OldRacingCars.com

SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B/C Race

Mid-Ohio, 27 Sep 1970

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Mike Eyerly Chevron B17b - Ford twin cam
#74 Bonphil/Opert Racing (see note 1)
35 55m 55.8s
90.112 mph
2 Allan Lader Brabham BT29 [35] - Ford twin cam
#75 Bonphil/Opert Racing
35
3 Skip Barber Tecno - Ford twin cam
35
4 Jacques Couture Lotus 59/69 [59-F2/XB-42] - Ford twin cam
#84 Jim Russell RDS (Canada) Ltd
(see note 2)
35
5 Matt Spitzley Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#36 Spitzford Racing (see note 3)
35
6 Skip Adrian Winkelmann WDB2 [4] - Ford twin cam Hart
#8 Skip Adrian
35
7 Nick Craw Brabham BT29 [5] - Ford twin cam
#71 Fred Opert Racing (see note 4)
35
8 Mike Hall Brabham BT29 [33] - Ford twin cam
#27 Michael F. Hall (see note 5)
35
9 Syd Demovsky Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#11 Syd Demovsky Racing (see note 6)
35
10 David McConnell Lotus 59/69 [59-F2/XB-40] - Ford twin cam
#86 Jim Russell RDS (Canada) Ltd
(see note 7)
35
11 Bruce Jensen Brabham BT21C - Ford twin cam
#41 Jen-Mac Racing (see note 8)
34
12 Graham Baker Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
(see note 9)
34
13 Jim Bandy Lotus - Ford twin cam
34
14 Roger Barr Crosslé 18F [18F.70.02] - Ford twin cam
#66 Roger E. Barr (see note 10)
34
15 John Girdler Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#28 John G. Girdler (see note 11)
33
16 Bill Gubelmann March 705 [3] - Ford twin cam Vegantune
(see note 12)
33
17 Bruce Klussmann Crosslé 12F [C12F/67/36] - Alfa Romeo GTA
#37 Crossle Cars America
33
18 Chuck Sarich Winkelmann - Ford twin cam
#58 Quicksilver Racing Ent.
32
19 John Dellagnese Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#99 John Dellagnese III (see note 13)
31
20 Thomas C. Jones Brabham BT16 - Ford twin cam
#96 Tom Jones Racing Ent.
31
21 Woody Harris Genie Mk 13 - Ford twin cam
#69 Grand Prix Racing
31
22 John R Babchek Brabham BT21C - Ford twin cam
#20 John R. Babchek (see note 14)
30
23 William Woodbury Lotus "69" [59-FB-9] - Ford twin cam
#87 William J. Woodbury Jr. (see note 15)
29
24 John Marshall Brabham BT21C - Ford twin cam
#57 Team Suzy (see note 16)
22
R John F. Sirmons Lotus 59C [59-FB-15] - Ford twin cam BRM
#30 John F. Sirmons (see note 17)
30 water leak
R Randy Lewis Brabham BT29 [38] - Ford twin cam
(see note 18)
30 ventilation problems
R Fred Opert Chevron B17b - Ford twin cam
#73 Fred Opert Racing (see note 19)
16 accident
R Dick Leppla Brabham BT18 - Ford twin cam
#90 Manitowoc Crane & Shovel Sales Corp.
(see note 20)
16 broken motor mount
R Evan Noyes Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#72 Fred Opert Racing (see note 21)
15 accident
R Doug Brenner Chevron B15b [FB-69-8?] - Ford twin cam
#26 Bonphil Racing Industries, Inc.
(see note 22)
4 overheating
R Jim Trueman Chevron B14 - Ford twin cam
#18 James R. Trueman (see note 23)
1 blown head gasket
R Dale Lang Brabham BT29 [12] - Ford twin cam
#92 Dale W. Lang (see note 24)
1 distributor
  Brian Robertson Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam Vegantune
#5 Fred Opert Racing (see note 25)
On entry list
  Ronald Stanwicks March 705 - Ford twin cam Vegantune
#13 Ronald L. Stanwicks
On entry list
  Jack Cowell Winkelmann WDB2 [8] - Ford twin cam
#38 Collins Racing Corp.
