OldRacingCars.com

Michigan 200

Michigan International Speedway, 18 Jul 1976

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Gordon Johncock Wildcat Mk 2 - DGS 158 ci turbo
#20 Sinmast [Patrick Racing] (see note 1)
100 1h 12m 42.760s
2 Johnny Rutherford McLaren M16E [002] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#2 Hy-Gain [Team McLaren] (see note 2)
100 Finished
3 AJ Foyt Coyote 74 ['74-2'] - Foyt-Ford 159 ci quad cam turbo V8
#14 Gilmore Racing [Foyt Enterprises]
(see note 3)
98 Out of fuel
4 Johnny Parsons Jr Finley Eagle ['72 7224?] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#93 1st National Travel Check [Vatis Enterprises]
(see note 4)
98 Flagged
5 Roger McCluskey Lightning 76 - Offy 159 ci turbo
#7 Lindsey Hopkins (see note 5)
98 Flagged
6 Tom Sneva McLaren M16C [1] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#68 Norton Spirit [Penske Racing]
(see note 6)
98 Flagged
7 Jan Opperman Eagle 72 [7204] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#42 Mergard Racing [Donald Mergard]
(see note 7)
97 Flagged
8 Bill Simpson Eagle 72 [7225] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#38 Nikon [Bill Simpson] (see note 8)
97 Flagged
9 John Martin Dragon 76 - Offy 159 ci turbo
#98 The Bottomhalf [Agajanian/King]
(see note 9)
96 Flagged
10 Al Unser Parnelli VPJ-6B [001] - Cosworth DFX V8
#21 American Racing Wheels [Vel's Parnelli Jones]
(see note 10)
95 Flagged
11 Larry Cannon Eagle 72 [7223] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#69 Hoffman Racing (see note 11)
95 Flagged
12 Tom Bigelow Eagle 74 [7417] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#24 Leader Card (see note 12)
94 Flagged
13 Janet Guthrie Vollstedt 72/75 [12] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#27 Bryant Air Conditioning [Vollstedt Enterprises]
(see note 13)
93 Flagged
14 Larry Dickson McLaren M16E [001] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#80 R P Racing [Russell Polak] (see note 14)
85 Flagged
15 Frank Weiss Vollstedt 67 ['A'] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#90 Eastside Cafe [Art Sugai] (see note 15)
82 Flagged
16 Spike Gehlhausen McLaren M16B [2] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#19 Spirit of Indiana [Carl Gehlhausen]
(see note 16)
61 Broken drive shaft
17 Eldon Rasmussen RasCar-Atlanta 74 - Foyt-Ford 159 ci quad cam turbo V8
#58 Anacomp [Eldon Rasmussen] (see note 17)
60 Broken turbocharger
18 Lee Kunzman Eagle 72 [7221] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#65 S&M Electric [Patrick Santello]
(see note 18)
56 Broken shock absorber
19 Dick Simon Vollstedt 73/76 [13] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#17 Bryant Air Conditioning [Vollstedt Enterprises]
(see note 19)
46 Broken universal joint
20 Wally Dallenbach Wildcat Mk 2 - DGS 158 ci turbo
#40 Sinmast [Patrick Racing] (see note 20)
10 Broken drive shaft
21 Jerry Karl McLaren M16A [4?] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#36 Shurfine Foods [James C. Bidwell]
(see note 21)
10 Broken gearbox
22 Mike Mosley Eagle 74 [7407] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#12 Sugaripe Prune [Jerry O'Connell/Jud Phillips]
(see note 22)
7 Wrecked
DNA Bobby Unser Eagle 74 - Offy 159 ci turbo
#3 [Fletcher Racing]
Did not arrive
Qualifying
1 AJ Foyt Coyote 74 ['74-2'] - Foyt-Ford 159 ci quad cam turbo V8
2 Gordon Johncock Wildcat Mk 2 - DGS 158 ci turbo
3 Al Unser Parnelli VPJ-6B [001] - Cosworth DFX V8
4 Wally Dallenbach Wildcat Mk 2 - DGS 158 ci turbo
5 Johnny Rutherford McLaren M16E [002] - Offy 159 ci turbo
6 Johnny Parsons Jr Finley Eagle ['72 7224?] - Offy 159 ci turbo
7 Dick Simon Vollstedt 73/76 [13] - Offy 159 ci turbo
8 Mike Mosley Eagle 74 [7407] - Offy 159 ci turbo
9 Tom Bigelow Eagle 74 [7417] - Offy 159 ci turbo
10 Tom Sneva McLaren M16C [1] - Offy 159 ci turbo
11 John Martin Dragon 76 - Offy 159 ci turbo
12 Janet Guthrie Vollstedt 72/75 [12] - Offy 159 ci turbo
