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Road Race of Champions (FB class)

Daytona, 29 Nov 1969

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT21C [2?] (William Monson): Nick Reynolds had a new Brabham BT21C for 1968 which he used in SCCA Nationals, finishing second in NorPac Division and fifth at the ARRC. He sold the car to Dr William T Monson (Kent, WA) for 1969, and Monson went one better, taking the red BT21C to the SCCA Northern Pacific Division title and placing well in the 'Pro' series when it visited his home town. It was then sold to Gary Gove (Tacoma, WA) who raced it locally in 1970 and 1971. Gary cannot recall who he sold it to but recalls that it was an early car, either BT21C-2 or BT21C-3. As the history of BT21C-3 has been established, BT21C-2 is more likely.
2. Brabham BT29 [8] (R. C. (Bob) Welch): R. C. 'Bob' Welch (Alexandria, VA) ordered one of the earliest Brabham BT29s but his car didn't arrive late August 1969, giving him time for a short test before the Lime Rock Pro race where he finished seventh. He then set about qualifying for the Run-Offs with just four weeks of the season left and on successive weekends won Nationals at Marlboro, VIR, IRP, and Pocono. Welch retained the car for 1970 when he scored 42 points in NEDiv but was again beaten to the title, this time by Ken Duclos in yet another BT29. The car was sold for 1971 and is believed to be the BT29 in which David Pearl (Atlanta, GA) was killed at Daytona that August. The ex-Welch car is known to have been involved in a major accident and its remains were used by Carl Whitney (Forge Village, MA) in 1972 when he constructed a BT29 out of two wrecked cars. By 2005, this car was with John Stowe.
3. 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.
4. McLaren M4B [200-10B] (Dow "Jack" Byers II): Chuck Dietrich ran McLaren M4B chassis 200-10B in 1967 and then bought a pair of new M4Bs for 1968, selling his 1967 car to Hester. This information comes from correspondence still with 200-10 in 2006.
5. Brabham BT29 [10] (Bill Bowman): Bill Bowman (Palm Beach, FL) moved from sedan racing to FB for 1969 and bought one of the first Brabham BT29s to arrive in the US. The 43-year-old veteran first raced it at Daytona on 2 Aug 1969 and competed in 10 races in SEDiv but suffered significant reliability problems with the Vegantune engine and only finished third in the Division. He raced the blue-and-orange #79 car at the Run-Offs and also appeared at the Sebring Pro race in December. Bowman then injured his lower back and was unable to continue racing the car. He sold it in the summer of 1970 to Jack Dartigalongue (Jacksonville, FL) who raced it in SCCA Regional and National events for several seasons. In 1973, he sold it to Lyle Heck (Reading, PA) who raced it until October 1975 when it went to Denny Anderson who discarded the chassis and used the corners to build a CSR racer, the Firand. Anderson later sold the Firand to Frank Stark who sold it to Bruce Domeck. Domeck acquired a replacement BT29 frame with the intention of restoring it as a BT29 but sold the package to David Irwin instead. Irwin was restoring the car in 2010.
6. 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.
7. Chevron (Warren Flickinger): Warren A. Flickinger II (Golden, CO) raced a Chevron in Formula B during 1969 and it has not yet been possible to identify the car with confidence. It is most likely to be a 1968 Chevron B9 Formula 3 car modified to take a Ford twin-cam and, according to Chevron historian Kevin Hodgkinson, the conversion of the car was done by Fred Opert. Opert imported at least two B9s at the end of 1968 and Flickinger's car is most likely to be the ex-Frank Lythgoe car that had been raced by Digby Martland and then Peter Gethin.
8. Chevron B15B [FB-69-5?] (Hugh Kleinpeter): Just as many other SCCA FB drivers were acquiring Brabham BT29s, Hugh Kleinpeter invested in a Chevron B15B to replace the Beach T11 with which he'd won the SEDiv FB title. He retained his title in 1969 and retained the Chevron for 1970, winning his third successive title. Kleinpeter did not continue in FB in 1971, preferring a Chevron B21 for BSR racing. The chassis number of Kleinpeter's B15B is not known but the fact that it was yellow suggests it was chassis 15B.69.5. It is probably the car driven in SCCA racing by Steve Mandy (Biloxi, Miss) at the 1971 Run-Offs and again in 1972.
9. Brabham BT21A [4] (Ken Duclos): Sold new to Lou Sell (Fullerton, CA) for US Formula B in 1967 (three Pro races only), then to his backer Dick Smothers (Woodland Hills, CA) for 1968, although Sell also raced it in one SoPac National early that year. To Fred Opert late 1968 in part-exchange for a new Chevron and from him on to Ken Duclos (Boxboro, MA) for 1969. Duclos believes he returned it to Opert at the end of 1969 when he acquired his new BT29 and it next turns up in 1971 with John Sorbello (Lafayette, MA) who widened the cockpit section into a two-seater and added a Chevron B16 body. Later to John Kauffman thought he had bought a Chevron and then to Joe Maria in the early 1990s. It was restored by David Irwin to BT21A spec and was still with Maria in 2007.
10. Brabham BT29 (Chet Freeman): Chet Freeman (Columbus, OH) bought one of the earliest Brabham BT29s to arrive in the US and used it in SCCA Central Division FB, accumulating 25 pts and narrowly winning the Division. Freeman then sold the car back to Fred Opert where it was advertised in November (French Blue, Vegantune engine, Cen Div FB champ, less than 4 months old). Subsequent history unknown but note that Freeman bought a second BT29, chassis BT29-42, in June 1970.

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.

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