On entry list
  Dexter Farley Brabham BT29 [30] - Ford twin cam
#40 Lykos Racing Corp (see note 26)
On entry list
  Bill Rasinen Lotus 18 - Ford twin cam
#44 Bill Rasinen
On entry list
  Thomas E. Kornell Lotus 41C - Ford twin cam
#52 Ivanhoe Racing
On entry list
  Randy Fraser Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#54 Multimetals/Randy Fraser (see note 27)
On entry list
  Ken Goodman Bobsy - Ford twin cam
#63 James R. Trueman
On entry list
  Craig Hill Lotus 59B [59-F2/XB-41] - Ford twin cam
#70 Bill Brack Racing Ent. (see note 28)
On entry list
  William Prout Jr March 705 [2] - Ford twin cam Vegantune
#80 P.H.W. Racing (see note 29)
On entry list
  Peter W Nye Brabham BT18 - Ford twin cam HRE
#85 Peter Nye Racing (see note 30)
On entry list

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Qualifying
1 Mike Eyerly (FB) 1.6-litre Chevron B17b - Ford twin cam 1m 33.6s (92.31 mph)

Notes on the cars:

  1. Chevron B17b (Mike Eyerly): Mike Eyerly (Salem, OR) raced a Chevron B17b for Fred Opert Racing in 1970, winning the first six races of the Continental Formula B Championship. Despite competition from Alan Lader, he won a total of eight rounds of the series and easily retained his title. The car was then sold to Phil Cole, who raced it in an Arizona Region SCCA Regional at Phoenix in December 1970, but then nothing was seen of it until Chuck McCain (Tuscon, AZ) raced it in the Formula B class at an Arizona Sports Racing Association race in October 1973, instead of his usual Brabham. McCain advertised the car in March 1974, but evidently never sold it, as it was ultimately bought from his family by Lee Chapman in 2013. It was fully restored and raced by new owner Jim Victor (Davenport, Iowa) at Road America in 2015, originally in white bodywork, but later restored very precisely to Eyerly's livery . A week after racing the Chevron at Road America in July 2018, Victor sadly died following an accident while driving another car at the same track.
  2. Lotus 59/69 [59-F2/XB-42] (Jacques Couture): New to Jacques Couture (Laval, Montréal, Quebec) and raced in the SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B series and the Quebec Region Molson Championship during 1970. The car was entered by Jim Russell RDS (Canada) Ltd, and generally wore #86. Sold to Eligio Siconolfi (Montréal, Quebec) for 1971 and raced in the Players Canadian Formula B series and the Quebec Region Molson series. The car was acquired from Siconolfi by Mauro Lanaro (Montréal, Quebec) who took some time restoring it, and then raced it in regional events in Canada in 1973. Lanaro recalled to Joe Griffin in 2021 that "after a bad accident at Mosport, I sold what was left it to Peter Draggfy". Peter Dragffy is known to have had several Lotus 59/69s in the 1980s.
  3. Brabham BT29 (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.
  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 on the reverse of one of this list, as sent by Opert's secretary Jeannie to Brabham historian Denis Lupton in 1971, a handwritten comment gives Craw's car as "BT29-5". A column by Craw in June 1972 said the car was sold to Jiro Yoneyama, a Japanese driver who raced a Brabham BT29 in US Formula B as part of Fred Opert's team. His car was white and ran as #76. The Road America entry list noted it was using a Hart engine. He was not seen after Road America in August 1971, and the BT29 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 [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.
  6. 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 FC title in 1972 and 1973. Lloyd retained the car and later restored it to Formula B specification for vintage racing. He advertised it in fully-restored condition in February 1991.
  7. Lotus 59/69 [59-F2/XB-40] (David McConnell): New to David McConnell (Montréal, Quebec, Canada) and raced in the SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B series and the Quebec Region Molson Championship during 1970. The car was entered by Jim Russell RDS (Canada) Ltd, and generally wore #86. McConnell then took the car out to New Zealand for the start of the 1971 Tasman Cup, where the car was described as a Lotus 69. After a run of poor results in New Zealand, he fitted an 1800cc Cosworth FVC engine for the Australian rounds, but failed to qualify for the Warwick Farm race. Local Lotus agent Leo Geoghegan tried the car in practice at that event. After one more race, McConnell abandoned the series. The subsequent history of the Lotus 59/69 is unknown.