13 Larry Dickson McLaren M16E [001] - Offy 159 ci turbo
14 Eldon Rasmussen RasCar-Atlanta 74 - Foyt-Ford 159 ci quad cam turbo V8
15 Lee Kunzman Eagle 72 [7221] - Offy 159 ci turbo
16 Jan Opperman Eagle 72 [7204] - Offy 159 ci turbo
17 Roger McCluskey Lightning 76 - Offy 159 ci turbo
18 Spike Gehlhausen McLaren M16B [2] - Offy 159 ci turbo
19 Larry Cannon Eagle 72 [7223] - Offy 159 ci turbo
20 Bill Simpson Eagle 72 [7225] - Offy 159 ci turbo
21 Frank Weiss Vollstedt 67 ['A'] - Offy 159 ci turbo
22 Jerry Karl McLaren M16A [4?] - Offy 159 ci turbo

Notes on the cars:

  1. Wildcat Mk 2 (Gordon Johncock): New for Gordon Johncock in 1976 as Patrick Racing's #20 Sinmast Goodyear entry, but Johncock also had a 1975 Mk 1 for short track events, and exactly where he used the Mk 2 is not yet fully resolved. This car was retained for 1977, becoming Johncock's short track car, and was also raced by Johnny Parsons Jr at the 1977 Indy 500 as Patrick's #60 entry. The car was wrecked by Johncock at Milwaukee in June 1977 and was not seen again. As the team had to borrow a Mk 2 back from another team during 1978, it can be assumed that this car was not rebuilt.
  2. McLaren M16E [002] (Johnny Rutherford): New in 1975 for McLaren Cars and raced by Lloyd Ruby at the Indy 500 as the #7 Allied Polymer car. Johnny Rutherford took over this car after Pocono and used it for the rest of the season as his #2 Gatorade entry. Used again at long track in 1976 as the #2 Hy-Gain car and won the Indy 500 as well as finishing second at Michigan and Ontario, and winning at TWS. To Cliff Hucul for 1977 as the #29 Hunter Racing or Team Canada entry, and in 1978 as the Wendy's Hamburgers entry. Raced again by Hucul in 1979 but described then as a M16C/D. Not raced again but seen in Aat Groenevelt's garage at Indy in 1985 still in Hucul livery. Then unknown until loaned to Ken Behring's Behring Auto Musem (Danville, CA) in 1988 but the museum, now called the Blackhawk Museum, cannot recall who owned it. It left the museum in mid-1990s and nothing further is known until 2004, when a M16E was on display in the Samsung Transportation Museum (Yongin, South Korea).
  3. Coyote 74 ['74-2'] (AJ Foyt): New for AJ Foyt at the 1974 Indy 500 as Foyt Enterprises' #14 Gilmore Racing entry. Photographs show that it was also raced by Foyt at Milwaukee in June, Pocono, Michigan in July, Milwaukee in August, probably Michigan again in September, Trenton in September and Phoenix in November. It was also used to set a new record speedway lap of 217.854 mph at Talladega on 3 August 1974. Photographs also show that this was one of three cars used by Foyt during the 1975 season: at Ontario in March, as his #10 backup car at the Indy 500, and at both Michigan races in July and September 1975. In 1976, Foyt raced the older 1974 car at early-season short track races and the newer 1975 car at the Indy 500, but used this car for every race from Pocono in June to the end of the season. In 1977, it was raced by Foyt at Ontario and Phoenix in March, TWS in April, Pocono, Mosport, and Trenton in September; and by Billy Vukovich at the Indy 500. In 1978, it was raced by Foyt at Phoenix in March, Trenton in April, Mosport, and Milwaukee in June, by Snider at Pocono, and probably at Michigan, where he hit the wall. It may be the car raced by Foyt in the August Milwaukee and by George Snider in the two races in Britain in October 1978, but this remains uncertain. Foyt then bought Parnelli VPJ6Cs, and the Coyotes were finally retired. This car passed to Foyt's long-time sponsor Jim Gilmore and was on display in his second-floor office in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and was in his living room at his home by 1985. After Gilmore died in a traffic accident in 2001, the Coyote moved to the Gilmore Museum, also in Kalamazoo, which had been founded by his uncle, Donald S. Gilmore in 1966. Its display board calls it a 1974 car, and that it was the Talladega record car.
