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SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B/C Race

Laguna Seca, 14 Jun 1970

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT29 (Sandy Shepard): Sandy Shepard (Denton, TX) raced a new black #59 Brabham BT29 from the start of the 1970 season. With support from his father's KDNT Radio Station, Shepard competed in every round, finishing second in his 'home' race at Dallas. Sandy's recollection is that he sold the car after a single local race in 1971 to Fred Opert who had it lined up for a Mexican customer.
2. Brabham BT29 [41] (Allen Karlberg): Bought new by Allen Karlberg (Seattle, WA) and raced in Formula B in the Pacific Northwest in 1970. Sold to Dick Doherty (Hollywood, CA) for Ron Dykes (Marina del Rey, CA) to race in early 1971 SoPac Div SCCA Nationals, where he was unbeatable in the category, and then by Doherty himself later in 1971 and in early 1972. Believed to have gone to Byron Hatten (Altadena, CA) na draced by him some time between mid-1972 and mid-1973 after which it was bought by Frank Monise Jr (Pasadena, CA). Monise raced it in 193/74 before crashing it heavily at Laguna Seca and wrecking the frame. He bought a second BT29 and eventually sold the remains of BT29-41 to Barry Blackmore (San Marino, CA) who had it rebuilt with a new frame fabricated by Wayne Mitchell and stamped 'W12191'. This rebuilt, rechassised car was sold to Australia and was with Mitch Evans (Auckland, NZ) by 2009.
3. Chevron B17B (Fred Opert): Fred Opert ran a team five-car team in 1970 which included a Chevron B17B for himself and a sister car for Mike Eyerly. Opert's personal car was sold to Tom Outcault (Cranford, NJ) for 1971 who used it in NEDiv events and also in the Pro race at Road America in Aug 1971. Last seen when advertised by Outcault in Nov 1971.
4. Brabham BT29 (Graham Baker): Graham Baker moved from New Zealand to the US for a season of Formula B in 1970. He bought a new green Brabham BT29 from Chip Gompf and Wayne Mitchell, one of three new BT29s they had in stock. He was entered by Charlie Hayes Racing Equipment as #82 for his first race, at Edmonton in May, but was then self-entered as #82 for the next eight races as #67 before ending the season as part of the Bonphil Racing Industries team. Hayes sold the car for Baker at the end of the season to a non-racer in Laguna Hills who appears to have retained it, unused, for three years. In late 1973/early 1974, CSCC racer Jeff Alkana learnt from engine specialist Steve Jennings about the car and he bought it with Frank Monise, who needed a new BT29 having wrecked his earlier BT29-41. Monise raced the car for several more seasons with Ford twin cam and BDA engines before selling it around 1976 to Tito D'Oporto and Gary Green and replacing it with a March.
5. Brabham BT29 [36?] (Matt Spitzley): Matt Spitzley (then from Aspen, CO), had a Brabham BT29 for 1970 entered by his Spitzford Racing team (Detroit, Michigan). For 1971 the car was sold to Mike Rand (Riverside, CT/Greenwich, CT) who raced it in NEDiv FB, finishing third overall. It then went to Peter Regna in New Jersey for 1972, after which Regna recalls selling it to Ken Duclos. Duclos, however, does not remember buying it.
6. Brabham BT29 [1] (John Angus): John Angus bought the first BT29, ordering the car as early as late summer of 1968 but taking delivery in August 1969. He ran it in Regionals in late 1969 before participating in the Pro series in 1970. He swapped from a Vegantune to a Racing Services engine for 1971 and continued in Nationals. Angus continued with the car in 1972, when Ron Dykes also drove it in the Bogotá races and again in 1973, when the car continued to be competitive at National level.
7. Brabham BT29 (Syd Demovsky): Syd Demovsky (Chicago, IL) raced a yellow #11 Brabham BT29 in Pro events in 1970. At the end of the year the car was sold via Joe Grimaldi (Race Shop) to Peter Nye (Ann Arbor, MI) who fitted it with a HRE twin cam and raced it in Pro events and in some SCCA events through 1971. At the end of that season he sold it less engine to Jim Lloyd (Indianapolis, IN) who converted it to Formula C and won the CenDiv FB title in 1972 and 1973. Lloyd retained the car and later restored it to Formula B specification for vintage racing.
