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SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B/C Race

Watkins Glen, 13 Aug 1972

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Chevron B18 [18.F2.71.1] (John Powell): Chassis number given [AS 3 Jun 1971 p12] for the works car of Chris Craft at Crystal Palace F2 race, 31 May 1971, where it is also described as the ex-Redman works development car used in South Africa. John Powell's car at Brands Hatch, 27 Dec 1971 is described by MN as "the ex works development B18 which Redman raced in South Africa last winter". Powell was shaking the car down before taking it back to Canada, where he used it in the FB series in 1972. It was used by Brian Robertson at Bogota (Montreal Gazette). Paul Wheatley's car for 1973 is described in Canadian Motorsport Bulletin’s season preview as ex Powell.
2. Brabham BT29 [2] (Ken Duclos): Fred Ashplant (Franklin Lakes, NJ) ordered a Brabham BT29 for 1969 but the car was not delivered until August and Ashplant had moved on to other projects. The car was not used during 1969 and was still in its crate when sold to Ken Duclos (Boxboro, MA) for use in NEDiv Formula B. Duclos won the title with a massive 48 pts from the similar BT29 of Bob Welch. After a quiet season with the black BT29 in 1971 he reclaimed his title in 1972, beating the newer March of Michael Rand. He bought a new Brabham BT40 for 1973 and won the divisional title again that season. The BT29 went in part exchange to Fred Opert and from him to Peter Gates (Wilmington, DE) who ran it in NEDiv FB for three more seasons. After him it went to Ken Valan then to John Galson and was then sold to the MidWest where it was expected to be converted into a sports racer.
3. Chevron B20 [71-1] (Jim Grob): The prototype Chevron B20 was completed in Formula B specification delivered to Jim Grob (Ft Lauderdale, FL) in time for the 1971 Run-Offs. Grob then raced the orange car at the Bogotá races in early 1972 and then in Southeast Div and Pro FB in 1972. He retained the car for 1973 and 1974, racing it in a total of four Run-Offs, before selling it to Peter Symonds (Rowley, MA) for the 1975 season. Symonds only raced it four times: two SCCA Regionals in 1975 and another two in 1976. Its next owner was Jack Van Dell who raced it in Regionals in 1985. It was sold to Pierre Haverland (Belgium) in 1988 and then to Nelson Todd in Northern Ireland in 2000. Mick Henderson bought it in 2007 and still has it in early 2013.
4. Brabham BT29 [33] (Philip Geraldi): 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.
5. Chevron B14 (Thomas C. Jones): In Sep 1970, a young Jim Trueman (Amlin, OH) 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.
6. March 71BM [1] (Reg Scullion): Gordie Dewar was appointed March importer into Canada for 1971 and his first purchase, chassis 71BM/1, went to Delta Racing Developments for Ian Coristine to race in the Players FB series. Coristine finished the season fifth in the red #50 March but crashed in practice for the final race, at Circuit Ste-Croix in October. The car went to Reg Scullion for 1972 and he started the season racing in Nationals in Texas before returning to Canada for the Players season. Run by Ecurie Canada and Tom Greatorex, Scullion ended the Canadian season in ninth place but then returned to the US to finish second in the SCCA Run-Offs. He retained the car for 1973 as a Scullion-Donolo Racing entry. Subsequent history unknown.
7. March 712M (Peter W Nye): Raced by Geoff Freeman (Ohio) in SCCA events in Central Division in 1971 but this 71BM did not appear in Pro events until bought by Peter Nye for the 1972 season. Nye crashed the car early in the season but rebuilt it on a new tub supplied by March and raced through 1972 and 1973 in Pro events and in SCCA. In 1974, Nye loaned the car to Galen Lyons and he raced it in one or two SCCA Nationals before it was sold to the Northwest US where its new owners planned to rebuild it as a sports car.
8. March 722 (William Kautz): William Kautz (Geneva, IL) had a March 722 during 1972 and 1973 but did not start any of the races that he is known to have entered. The car was entered as #60 once in 1972 and as #6 in 1973. Its colour was given as yellow in 1973 and the entrant throughout was Kautz Farm Racing. Kautz advertised the car in May 1976, still with a "big valve Hart" engine.
9. March 722 (Olney "Bill" Mairs): Olney "Bill" Mairs (Malibu, CA) raced an orange #12 March 722 in three Pro races during the 1972 season. This would have been a new car but nothing is currently known of the car's fate.

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.