  4. Finley Eagle ['72 7224?] (Johnny Parsons Jr): Having run a 1972 Eagle and the 1973 'Fleagle' in 1975, the Vatis team introduced a new car in 1976, said to have been built on a spare Eagle tub unused until that year. This ran as the #93 car in 1976 with the 1972 Eagle moving from #93 to #92. This arrangement appears to have continued through 1977 but the two cars become harder to disentangle in 1978 as the 1972 Eagle has been modified to look much the same as the 1976 car. It would appear that the older 1972 Eagle becomes the team's first choice car in 1978 and in 1979.
  5. Lightning 76 (Roger McCluskey): New for Lindsey Hopkins as the #7 Hopkins entry for Roger McCluskey at the Indy 500 in 1976. Raced by McCluskey from Michigan in July to the end of the season, qualifying second at Ontario and at Michigan in September but not actually finishing a race higher than fifth. Sold to Rolla Vollstedt for Janet Guthrie to drive in 1977 as his #27 Bryant Air Conditioning entry. Guthrie qualified for the Indy 500, and also raced the car at Pocono and Ontario, and by Bob Harkey and Dick Simon at other races. Sold to Phil Threshie for 1978 but crashed at Michigan and wrecked again at Ontario, its final race. Later owned by Nick Pappas (Oregon City, OR) and sold by him to Bob Boyce (Michigan City, IN). Later to Bob McConnell (Urbana, OH).
  6. McLaren M16C [1] (Tom Sneva): New to Roger Penske for Bobby Allison to drive at the 1973 Indy 500 as the #12 Sunoco DX car. Sold to Roy Woods and appeared at Ontario in August/September 1973 as the #74 Carling entry for John Mahler, who crashed it in the race. It evidently returned to Penske and was rebuilt as the #8 entry for Gary Bettenhausen in 1974. Used by Mike Hiss after Bettenhausen was injured in a dirt race in July 1974. Taken over by Tom Sneva in 1975 as the #68 Norton Spirit entry but wrecked in Sneva's huge accident at Indy in 1975. Rebuilt later in the season and rejoined the Penske team to be a backup car for Sneva in 1976. Its last known appearance was at Michigan in July 1976. History then unknown until 2009 when it was part of the Harrah Collection at the National Automobile Museum (Reno, NV). Presumably it had been bought by Bill Harrah, founder of Harrah's Casinos. After Harah's death in November 1978 his 'Harrah’s Automobile Collection' was acquired by Holiday Inns and started to be broken up and auctioned in the mid-1980s. In response to ensuing outcry, Holiday Inns agreed to donate 175 cars and Harrah's research library to a new Harrah Automobile Foundation and this became the basis of the National Automobile Museum which opened in Reno, Nevada, in 1989. The car is in Sneva's 1977 red, white and blue Norton/Gould/CAM2 livery, suggesting it was used as a show car in 1977.
  7. Eagle 72 [7204] (Jan Opperman): One of two 1972 Eagles bought new by Jerry O'Connell's Sugaripe Prune team and raced by Billy Vukovich as the #3 entry in 1972, with Jud Phillips as chief mechanic. As the later history of 7207 is known from an invoice, and as the cars have distinct differences that can be seen in photographs, 7204 can be safely identified as Vukovich's 1972 Indy 500 car, after which it swapped roles with 7207 and became his short track car. It remained his short track car in 1973, and is then believed to have raced just twice in 1974. Sold to Donald Mergard and very probably the car raced by Bob Harkey as Mergard Racing's #42 entry at Michigan late that season. Retained by Mergard for another six seasons, racing as the #42 with numerous drivers and sponsors. In 1981, this car appears to have become Tom Frantz' #71 entry for Bob Frey. Subsequent history unknown.