8. Brabham BT29 (Evan Noyes): Evan L. Noyes Jr . (Cedarville, MI) entered a yellow Brabham BT29 for Sebring 28 Dec 1969 but did not arrive, implying his car was not quite ready on time. He ran through the 1970 Pro season as a member of the Fred Opert Racing team driving a canary yellow BT29 and also raced in CenDiv events, finishing second to Michael Hall. He also finished second at the Run-Offs. This is not the same car that Noyes then took to the Tasman series in January 1971 as his US car was on Fred Opert's stock list on 1 May 1971 with a comment that it had not raced since the Run-Offs.
9. Brabham BT21C [12?] (Charlie Adams): Charlie Adams (Charles W Adams) was a regular in Formula B from 1965 to 1971. He had a BT18 in 1967 but from 1968 to 1971, his car is often referred to as a BT21C. It is assumed he had the same car through this period, starting at Elkhart Lake July 1968 but quite possibly earlier.
10. Brabham BT29 [5] (Nick Craw): Nick Craw (Washington,DC) bought one of the first Brabham BT29s from local Brabham dealer Fred Opert, a car identified by Ted Walker of the Brabham Register as chassis BT29-5. Craw raced in SCCA events from August 1969 onwards, finishing second in the SEDiv FB championship by a single point, and in two Pro races. He continued with a BT29 in 1970 in Pro racing as part of Fred Opert Racing and to the best of his and Opert's recollection, used the same car. He bought a Brabham BT35 for 1971 but before this arrived in the US, he raced the BT29 once more, winning a National at Summit Point in April 1971. The car appeared in Fred Opert's stock list on 1 May and was then sold to Gary Gove (Tacoma, WA) who raced it in SCCA Regional and ICSCC events in 1971 and 1972, It was reportedly crashed in 1972 and its later history is presently unresolved.
11. Chevron B15B [FB-69-4?] (Jim Grob): Jim Grob (Ft Lauderdale, FL but later Pompano Beach, CA) raced a Chevron B15B in Pro racing in 1969 and also scored 24 points in Northeast Division FB, representing Northern New Jersey Region. The car was red and white, implying it was chassis 15B.69.4. He retained the car for 1970 and again for 1971, then mainly focusing his efforts on SCCA Divisional racing, finishing second to Hugh Kleinpeter's sister car in 1970 and then winning the Division in 1971. He changed to a B20 for 1972.
12. Brabham BT29 (Randy Fraser): Randy Fraser (Piedmont, Quebec/Rhode Island) raced a blue-and-silver #54 Brabham BT29 in 1970 as part of Team IRI and with sponsorship from Multimetals. He appeared in both the Canadian and US Pro series but focused on the US series after the first few races. He moved to a new March 71BM for 1971 but the Brabham remained unsold. It appeared in his advert in CP&A in Novemeber 1971 when it was described as a rolling chassis in parts. This may well be the car bought by fellow Quebecois Derek Johnson which Canadian Motorsport Bulletin noted had been unraced during 1971. If so, it was raced once by Ian Coristine at the start of 1972 and by Derek Johnson for the rest of the season.
13. Brabham BT21C (Mike Hansen): Jon Milledge (Mountain View, CA) visited England to buy a Brabham for 1968. Having found that factory prices were outside his budget, he was persuaded by Frank Williams to buy a BT21 development car from MRD which Williams then had modified by Arch Motors and built up to full BT21C specification. He focused on the FRA 'Pro' series in 1968, winning at Vaca Valley and Santa Ana, and also won two NorPac Nationals, beating eventual champion Mike Eyerley. He continued his battle with Eyerley in the Pro series in 1969, beating him at Riverside and finishing second at Laguna Seca and Sears Point. The BT21/21C was sold to Mike Hansen (Belmont, CA) for 1970 who used it to win the NorPac FB title.
14. Brabham BT29 (Jay Jamison): At the end of 1969, Jay Jamison (San Diego, CA) bought a new red Brabham BT29 from Chip Gompf and Wayne Mitchell, who had three new BT29s in stock. Jamison raced the car in San Diego Region's early-season event at Holtville Aerodrome on 1 Feb 1970 and raced in the Pro series until an accident at Edmonton curtailed his season. The car was repaired but the Pro season was complete before he could return to competition. After two more Holtville Regionals in November 1970 and January 1971, Jamison sold the car to local dealer Charlie Hayes. Jamison is sure that this was the car Hayes then entered for Mike Hiss later in 1971. This would include the Pro Formula 5000 race at Laguna Seca 2 May 1971 where Hiss ran in Formula A with a BDA engine fitted to the Brabham.
