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Champion Spark Plug Road Racing Classic (Formula B class)

Road Atlanta, 3 Nov 1973

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Ken Duclos Brabham BT40 [17] - Ford twin cam
Trojan Saber (see note 1)
21 30m 23.6s
104.64 mph
2 Tom Klausler Brabham BT38 [26?] - Ford twin cam Hart
(see note 2)
21 30m 30.4s
3 Bill O'Connor Brabham BT38 [15?] - Ford twin cam Hart
Traylor Engineering (see note 3)
21
4 Seb Barone March 722 - Ford twin cam
(see note 4)
21
5 James King March 73B [10] - Ford twin cam
Leighton Buzzard (see note 5)
21
6 Mike Hall Brabham BT40 - Ford twin cam Hart
(see note 6)
21
7 Frank Del Vecchio March 73B [12] - Ford twin cam
Environmental Lubricants (see note 7)
20
8 Chuck Dietrich Brabham BT40 [18] - Ford twin cam Hart
Dietrich Motors (see note 8)
20
9 Olney "Bill" Mairs Brabham BT40 [30] - Ford twin cam
Mairs Racing (see note 9)
19
10 William Brown Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
Brown Racing (see note 10)
19
11 Porter Brownlee Merlyn Mk 21 [394/FB/72] - Ford twin cam
B&B Inc. (see note 11)
19
12 Jim Grob Chevron B20 [71-1] - Ford twin cam
Jim Grob Racing (see note 12)
16
13 John Angus Brabham BT29 [1] - Ford twin cam
(see note 13)
15
R Tom Pumpelly Elden Mk12B [122/12003/73] - Ford twin cam Hart
NTW Inc.
19
R Byron Hatten March 722 - Ford twin cam
(see note 14)
18
R Bill Middleton Brabham BT38B [16] - Ford twin cam
Connor Enterprises (see note 15)
12
R Carl McIntyre Lola T240 - Ford twin cam
(see note 16)
7
R Terry Allard Brabham BT35 - Ford twin cam
Terry Allard Racing (see note 17)
4
DNS Bob Lillquist Lola T242 - Ford twin cam
American Neon Corp (see note 18)
Did not start
DNS Jon Milledge Brabham BT40 - Ford twin cam
M&S Racing Developments
Did not start
DNP Norman Johnson Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
(see note 19)
Did not take part in official practice
DNP Larry Walters Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
(see note 20)
Did not take part in official practice

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Qualifying
1 Tom Klausler (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT38 [26?] - Ford twin cam Hart 1m 25.84s
2 Bill O'Connor (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT38 [15?] - Ford twin cam Hart 1m 25.97s
3 Ken Duclos (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT40 [17] - Ford twin cam
4 John Angus (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT29 [1] - Ford twin cam
5 Seb Barone (FB) 1.6-litre March 722 - Ford twin cam
6 Tom Pumpelly (FB) 1.6-litre Elden Mk12B [122/12003/73] - Ford twin cam Hart
7 James King (FB) 1.6-litre March 73B [10] - Ford twin cam
8 Frank Del Vecchio (FB) 1.6-litre March 73B [12] - Ford twin cam
9 Jim Grob (FB) 1.6-litre Chevron B20 [71-1] - Ford twin cam
10 Bill Middleton (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT38B [16] - Ford twin cam
11 Mike Hall (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT40 - Ford twin cam Hart
12 Chuck Dietrich (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT40 [18] - Ford twin cam Hart
13 Terry Allard (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT35 - Ford twin cam
14 Byron Hatten (FB) 1.6-litre March 722 - Ford twin cam
15 Olney "Bill" Mairs (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT40 [30] - Ford twin cam
16 William Brown (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
17 Jon Milledge * (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT40 - Ford twin cam
18 Carl McIntyre (FB) 1.6-litre Lola T240 - Ford twin cam
19 Bob Lillquist * (FB) 1.6-litre Lola T242 - Ford twin cam
20 Porter Brownlee (FB) 1.6-litre Merlyn Mk 21 [394/FB/72] - Ford twin cam no time
21 Norman Johnson * (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam no time
22 Larry Walters * (FB) 1.6-litre Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam no time
 
* Did not start

Notes on the cars:

  1. Brabham BT40 [17] (Ken Duclos): New to Ken Duclos (Boxboro, MA) and raced in Formula B in 1973, winning the Northeast Division title, and the National title by winning the SCCA Runoffs at Road Atlanta in November. Retained for 1974, and again won both the Northeast title and the National title, and towards the end of that season was fitted with a Cosworth BDA for Formula Atlantic. Again retained for 1975, now with the BDA in Formula B, and Duclos won a third successive NEDiv title in the car, but this time retired at the Runoffs. In 1975, the car wore Falconer bodywork. Sold to Peter Gates (Claymont, DE) for 1976, fitted with a 1.1-litre Cosworth BDJ for Formula C, and finished third in the NEDiv FC title. To Jon Sley (Claymont, Delaware) for FC again in 1977, finishing fifth in NEDiv, and retained for 1978 and 1979. The car was next seen when advertised by Gates in 1992 as restored with a new tub. After that, it was next mentioned by Michael Rand in February 2018 as having been recently purchased. By April 2015, Rand had sold it to Bob Burnside (Dexter, MI).