  8. Eagle 72 [7225] (Bill Simpson): To Roger Penske for Mark Donohue to drive as the #66 Sunoco DX car at the three 500 mile races in 1973. It was then driven by Gary Bettenhausen as the #5 Sunoco DX car in place of his usual McLaren M16C at Phoenix in November 1973 and again at Phoenix in March 1974. For 1976, the car was sold to Bill Simpson and raced as his #38 Nikon car until September that year when it was sold to Arthur E. 'Art' Sugai (Ontario, OR) and became the #90 Eastside Café car for Rick Mears. Raced by Mears, Steve Krisiloff and Bubby Jones in 1977. Sold to collector/dealer Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) in May 1980 and retained by him until purchased by Rick and Alison Dresang (Hartford, WI) in August 2004. Fully restored, and maintained by Kettle Moraine Preservation & Restoration.
  9. Dragon 76 (John Martin): New for John Martin to drive at the 1976 Indy 500 as JC Agajanian & Grant King's #98 Genesee Beer entry. Also driven by Martin at Milwaukee, Pocono, Michigan, Trenton, Milwaukee again and Ontario, but it is possible that he was using the sister car at the short track races. Entered by Agajanian and Evel Knievel for Gary Bettenhausen to drive in 1977, but he used an old 1973 Kingfish at least once at short track events. For Bettenhausen again in 1978, now entered by Agajanian, King and JC Purcell, and with Oberdorfer Foundries as title sponsor. The car was retired from racing at the end of 1978, and crew member Bill Throckmorton recalls that "the Evel Knievel car hung upstairs with the orange Oberdorfer colors on it until Grant restored it".
  10. Parnelli VPJ-6B [001] (Al Unser): The original 1975 Parnelli was also Unser's primary car at the 1976 Indy 500 and the 1977 Indy 500 (Hungness yearbooks) and wore #21 throughout. Assumed to be Unser's #21 car throughout 1976 and, as Formula refers to the cars "remaining much as was last season", presumed to be the car used in the early 1977 races. Unser had a backup (also #21) at the 1977 Indy 500 but, with this backup written off, Unser must have used this car at Milwaukee and also, according to race reports, at the Pocono 500 (Formula Sep 1977 p42), California 500 (Formula Nov 1977 p35 where the winner is listed in the results as a VPJ6B), Michigan (Autocourse p238) and Phoenix (Autocourse). In between Pocono and Ontario, Unser may have driven the VPJ6C.
  11. Eagle 72 [7223] (Larry Cannon): New to Roy Woods Racing and entered for David Hobbs at the 1973 Indy 500 as the #73 Carling Black Label entry. For Hobbs at Pocono then John Mahler at Ontario that season. Woods then lost the Carling sponsorship but returned to Indy in 1974 with the Eagle as the #69 entry for Mahler who failed to qualify. Next seen in 1976 when owned by by Gus and Richard Hoffman (Milford, OH) of Hoffman Auto Racing and entered as the #69 American Financial Spl for Larry Cannon at various races that season. Returned to Indy in 1977, again as Hoffman's #69 entry, but crashed by Jerry Grant in practice and "extensive damaged". Reworked by the Hoffman team as their 1979 #79 'Spyder' Indy car and raced by Dick Ferguson, Joe Saldana and others. Crashed heavily by Bob Frey in practice at Pocono 1980 and effectively destroyed.
  12. Eagle 74 [7417] (Tom Bigelow): Mike Mosley's #98 1974 Indy 500 drive for the Lodestar/Leader/Agajanian/Watson combine and identified in a letter from AAR to USAC in Feb 1974 as 7417. Said to be the #98 for Steve Krisiloff in 1975 but the #98 picture in the 1975 yearbook is clearly a 1972 car. Could this be the car Krisiloff wrecked at Phoenix at the end of 1974? It might also be the one he "damaged extensively" in practice at the 1975 Indy (6 May - see trackside report); although the 14 May trackside report says this car was rebuilt, it is an older '72 car that Krisiloff races. Later in 1975, Agajanian left Lodestar/Leader/Watson taking his #97/#98 numbers with him and joined Grant King. Krisiloff's Lodestar/Leader/Watson Eagle then took #10 for the rest of 1975, then moved to the #23/#24 numbers in 1976. Krisiloff may have raced the '74 car later in 1975 but it is not yet known how long the car took to rebuild. At Indy in 1976, Tom Bigelow is bumped in the Leader Card #24 entry which looks like a '74 Eagle but is modified around the front suspension. Maybe 7417 with suitable repairs? Again, the usage of this car in 1976 cannot yet be determined. In 1977, Joe Saldana was bumped in the #64 Leader Card entry, a standard-looking Eagle 74. A picture shows that Saldana's #23 car at the next race was also a '74 Eagle. Finally, at the 1978 Indy 500, Tom Bagley is pictured in Hungness driving a '74 Eagle in practice. As late as 1980, the Leader Card team used an Eagle at short-track events. Subsequent history unknown but this may be the Eagle that Harry Schwartz's Rattlesnake Racing acquired together with a 1977 Watson chassis for 1981.