15. Chevron B15B [FB-69-6?] (Steve Brownstein): Steven Brownstein (Hewlett, NY) had a blue Chevron B15B for 1969, the colour and late arrival suggesting that it was chassis 15B.69.6, a car originally intended for Steve Matchett. He raced in the Pro series but also took 25 pts in NEDiv FB racing. Brownstein retained the car for 1970.
16. Brabham BT29 [34] (Ken Huband): Ken Huband (Ottawa, Ontario) ran a red/black #15 Brabham BT29 in Canadian and US Formula B in 1970, first appearing at Mont-Tremblant 24 May 1970. He retained the car in 1971 and in 1972. Huband advertised the BT29 in CP&A 21 Oct 1972 as "Brabham BT29/34", implying it was chassis 34. Several BT29 owners had mentioned the chassis numbers of the cars in adverts, presumably the emphasise the newer cars. Peter Nye arranged the sale of the car to Bill Wolfe, a dentist in Austin, Texas, but Wolfe later pulled out of a deal with Nye to assemble the car for him. Subsequent history unknown.
17. Chevron B15B [FB-69-7?] (Doug Brenner): A new Chevron B15B was prepared for Reine Wisell to race - and win - at Sebring 28 Dec 1969, probably chassis 15B.69.7. Doug Brenner bought this car for 1970 and raced in the Pro series and then sold it to Byron Hatten (Altadena, CA) for 1971. Hatten continued to race it into 1972 but crashed heavily at Riverside in Feb 1972, the first event of the season, badly damaging the Chevron. Brenner recalls that the car was later rebuilt as a Formula C before being converted back to FB in the mid-1990s.
18. Centaur Brabham (Ray France): Ray France (Inglewood, CA) raced a silver Brabham BT21 during 1968 and 1969, entered as #2 by Centaur Racing Associates. The car was later revealed by an advert in Oct 1969 to be a BT21A. This may have become the basis of the blue-and-gold #29 "Centaur Brabham" raced by France in 1970.
19. Brabham [BT23G?] (Bob Gage): Two Brabham BT23Gs were built for Formula B in 1968 with a specification differing slightly from the BT23F in that they had Hewland Mk 5 gearboxes instead of a FT200. Little is known of their exploits. In 1970, Bob Gage (Fullerton, CA) was entered in the April Riverside Pro race by B & D Racing Enterprises in a #51 Brabham BT23G-Ford. He retired after just a lap with engine failure and although entered for the next two races, there is no record of his participation. He was also entered in a Brabham by the same team at the Riverside National in Feb 1971 and in a red #51 Brabham a Regional at Riverside in April 1972 where he finished third and won the FB class. In 1973, Ron Lampley (Rialto, CA) had a red #51 Brabham, identified by Formula magazine at the end of the year as a BT23.
20. Brabham BT14 [FL-3-65] (Bruce Redding): This BT14 was bought new by John Mitchell and raced in northern English libre racing in 1965 and 1966. It was sold late 1967 to Steve Pfeiffer in San Francisco and equipped with a BRM Phase 4 twin-cam for 1968 Formula B racing, now described as a BT21. It was sold to Bruce Redding for 1969 but crashed early in the season and extensively rebuilt. Redding thereafter entered it in 1969 and 1970 as a Ford Special, Gravelle Special or even as a Honda Special. It was later sold to Steve Jizmagian (early 1971) and crashed again, then to Tom Gouldstone in Nov 1972 and crashed again - each time at Laguna Seca - and then to Dick McGovern in 1978. It was retained by McGovern until 1994 when sold to George Goodare (Sydney, Australia) and restored. Later to Brian Wilson Sep 2000 then to John Gale Nov 2001. Retained by Gale 2006.

Sources

The identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' orginal results.

1970 US FB results were compiled from Autoweek reports by Jim Thurman; 1971 results were transcribed from Autoweek by Allen Brown and 1972 results were compiled by Chris Townsend from an SCCA results publication.

The US Formula B series did not continue in 1973 but a race was organised in Caracas in March 1973 that fits here probably better than anywhere else, as do the occasional SCCA F/Atlantic and FB races in 1974 and 1975.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen if you can add anything.