  8. Brabham BT21C (Bruce Jensen): Bruce Jensen (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada) raced a yellow #41 Brabham BT21C in Canadian and US Formula B events during 1970. He bought the car from Brabham dealer Fred Opert and it was yellow with a black stripe. It came with a Vegantune but that blew up and was replaced by a BRM twin cam. Jensen bought a Chevron B17 for 1971 and the Brabham is believed to have gone back to Fred Opert in that trade.
  9. 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 (Pasadena, CA), 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.
  10. Crosslé 18F [18F.70.02] (Roger Barr): New for Brian Nelson to use in a libre race at Kirkistown on 22 August 1970 in Formula B specification with a Ford twin cam. Sent to the US where it was raced by US Crosslé agent Roger Barr in the Formula B races at Mosport Park and Mid-Ohio in September. Nelson then drove the car in a high-profile FB race at Sebring in October and won. The car was returned to Ireland and converted to F2 specification for Nelson to race in the Mallory Park F2 in March 1971, where Autosport described it as "the 1970 Formula B car which won at Sebring, hastily modified to F2 and virtually untested in this form". Nelson drove the car in this form in Irish libre racing through the 1971 season. In October, the car was fitted with an 1800cc Cosworth FVC engine for the Dublin Trophy libre race at Mondello, and it was then sold in this form to John Campbell Graham in Scotland for libre racing in Scotland and England in 1972. In April 1972, Campbell Graham crashed the car heavily into the bank at Cadwell Park and the next time he was seen, his car was said to be the 19F, so he had presumably exchanged the crashed 18F for the 19F. The subsequent history of the 18F is unknown, but it has never resurfaced so its life may have ended at Cadwell. However, in June 1974 Ecurie Santos Racing (Edgeware, Middlesex) advertised a Crossle 19F which was described as "ex-Works, ex-Tommy Reid, ex-Brian Nelson Irish Libre Championships car". Reid did not drive either an 18F or a 19F, but Nelson had driven both 18Fs, so this could be the ex-Campbell Graham 18F or it could be the 19F that Campbell Graham is thought to have bought to replace the 18F, but somehow with the Nelson history sticking to it. This could then be the "completely rebuilt" 19F advertised by Peter Vernon-Kell in London nine months later.
  11. Brabham BT29 (John Girdler): Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) bought one of the first Brabham BT29s to arrive in the US and debuted it in the Pro race at Lime Rock 1 Sep 1969, winning comfortably. He raced it three more times that season but then decided to join Gene Mason's works-assisted Tecno FB team for 1970. The BT29 was advertised and, based on the identical, orange, yellow and white livery, was sold to John G. Girdler (Southampton, NY) who raced it in a handful of Pro events and probably also in SCCA events during 1970. Girdler upgraded to a new March for 1971 so the Brabham may have been traded to Joe Grimaldi. Subsequent history unknown.
  12. March 705 [3] (Bill Gubelmann): New for Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) and used in the later races of the 1970 SCCA Formula B championship. Unknown in 1971 but reappeared in 1972 with Gerald Lieberg (Milford, CT), who drove it in the North Atlantic Road Racing Championship Regional series in NEDiv. Lieberg advertised the car in Competition Press & Autoweek in December 1972 and January 1973 as "ex-Gubelmann".
  13. Brabham BT29 (John Dellagnese): John Dellagnese III (Akron, OH) appeared with a Formula B Brabham late in the 1970 season. He won a Mahoning Valley Region SCCA Regional at Nelson Ledges on 30 Aug 1970 and then appeared in the Mid-Ohio Pro race four weeks later where the entry list revealed his car to be a red/gold Brabham BT29 entered as #99. The car was not sighted again until July 1971 when Dellagnese advertised it. When contacted in 2012, Dellagnese remembered winning several club races at Nelson Ledges and a race at Watkins Glen but could not recall who he sold the car to.