  2. Brabham BT38 [26?] (Tom Klausler): New for Motul Rondel Racing in May 1972, replacing BT38/11, and raced by Carlos Reutemann. Also raced by Gerry Birrell at Albi, when Reutemann was away racing in the Canadian GP. Reutemann left the Rondel team after the Hockenheim race at the beginning of October, following a disagreement over engines, and the car was raced by Ronnie Peterson in the Brazilian F2 series. Sold by Rondel to Tom Klausler (Palatine, IL) for Formula B in 1973, and won at Trois-Rivières in September. Then advertised by Roy Witz (Arlington Heights, IL) in mid-1974, then sold to John Kowalski (Berea, OH) for Formula Atlantic in 1975. Kowalski advertised it in December 1975 as "ex Klausler", still with its "big valve Hart" engine. Used by Kowalski in early 1976, but he then upgraded to a newer Lola T360. The Brabham is believed to have gone to Dr Mike Orgel (Ladue, MO), who raced a Brabham BT38 in Formula B and then Formula Atlantic in SCCA Midwest Division events from 1977 to 1980. After driving in Regionals in 1977, he won the MidDiv Regional title in 1978, and scored 10 points in Nationals that year. He did not appear in the points table for 1979, but scored one point in 1980 in a Brabham BT38. It would then be the "ex-Peterson" car acquired at some point from Orgel by Bob Willis (St Louis, MO), who also owned the Rondel sister car BT38/14.
  3. Brabham BT38 [15?] (Bill O'Connor): New for Motul Rondel Racing at Hockenheim in mid-April 1972, and raced all season by Bob Wolleck. Raced once by Carlos Reutemann at Enna. Sold to Bill O'Connor (Highland Park, IL) for Formula B for 1973. To Chuck Dietrich (Sandusky, OH) for 1974, then fitted with a Cosworth BDA for 1975, 1976 and 1977. He continued to race it in 1978, but at the age of 53 was appearing less often. This was presumably the Brabham he drove in 1979, but by 1980 he had replaced it with a Lola T460. The subsequent history of the Brabham is unknown.
  4. March 722 (Seb Barone): Sebastiano 'Seb' Barone (Portland, CT) raced a red-and-white #28 March 722 in Formula B in 1972, entered by J.C. Competition Eng.of Southington, CT. He first appeared at the Bogotá races, but was a non-starter. The car was also used by Bobby Brown, fitted with a Cosworth BDA and running as a Formula A in the Lime Rock Grand Prix in September. Barone finished second in NEDiv FB in 1972. He retained the car for SCCA Nationals in 1973, qualifying for the Runoffs. Then sold to Rich Bradley (Sunnyvale, CA), who raced it in Formula B in 1974 and 1975. Bradley advertised the car in Formula in October 1975 as a March 722 with Falconer body. The advert was repeated in April 1976, noting a new Falconer body, F1 brakes and a Lamar wing. Subsequent history unknown.