  13. Vollstedt 72/75 [12] (Janet Guthrie): New for 1972 as the #27 Vollstedt Enterprises entry for Denny Zimmerman but arrived too late to qualify. Raced by Zimmerman at Pocono and Ontario in 1972 and then retained for 1973 as a backup to the new "bunkbeds" car and raced as the #27 by Tom Bigelow. It was Bigelow's intended #27 car at Indy in 1974 but crashed heavily on the second day of practice. Extensively rebuilt for 1975 with the radiators moved from McLaren-style sidepods to the nose. Bigelow preferred the 1973 car in McLaren form at the Indy 500, but raced the revised 1972 car at the Pocono 500. Used by Janet Guthrie as the #27 in 1976 but then retired. Donated to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in May 1982.
  14. McLaren M16E [001] (Larry Dickson): New in 1975 for McLaren Cars main driver Johnny Rutherford as the #2 Gatorade entry. Raced at the three 500 mile events that year but Rutherford then moved to M16E-2 and this car was next seen at Michigan in 1976 when it was entered by Russ Polak's Polak Racing as the #80 for Larry Dickson. Raced by Dickson until the end of 1977. Then almost certainly the McLaren entered by Jack L. Rhoades as the #20 Scientific Drilling Controls car for John Martin at the 500 mile races in 1979 and for Dana Carter at Indy in 1980. Returned to Indy in 1981 as the #52 Rassey Engines car for Larry Rice. Then unknown until advertised in the late 1980s by Stephen A. Schwartz (Westport, CT), totally restored and in its original Gatorade livery. It was reacquired by McLaren and put on display in the Donington Museum for many years. It was at McLaren HQ in Woking in 2010.
  15. Vollstedt 67 ['A'] (Frank Weiss): New for 1967 and run by Vollstedt Enterprises as the #17 Bryant Heating & Cooling Spl in 1967 and 1968 with a 255 ci Ford quad cam engine. Appeared at Indy in 1969, now with a turbo Ford but still as the #17 Bryant Heating & Cooling Spl. Dick Simon raced this car for the Vollstedt team at a few races late 1969 as the All Seasons Sports car and then acquired the car, which became his #44 entry in 1970 and then his #44 TraveLodge Sleeper backup in 1971. Retained as part of Simon's stable until the end of 1975 when it was sold to Art Sugai (Ontario, OR) and became his #90 Eastside Café entry for Frank Weiss in 1976. Sold in 1978 to Tom Black (Portland, OR) and Bob Ames and restored by them as the #21 ex-Jim Clark car after being incorrectly identified as that car by Rolla Vollstedt. Then to Don Mack and Hank Albers in 1979 and sold a year later via Eoin Young to Peter Briggs and put on display in his York Motor Museum in Western Australia. Offered for sale by Bonhams at Quail Lodge in August 2009 at which point it was correctly identified as the #17 car. Sold to Greg Smith in 2010.