  14. Brabham BT21C (John R Babchek): John R. Babchek (Romulus, MI) upgraded from his old Cooper T76 to a white-and-blue Brabham BT21C in either late 1969 or early 1970. The BT21C is likely to have been second hand but it has not yet been identified. He advertised the car, together with his old T76, in April 1974 noting that it had not been raced since August 1971.
  15. Lotus "69" [59-FB-9] (William Woodbury): Malcolm Starr (Union City, NJ) bought a new F2-spec Lotus 59 from Lotus East (Millerton, NY) for 1969 and raced it in Pro Formula B events that season. Malcolm recalls selling to to "a fellow named Woodbury from Virginia" which would be the William J. Woodbury Jr (Springfield, Virginia) who raced a Lotus "69" at Mid-Ohio in September 1970, and at least one SCCA National in early 1971. Woodbury retained the car when he stopped racing, and still had it when he died in early 2022. The car was offered for sale in August 2022 on behalf of his widow.
  16. Brabham BT21C (John Marshall): John Marshall (Sandusky, OH) drove a red Brabham BT21C in Formula B in 1970, entered by Suzy Dietrich's 'Team Suzy'. He finished sixth in Central Division with 21 points. Marshall had raced a Lola Mk 5A in Formula C the two previous years and took over John Bisignano's F5000 McLaren M10A for 1971. Nothing more known.
  17. Lotus 59C [59-FB-15] (John F. Sirmons): In 1970, John F. Sirmons (Weston, CT) and Vincent Dileo (Greenwich, CT) shared a Lotus 59C, Sirmons driving it in rounds of the SCCA Continental Championship, and Dileo competing in SCCA Nationals and in Area 1 Regional Championship races. This is almost certainly the car used by Ian Ashley to win a libre race at Brands Hatch in November 1969, as the car was said to be for an American customer, and Sirmons' car was later said to be a former Ashley car. Dileo won two Area 1 races at Thompson Raceway in July and August, but Sirmons had little success in Pro events. Sirmons and Dileo acquired a Lola T240 for 1971, and the Lotus is likely to have gone to Lola agent Carl Haas in trade. The car is unknown in 1971, but may have remained in stock with Carl Haas, because at some point in 1972 it was acquired from Haas by Phil Raeder (Delmar, NY), his Formula C Lotus 35 being traded in the other direction. Raeder fitted a Renault Alpine Gordini engine and ran the car in Formula C, qualifying for the Runoffs in 1973 where he finished in an impressive fourth place. He was entered during this time by Terri Novotny. Raeder then updated the car with Lotus 69 bodywork and other modifications and ran it as the PRD in 1974 and 1975, still with its Gordini engine. Pearce Raeder recals that the car was then sold to Walter Nelson (No. Haledon, NY/Great Neck, NY). Nelson raced a Lotus in Northeast Division Formula C in 1976, 1977 and 1978. Photographs show that it had Lotus 69 bodywork but Lotus 59 front suspension mounts, consistent with it being the ex-Raeder car. The car was later acquired by Chuck Sieber (McLean, VA), who used it in Solo II events from 1981 to 1989. He had bought the car less engine, and used a 1760 Ford twin cam, followed by an 1840cc BDA. Sieber sold the car to Ian Giles (Didcot, Oxfordshire) at the end of 1990. Its history over the next six years is unknown, but by 1996 it had been acquired by Peter Studer in Switzerland, and he restored it to F2 specification, using the Gold Leaf Team Lotus livery that was used in Formula 3. The car was still owned by Studer when he died in May 2018.
  18. Brabham BT29 [38] (Randy Lewis): John Ranson Lewis III, who raced as Randy Lewis (Sunnyvale, CA), had a blue Brabham BT29 for 1970 which was entered as #7. He raced the car through the full Pro season, finishing fourth at Sears Point in June and at Road America in August, end ending the season in eighth place in the championship. He did not compete in SCCA Nationals. The car was sold to Bunny Ribbs (San Jose, CA) for Mike Eyerly to drive in FB in 1971 (#63) and 1972 (#80). Jon Milledge also drove Ribbs car at Brainerd in Sep 1972. Ribbs, father of future Trans-Am star Willy T. Ribbs, advertised the car at the end of 1972. This is presumably the blue #80 Brabham BT29 raced by Lee Midgley at Road America in August 1973 and driven by Archie Snider at Trois-Rivières a week later. Subsequent history unknown.