  5. March 73B [10] (James King): New to James King (East St Louis, IL) and used in Central Division SCCA Formula B, one round of the Players Canadian series, and the Watkins Glen Pro race in October. Raced briefly in SCCA Nationals in early 1974 before his new Chevron B27 arrived from England, then leased to Ric Forest and Fred Phillips for the 1974 Players Canadian series. King took over the car again for 1975, rebuilt it on a new tub, fitted a March 742 nose and side radiators, and raced it in the Players Canadian series. It then went to Porter Brownlee (Little Rock, AR) who raced it in Midwest Division Formula B in 1976 and 1977. After blowing the engine, he sold it to Mike Winn (Little Rock, AR) who raced it for one season before selling it to Chuck Blair (North Little Rock, AR), who had previously maintained it for Brownlee. Blair ran it a couple of times before selling it, scoring two points in Midwest Division Formula Atlantic in 1980. Subsequent history unknown.
  6. Brabham BT40 (Mike Hall): Mike Hall (Twin Lakes, WI) raced a brand new Brabham BT40 at the SCCA Run-Offs, known then as American Road Race of Champions, at Road Atlanta 25 Nov 1972, the first BT40 to race. Hall then raced this car in Formula B and Formula Atlantic in 1973 and 1974. He replaced it with a Lola T360 for 1975 and the Brabham was then raced by John Elder (Rosemount, Minnesota) in SCCA Nationals in 1975, winning his class at Brainerd in July. Hall had modified his car with a wide nose and a higher and fuller tail, and Elder's car showed the same modifications. The car was then advertised, as "ex-Mike Hall" by Richard Prather's Prather Racing (Wheeling, IL) in November 1976. There is a good chance this was the car raced by Peter Robinson (Madison, Wisc) in 1976 and 1977. Subsequent history unknown.
  7. March 73B [12] (Frank Del Vecchio): New to Frank DelVecchio (Trumbull, CT) and raced in SCCA Formula B and in rounds of the Players (Canadian) Formula B series in 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976. When Formula B changed in 1975 to accept the BDA engine, Frank continued with a fuel-injected Ford twin cam engine. He recalls that he sold the car to Peter Neumahr, who had raced a 71BM/733 in 1976 and would progress to a new 77B in 1977, but is thought to have raced this 73B briefly in late 1976 and early 1977. Neumahr sold the car to Jack Deaso (New York, NY), who DelVecchio recalls crashing it at Lime Rock first time out. Subsequent history unknown.
  8. Brabham BT40 [18] (Chuck Dietrich): New to Chuck Dietrich (Sandusky, OH) for 1973, and used in SCCA Formula B in 1973. Dietrich bought a third-hand ex-F2 Brabham BT38 for 1974, and whether the BT40 was used at all that season is not known. In 1975, the BT40 reappeared, raced by David Ralston (Elmhurst, IL) in Central Division SCCA Nationals. Its next owner was Ned Clark (Dayton, OH), who is believed to have raced it from 1976 until 1989. It was next seen in 2006, when bought from the Westerburg Collection in the USA by South Australian Tim Kuchel. By 2011, it had been acquired by Bryan Miller (Kiama, NSW).
  9. Brabham BT40 [30] (Olney "Bill" Mairs): New to Olney "Bill" Mairs (Malibu, CA) and raced at the 1973 SCCA Runoffs, Mairs having qualified by finishing fourth in his March 722 in NEDiv, representing New York Region. Retained for 1974, when Mairs finished fifth in Southern Pacific Division, representing CSCC. He then sold to the car to his two mechanics, Victor Tostado and Mark Munroe, and Munroe raced it in 1975 and 1976. After Munroe was killed in a sprint car accident at Ascot Raceway in September 1979, the Brabham was sold to Richard Christ, and then to John Whitton. It was next seen when owned by Mike Fazzi in 2002 or 2003, and was sold by him to Peter Brennan (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) in 2004. The car remained in the UK, and was raced by Brennan with the HSCC in 2019. Sold to Martin Friedl (Vienna, Austria) in 2020, but the car was expected to stay with Bob Juggins in England, and be used in HSCC events in 2021.