  16. McLaren M16B [2] (Spike Gehlhausen): McLaren Cars 1972 for Peter Revson (#12), and raced at the Indy 500, Pocono and Ontario. Also raced by Gordie Johncock at Trenton in September after his usual M16B/3 had been wrecked at Ontario. To Lindsey Hopkins for Roger McCluskey to race in 1973 as the #3 Hopkins Buick entry, but McCluskey raced his older M16A at the Indy 500 and at Pocono, before settling on the M16B at the end of the season. The two cars took McCluskey to the USAC National Championship. The M16B was retained for 1974 and 1975 as a backup to Hopkins' new Riley-built 'English Leather' car. The McLaren was used at Trenton in 1975, and then entered for Graham McRae at the 1975 Indy 500, but he could not qualify. Sold to Carl Gehlhausen for Spike Gehlhausen to drive in 1976 (#19 Spirit of Indiana) and 1977 (#19 PV Corp) but crashed at Ontario, Indy and Pocono in 1977 with serious damage each time. Replaced with an Eagle in mid-1977. Acquired from Gehlhausen by Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) some time in the 1980s, and restored by Gehlhausen's chief mechanic Eddie Baue and Walter Goodwin. USAC's history of this car identified it as the #86 "ex-Revson" McLaren (actually Hopkins' other M16) and it was restored to this specification and then sold to Gene Wagner (Atlanta, GA), who used it in US vintage racing between 1988 and 1990.
  17. RasCar-Atlanta 74 (Eldon Rasmussen): New for Lloyd Ruby at the Jimmy Bryan 150 at Phoenix in March 1972, where it was Gene White Racing's #5 Wynns entry, and then used by him at the Indy 500, where he finished sixth. Ruby then tried the team's Lola T270 at Milwaukee, and tried both cars in practice at Pocono before it was rained off. He then crashed the Atlanta before the race at Michigan in July, and used the Lola for the rest of the season. Almost certainly the Atlanta-Ford sold to Loyd Meek's Quality Racing Team for 1973, where it was due to be enginered and raced by Eldon Rasmussen, but Rasmussen did not appear in the car until Texas in October, where it went very well. Rebuilt by Rasmussen as a "Ras-Car", and thereafter described as a 1974 car. Raced by Rasmussen in the 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978 seasons, although he generally only appeared for the longer races at Indianapolis, Ontario, Pocono and Michigan. This is believed to be the car that was demolished in Rasmussen's huge accident at Pocono in 1979.
  18. Eagle 72 [7221] (Lee Kunzman): New to Leader Card Racers in time for the TWS race at the start of 1973. Raced by Mike Mosley as the #98 Leader Card entry. Then taken to the Indy 500 as a backup, renumbered #97, and qualified by Rick Muther. It was then Mosley's short track car, and raced by Muther at Pocono and by Johnny Parsons Jr at Ontario and at the late-season races. Presumably for Parsons again at Ontario in March 1974. Then Mosley's short track car when he wasn't using his new 1974 Eagle. Signs of repairs to the left side of this car allow it to be identified from 1975 onwards. It was raced by George Snider as the #97 at Ontario at the start of 1975, then by Steve Krisiloff in the Indy 500 as the #98 and later in the season as the #98 and then the #10. For 1976, the car was sold to Patrick Santello and was his #65 City of Syracuse or S&M Electric entry that season for Larry Dickson and Lee Kunzman. Then to Gus and Richard Hoffman (Milford, OH) of Hoffman Racing for 1977 and entered for Jerry Grant and later Joe Saldana as the #69. Driven again by Saldana in 1978 and 1979. Also appeared once for Bob Frey in 1980. Reappeared briefly in 1982 when it was entered by George T. Smith's GTS Racing as the #86 Empress Traveler for Al Loquasto. Sold by Smith to Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) who sold it to Bob Colllings (Boston, MA) in April 1985. Retained by Collings and now forms part of the auto collection in The Collings Foundation (Stow, MA).
  19. Vollstedt 73/76 [13] (Dick Simon): New for 1973 as Vollstedt Enterprises' #17 Norton Spirit entry for Bill Simpson but Simpson crashed during practice for the Indy 500, and the car could not be repaired in time for qualifying. Simpson drove the car again in practice for the Pocono 500, but left the team, saying the car was not fast enough. Bob Harkey took over the drive, and qualified. At the Ontario 500, Tom Sneva was brought into the team, but again crashed the car preventing it from qualifying. The car was converted to the McLaren-style design of the 1972 car for 1974 when it was raced by Bigelow as the #27 Bryant Heating car. Raced by Bigelow at Indy in 1975 but its usage during the rest of that season is still to be determined. Rebuilt extensively for 1976 with its radiators moved to the nose, the same as the 1972 car which had been modified the previous season. Raced by Dick Simon as the #17 Bryant Heating entry in 1976 and in early 1977. It was then retained by the team as a backup car in 1978 and was fitted with an AMC turbo V8 for some races in 1979. Its last known appearance was when driven by Gary Bettenhausen at Pocono in June 1981, when it was described as "an old shovel-nose car". Rolla Vollstedt's son Bruce recalls that the tub sat around for some time, the sides having been taken off with the intention of using it build a different style car. The sides were later put back on, it was sold to to Joe Green, and Rolla rebuilt the car for him in about 2001.