  19. 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. Outcault sold it via Fred Opert to Carmelo Crisafuli (Great Neck, Long Island, NY), and it was registered by the SCCA at Watkins Glen in September 1972. He raced it in SCCA Regionals including two New York Region rounds of the North Atlantic Road Racing Championship in 1974. RJ Nelkin (Roslyn, NY) bought the car for 1975, and raced it in SCCA and EMRA events that season. It was sold in 1976 via Fred Opert to Roy Aber (Penn Hills, PA) who recalls racing the car until 1981. He sold it to JC Gongaware (Youngwood, PA), and did not hear of it again. The car was next seen about 1986 when Lee Chapman (New Milford, CT) of Auto Restorations had the car, having bought it from Jim Wisheart in Pennsylvania. It went from Chapman to Fred Gunther (Trumbull, CT), then to Peter McLaughlin (Hannover, NH), and then to Travis Engen (Weston, CT) in 1994 or 1995.
  20. Brabham BT18 (Dick Leppla): Dick Leppla (Gates Mills, Ohio) raced a red #90 Brabham BT18 in a Pro Formula B race at Mid-Ohio in September 1970 and in an SCCA Regional at Nelson Ledges a week later. Leppla had previously driven a "BT15" in Formula C in 1968 and had then entered a "BT16" for Dave Dours (Hudson, Ohio) in Formula B in late 1969, so it is possible that this "BT18" was his earlier car updated. Both Gates Milles and Hudson are on the outskirts of Cleveland. Nothing more known.
  21. 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. His first known race is at Green Valley Raceway on 22 Feb 1970, a SWDiv National and he ran the canary yellow BT29 in both the 1970 Pro season, where he was a member of the Fred Opert Racing team, and in Nationals where he finished second in CenDiv to Michael Hall. He finished second to Skip Barber's Tecno at the Run-Offs. This is not the same car that Noyes then took to the Tasman series in January 1971 as his well-used 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.
  22. Chevron B15b [FB-69-8?] (Doug Brenner): A new Chevron B15B was prepared for Reine Wisell to race - and win - at Sebring 28 Dec 1969. 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. Art Brisbane (Covina, CA) bought the damaged car, and also bought the ex-Syd Demovsky damaged B15b frame from Wayne Mitchell. Frank Monise cut the two frames in half and "beautifully attached the good parts together". Brisbane used the rebuilt car in Cal Club Formula C from 1974 until 1978 at least. Subsequent history unknown.
  23. Chevron B14 (Jim Trueman): In July 1970, a young Jim Trueman (Amlin, OH) raced a #48 Formula B Chevron in the SCCA National at Mid-Ohio. Two months later, Trueman raced a blue and silver Chevron in the Mid-Ohio 'Pro' Formula B race. Trueman would later found the Red Roof Inn motel chain and use his ensuing wealth to form the Truesports racing team and win the Indy 500 in 1986. After the 1970 season, he sold the Chevron to one-time F1 driver Tom Jones (Euclid, OH) who understood it to be a B14 and entered it as such. He raced it in 1971 and 1972 and then traded it to Ed Zink for the remains of the McLaren M22 that Zink's nephew Harry Ingle had crashed at Road America. The later history of the Chevron is unknown.
  24. Brabham BT29 [12] (Dale Lang): Dale Lang (Wilton, CT) drove a crimson Brabham BT29 during the latter half of the 1970 season but the early chassis number suggest that the car have seen service before Lang's first observed race at Road America 18 Jul 1970. Fred Harris also drove Lang's car on at least one occasion. The car passed to east coast wheeler dealer Joe Grimaldi (Glenrock, NJ), presumably in trade for the new March 712M that Lang bought, and then on to Charlie J. Derbes III (Metairie, LA) who raced BT29-12 in two Nationals, at Summit Point 18 Apr 1971 and at Savannah 16-17 May 1971, but crashed heavily at the latter race. Charlie has retained the car but it remains unrebuilt to 2012.