  10. Brabham BT29 (William Brown): Bill Brown (Memphis, TN) raced a Brabham BT29 in Midwest Division Formula B in 1973. After faiuling to start for his first three Nationals, he won the Lake Afton SCCA National in mid-August 1973, then scored two more for fifth place at Mid-America Raceway in September, qualifying for the 1973 Formula B Run-Offs. Memphis is on the border of three Divisions, Southeast, Southwest and Midwest, and Brown faced a long haul to any National. He attended the Run-offs where he finished 10th. Previously, Brown had raced a Temple in Formula Super Vee and qualified for the Run-Offs in 1972. Brown scored points in FB in a Brabham again in 1974 and 1975, and raced at Mid-America Raceway in May 1976. He moved to a FSV Lola for 1977. This is probably the Dr. William Russell Brown, a former SCCA racer, who died in 2004. Nothing more is known about the Brabham BT29.
  11. Merlyn Mk 21 [394/FB/72] (Porter Brownlee): New to Porter Brownlee (Little Rock, AR) in late 1972 for SCCA Formula B. Raced in Midwest Division FB in 1973, 1974 and 1975, qualifying for the Runoffs each season. To David Pence (Little Rock, AR) for FB in 1976 and 1977. Subsequent history unknown. A later advert for the car says that "by the early 1990s, chassis 394/FB/4 belonged to Chicago privateer John Mayes. He loaned it to British restorer James Denty, who fitted a 1600cc Cosworth BDA engine and raced the yellow Merlyn in Historic F2 in 2000. It was sold to an unknown owner in 2001, and raced by Peter Shaw in 2001 and 2002, and by John Dunham (Basingstoke, Hampshire) in 2003. It was offered for sale by H and H in 2004, and after this spent some time in Denmark before being acquired by Kurt Buess (Switzerland). When Buess retired from racing, he sold the car to Hans-Rudolf Howald (Heimenhausen, Switzerland) in 2010. Howald used the car in hillclimbs in Switzerland and France.
  12. 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. Symonds advertised it in 1977. 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 (Belfast, Northern Ireland) in 2000. To Laurent Fort (Arles, Provence, France) in 2006, then to Michael Henderson (Donaghadee, County Down, Northern Ireland) in 2007.
  13. 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. To Marc Bahner (Santa Ana, CA) for 1974, and rebodied by him with March bodywork. Raced by Bahner in local SCCA events in 1974 and 1975. Bahner retained the car for many years, advertising it in December 1996 as "absolutely new - needing paint and assembly".
  14. March 722 (Byron Hatten): Bob Lazier (Vail, CO) raced a black #6 March 722 in the Pro Formula B series in 1972, winning at Bryar Motorsports Park in May. The car was sold to Byron Hatten (Altadena, CA) for 1973, and he entered it for John Angus (formerly of Hartland, WI, but living in Marina Del Rey, CA at this time) for 1974. According to a later advert, this was the "76B" driven by Hatten at the IMSA Formula Atlantic race at Ontario in 1976, and it was then sold to George Seydel (Pasadena, CA), who raced a Formula B March in SCCA Regionals at Riverside in 1978. According to this car's SCCA logbook, it was raced by Seydel until 1979. The SCCA Logbook records its "Manufacturers Identification No." as 722-16, but this was the chassis number reported in Europe to be Xavier Perrot's F2 car, so this identity remains unconfirmed.
  15. Brabham BT38B [16] (Bill Middleton): Sold new to Bill Middleton (Newport Beach, CA) and raced in the 1972 SCCA Formula B series, starting at Watkins Glen in August 1972. Also raced in SCCA Nationals and at the SCCA Run-Offs. Retained by Middleton for 1973 and run in SCCA Nationals, winning at Holtville in March. Retained again for the early 1974 Nationals and then said to have been seized by the sheriff at the Phoenix National for unpaid alimony. Next seen in May 1975 when Pete Halsmer (Huntington Beach, CA) raced "the ex-Middleton Brabham BT-38" in Formula B. Raced by Halsmer for three seasons, during which time it was extensively modified by Halsmer. Halsmer won the Laguna Seca June Sprints in the BT38 in 1977. The car is then unknown for ten years, until it was bought by John Hafkenschiel as a disassembled roller from Grant Koaller (Lakewood, Ohio) in July 1987. Hafkenschiel used this car as a pattern for the restoration of his BT38B, then sold it to a Mr Schaffer in California in November 1988. Since Mr Schaffer's death, the car is believed to have remained with his family, and is still unrestored.
