep; and San Francisco Region at Laguna Seca for the Olympia Sprints on 20 Jun and at the last Vaca Valley National on 29 Aug. A seventh National was scheduled for Laguna Seca on 10 October but evidently did not take place.

Northern Pacific Division sources

Most of our knowledge of NorPac racing comes from the SCCA's Sports Car magazine, from Competition Press & Autoweek and from an extensive collection of San Francisco Region's The Wheel newsletter from 1971 onwards. We are very keen to acquire or borrow 1960s, 1970s and 1980s copies of all three of the main SCCA regional publications in this division:

  • The Wheel (San Francisco Region)
  • Northwest Sports Car News (Northwest Region)
  • Loud Pedal (Oregon Region)

We are also keen to get scans of entry lists from SCCA Nationals, notably the Laguna Seca Sprints and the Rose Cup Races.