  25. Brabham BT29 (Brian Robertson): Brian Robertson (Brockville, Ontario) bought a Brabham BT29 late in 1969, debuting it at Sebring in December. He raced it extensively in 1970, taking in the Quebec and national Canadian series as well as rounds of the SCCA Pro series. He was entered by Fred Opert Racing Canada, a business in which he was a partner with Opert. Robertson upgraded to a BT35 for 1971 and his BT29 is likely to have been sold via the Opert operation. It does not appear in Opert's early 1971 advert so one possibility is that it was BT29/23, the car Evan Noyes took to the Tasman series.
  26. 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 it for 1971 when Tom Reddy raced it a couple of times and advertised it as "ser no 30" in October 1971. He also had it in the early part of 1972 before moving to Washington state and quitting racing. The next period of the car's life is unknown but it has been identified as the BT29 bought around 1974 from Bill Wonder by engine preparer Ted Wenz and raced in 1975. Wonder had been running it for a woman driver, which must mean Diana Black (Kew Gardens, NY) who raced a Brabham BT29 in NEDiv FB in 1973 and 1974. Wenz later sold it to Texas but it re-emerged in the 1980s and was recently owned by Peter McLaughlin (Hannover, NH).
  27. 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 November 1971 when it was described as a rolling chassis in parts. Subsequent history unknown.
  28. Lotus 59B [59-F2/XB-41] (Craig Hill): New to Craig Hill (Mississauga, Ontario) and run in the Canadian Road Racing Championship and the SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B, entered by Bill Brack Racing Enterprises. Hill ran in a team with Brack's Formula 5000 Lotus 70, with both cars in marching Castrol GTX livery. Unlike the two JRDS cars, which were entered as Lotus 69Bs, Hill's car first raced in Lotus 59 bodywork and was generally billed through the season as the "Castrol GTX Lotus 59". For 1971, the car was sold to Max Nerrière (Toronto, Ontario), who raced it in the Players Canadian Formula B series. Retained by Nerrière for 1972 and for 1973. Subsequent history unknown.
  29. March 705 [2] (William Prout Jr): New to Bill Prout (Ivoryton, CT) and raced in Formula B in 1970. At Bryar in October, Prout became the first person to win a race in North America in a March. For 1971, Prout repainted the car black, but the first real changes were made to it in 1973, when he updated it to 1973 bodywork. In a long career with the car, Prout set the absolute course record at the 1.8 mile course at Pocono in 1971, and set the FA lap record at Bridgehampton in 1974. By the end of his five seasons with the car, it had 73B bodywork with a 1974 F2-style nose, but with the nose cut to accommodate a front radiator, and large homemade sidepods. Sold to Jack Marsella who raced the unaltered "705/41" in a EMRA Formula B race at Bridgehampton in September 1975, and in a New England Region SCCA Regional at Bryar the following May. Subsequent history unknown but eventually the car came into the hands of Charlie Grasso. By the time he died, around 2020, the car had sports car bodywork, suggesting it was used in C Sports Racing, but exactly how it had been used remains unknown. In December 2021, it was sold to Jeremy Ghent (Lancaster, South Carolina). It was identified from its Arch Motors number, but work continues to determine its full history.
  30. Brabham BT18 (Peter W Nye): Peter Nye (Ann Arbor, MI) bought a Brabham BT18 rolling chassis from Fred Opert for the 1969 season. Opert fitted a used Vegantune twin cam engine to it for Formula B, but the engine kept bending valves and Nye rarely finished a race. After returning the Vegantune to Opert, he bought an HRE engine from Gus Hutchinson for the 1970 season but did not have much more success. Nye does not recall whether he sold that car privately, but may have traded it to Joe Grimaldi's Race Shop for his next car, a Brabham BT29. Subsequent history unknown.

Sources

Note that 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' published 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 (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.

Individual sources for this event

Some information added by the Mansfield News Journal, 24 Sep 1970, p28, which describes Ron Stanwicks' March as a March 705 and Bill Rasinen's Lotus as a Lotus 18.