  16. Lola T240 (Carl McIntyre): Carl McIntyre (Boulder, CO) raced a Lola T240 in MWDiv in 1973, finishing third in the division with 15 points. Geography and a common entry number (#70) would suggest this was the car raced by Bill Bachman (Boulder, CO/Nederland, CO) the previous year and then quite possibly became the car driven by Bob Young in 1974. Nothing more known.
  17. Brabham BT35 (Terry Allard): Terry Allard (Newbury Park, CA) raced a Brabham BT35 in SCCA events in 1972 and 1973, first appearing in the Pro event at Riverside in September 1972. It cannot have been Mike Hansen's BT35/31 or the Pacifico BT35/32 of Frank Fitch, as both were at that same race. In early 1973, a blue/red BT35 was advertised in Finish Line from an 805 area code, which matches Allard's location, saying it had seven races from new. Both the colour and the number of races make it a very good match for the car raced by Russ Tyndall (Addison, IL) in 1971. Allard retained the car for SCCA Regionals and Nationals in 1973, when the car was blue-white and wore #70, scoring 14 points and qualifying for the Runoffs. Unknown after the end of 1973.
  18. Lola T242 (Bob Lillquist): Bob Lillquist (St Petersburg, FL) raced a Lola T240 (or T242) in Midwestern Council events in 1972, and then on his return from the Midwest to Florida, in SEDiv Formula B in 1973, finishing third in the division. At the VIR race in April 1973, Lillquist's car was shown as a T242 but at the equivalent race in 1974, he was shown as running a T240 in Formula Ford. As the T240 used a monocoque chassis, it would have been completely ineligible for Formula Ford, so this must be a mistake. A newspaper article in early 1973 said that Lillquist's car was a factory Lola that had been shipped from England to Bogota for the races there (at the start of 1972), and then returned to the US. This might be a muddled reference to Jim Harrell's Lola T242, but as the article did not even get Lillquist's name right, refering to him throughout as Bob Tullius, anything is possible! Nothing more known.
  19. Brabham BT29 (Norman Johnson): Norman Johnson (Simonton, TX) raced a Brabham BT29 in the two Mexican Formula B races in June 1971. Records of Southwest Division racing of very sketchy and little is known of Johnson's exploits in the car in 1971 or 1972. His next known outings in a Brabham were at Texas World Speedway in September 1971 then at Dallas International Motor Speedway in February 1972 where he crashed. He did not score points in Southwest Division in 1972, but won the Division in 1973 and appeared at the Runoffs, where his car was again described as a BT29. He then acquired a Brabham BT40, but it is unclear whether he continued to drive the BT29 through the 1974 SCCA Nationals season. Subsequent history unknown.
  20. Brabham BT29 (Larry Walters): Larry Walters (Tacoma, WA) raced a Brabham in NorPac FB in 1973, finishing third in the Division with 21 pts He returned in 1974, winning the FB class at Portland in June in a BT29 but those were the only points he scored that season. The pre-1973 history of this BT29 is currently unknown but it is believed that the car came into the country through Portland dealer Pierre Phillips - so possibly the car raced in 1970 by Jack J. Quinlin. In 1975, Walters sold the car to John Storr (Victoria, BC) and it was fitted with a BDA engine for the Canadian Formula Atlantic series and the ICSCC series. Storr advertised the car, less engine, in September 1978. It was sold to Bill Mol (Vashon, WA) and fitted with a Mazda engine and Culver sports car body for B Sports Racing in 1980. Subsequent history unknown but possibly the BSR Brabham BT29 raced by Gary Heath (Port Orchard, WA; later Bremerton, WA) from 1981 to 1983.

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.

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.