  20. Wildcat Mk 2 (Wally Dallenbach): Wally Dallenbach had a Wildcat Mk 2 for the 1976 season but we cannot be certain when he drove the Mk 2 that season and when he may have used an older Mk 1. The Mk 3s were produced for 1977 but were only used at a handful of races and Dallenbach drove his 1976 Mk 2 at most races. At the end of 1977, the Dallenbach Mk 2 was sold to Sherman Armstrong's Armstrong Mould team and driven by Tom Bigelow through the 1978 season. It was loaned back to Patrick Racing for Steve Krisiloff to drive at Trenton in September after his usual Mk 2 had been wrecked at Ontario three weeks earlier and the alternative Mk 4 had been shipped to England for the two British races. Retained by Armstrong and driven by Gary Bettenhausen and Howdy Holmes in 1979 and by Bettenhausen in 1980. Used briefly by Rich Vogler as an Armstrong Mould entry in Indy 500 practice in 1981. Subsequent history unknown
  21. McLaren M16A [4?] (Jerry Karl): Roger Penske 1971 for Mark Donohue (#66 Sunoco) at Pocono and Ontario, replacing M16/1 destroyed at the Indy 500. Also for Donohue in the early races of 1972 and probably the #8 backup entry at the Indy 500. It was then sold to George Walther and raced by Salt Walther later in 1972. The Walthers bought other McLarens over the winter and this was retained as an unused backup in 1973. Walther raced it at Trenton in April 1974 and may have used it at other short-track events in 1974 and 1975. For 1976, it was sold to James C Bidwell (Indianapolis, IN) and Robert Bidwell (Lauderhill, FL) and entered as the #36 Shurfine Foods for Jerry Karl after Indy in 1976 and for Jerry Sneva in 1977. To Frank Fiore (#88 Machinists Union) late season 1978 for Tom Gloy; and Ontario only 1979 for Ken Nichols. Then sold to Buddy Boys (Calgary, Alberta) and entered as the #68 at the Indy 1980 for fellow Canadian Frank Weiss to drive, but crashed heavily during practice. The Hungness Yearbook describes the impact as having been on the left front and the car as "extensively damaged", adding that the injured Weiss had to be released using a Hurst rescue tool, the so-called "jaws of life" which could have done significant damage to the monocoque.
  22. Eagle 74 [7407] (Mike Mosley): New to Jerry O'Connell's team for 1974 and raced by Billy Vukovich as the #4 Sugaripe Prune Special, with Jud Phillips as chief mechanic. Presumably the car used through 1974 by Vukovich and then through 1975 by Mike Mosley but the team had older 1972 Eagles available and those older cars may have been used at some races. Used again by Mosley in 1977 but O'Connell also acquired a new Lightning for that season. After Pocono in July 1978 the Eagle was sold to Jim McElreath, who had damaged his ex-Patrick 1973 Eagle at that race. Identified by Simmo Iskül from photographs as McElreath's #23 in 1979, and presumed to be the McElreath Racing #23 right up to 1981, although the ex-Patrick car was also repaired and used again. Subsequent history unknown, but at some point in the next 30 years the car was acquired by Chuck Haines and restored to it original Sugaripe Prune livery. For reasons currently unknown, Haines advertises the car as chassis 74-08.

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.

The foundation for this research is the work done by the late Phil Harms collating the results of all AAA, USAC and CART races, including the period covered here. His data was refined by Michael Ferner who added more information before making it available to OldRacingCars.com. Since the start of the USAC project on OldRacingCars.com in 2004, a wealth of further information has been gleaned from the Carl Hungness and Donald Davidson Yearbooks, Formula and On Track magazines, USAC News, National Speed Sport News and other published sources. Gerry Measures has also provided much information from his files as have others on TNF and Trackforum. Since 2009, the work of Simmo Iskül and others identifying cars from period photographs has has moved this research forward significantly.

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.