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SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B/C Race

Brainerd, 16 Aug 1970

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. 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 Bryon Hatton for 1971.
2. 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.
3. Brabham BT29 [33] (Mike Hall): This Brabham BT29, believed to be chassis BT29-33, was bought new by Michael F. Hall (Chicago, IL) and used in SCCA racing where Hall won the 1970 CenDiv FB title. He also raced it in the Pro series in the latter half of the season. Hall retained the red-and-yellow BT29 for the first half of 1971 but replaced it with a new BT35 in August and sold the BT29 to Phil Geraldi (Valley Stream, NY), who had previously raced a LeGrand in NEDiv FB. Geraldi raced it for the rest of 1971 and in 1972 then sold it to Charles J. Derbes III (Metairie, LA) in the spring of 1973. Derbes won the SWDiv Formula B title in this car in 1974 and attended the Run-Offs, finishing 12th. He was second in the Division in 1975 and tied with Warren Pauge for the 1976 title. Chaz Derbes has retained the BT29 ever since, still owning it in 2012.
4. 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.
5. Brabham BT29 (Graham Baker): Graham Baker moved from New Zealand to the US for a seaosn 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 appers 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Brabham BT29 [30] (Dexter Farley): After crashing his FC car at Lime Rock in August 1969, Dexter Farley (Waldorf, MD) part-exchanged the wrecked Brabham for a new Brabham BT29 from east coast dealer Joe Grimaldi, who had recently parted from Fred Opert. Farley drove the car in Pro events in 1970 as well as competing in NEDiv FB races. He retained the car for 1971 (advertising it as "ser no 30" in October 1971) and the early part of 1972 before moving to Washington state and quitting racing.
12. 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.
13. Chevron B15 (Larry Wright): Joe Grimaldi acquired one of four late 1968 Chevrons to arrive in the US. At least three of these were described by Chevron as B14s, including Grimaldi's. He debuted the car at Mosport Park in Aug 1968 and raced it twice more in Pro events. Grimaldi reappeared in August 1969 with what was reported to be a Chevron B15B which he raced three more times. Larry Wright then acquired a Chevron from Grimaldi for the 1970 season which was described to him as a B15 but when Wright advertised the car in 1971, he called it a "late-1968 Chevron FB" which identifies it as a B14. Wright traded the Chevron to Charlie Hayes in May 1971 for a new Brabham BT29.
14. 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.
15. Brabham BT21/29 (David E. Thomas): Amongst the many local drivers at Road America's Pro FB race in 1970 was David E. Thomas (Minneapolis, MN) in a #84 Brabham BT21/29 entered by Langer Racing, also of Minneapolis. He was also on the entry list for Mont-Tremblant two weeks later but this seems down to the Canadian organisers copying liberally from the Road America entry list. Thomas does not appear on the 1970 CenDiv FB points table but he did register in 1971 with five points. However, the entry list for Mid-Ohio 5 Jul 1971, the second National of the 1971 CenDiv season, shows him in a BT18, not the BT21/29.

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.