OldRacingCars.com

SCCA/USAC F5000 Championship Round

Mid-Ohio, 8 Aug 1976

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Brian Redman Lola T332C [HU56] - Chevrolet V8
#1 Haas Racing Team/Boraxo
42 59m 07.434s
102.29 mph
2 Jackie Oliver Shadow DN6B [1A] - Dodge V8
#0 (see note 1)
42 59m 36.375s
3 Danny Ongais Lola T332C [HU60] - Chevrolet V8
#63 Interscope Racing
42 59m 58.274s
4 Al Unser Lola T332 ['K1'] - Chevrolet V8
#51 Vel's Parnelli Jones/American Racing Wheels
42
5 Teddy Pilette Chevron B37 [37-76-01] - Chevrolet V8
#4 Racing Team V. D. S. (see note 2)
41
6 Brett Lunger Lola T332C - Chevrolet V8
#10 Hogan Racing/FNCB Travelers Checks
41
7 Peter Gethin Lola T430 [HU2] - Chevrolet V8
#3 Racing Team V. D. S. (see note 3)
41
8 Randy Lewis Lola T332 [HU39] - Chevrolet V8
#28 Wrangler (see note 4)
40
9 Richard Shirey Lola T332C - Chevrolet V8
#74 Bob Smith
39
10 Bob Lazier Lola T330/T332 [HU15] - Chevrolet V8
#34 Champion Auto Stores (see note 5)
39
11 Evan Noyes Lola T332 [HU51] - Chevrolet V8
#24 Eagle Creek Aviation (see note 6)
39
12 John David Briggs Lola T332 [HU50] - Chevrolet V8
#71 Briggs & Fodge Racing (see note 7)
39
13 John Benton Lola T330 [HU26] - Chevrolet V8
#22 Formula Magazine (see note 8)
38
14 Horst Kroll Lola T330 [HU2] - Chevrolet V8
#37 VW Younge Porsche/Audi (see note 9)
37
15 Roger Bighouse Rassey 74 - Chevrolet V8
#61 Edward Rassey (see note 10)
36
16 Bert Kuehne Lola T300 [HU10] - Chevrolet V8
#16 Alex Vecomac[sic]
32
17 Geoff Davie March "741" [73A/3(B)] - Chevrolet V8
#93 (see note 11)
24
18 Bob Nagel Lola T332 [HU33] - Chevrolet V8
#75 Thermo King (see note 12)
24
19 David Purley March 73A/751 ["75AM"] - Chevrolet V8
#9 John Cannon
6
20 Vern Schuppan Lola T332 [HU46] - Chevrolet V8
#48 AAR/Jorgenson Steel (see note 13)
1
DNSF Alan Jones Lola T332 [HU34] - Chevrolet V8
#64 Theodore Racing Hong Kong (see note 14)
Did not start final
DNSF "Tuck" Thomas Lola T332 [HU38 (B)] - Chevrolet V8
#88 Lancer Stores
Did not start final
DNS Skeeter McKitterick Lola T332 [HU29] - Chevrolet V8
#30 Pacific Designs (see note 15)
Did not start
T Teddy Pilette Lola T430 [HU1] - Chevrolet V8
#4 Racing Team V. D. S. (see note 16)
(Only used in practice)
T Danny Ongais Lola T332 [HU54] - Chevrolet V8
#63 Interscope Racing (63T) (see note 17)
(Only used in practice)

All cars are 5-litre F5000 unless noted.

Heat 1 Laps Time Speed
1Brian Redman2130:21.93199.59 mph
2Teddy Pilette
3Alan Jones
4Brett Lunger
5David Purley
6Peter Gethin
7Richard Shirey
8Horst Kroll
9Roger Bighouse
10Geoff Davie
11Bert Kuehne
Heat 2 Laps Time Speed
1Al Unser2130:03.860100.58 mph
2Danny Ongais
3Jackie Oliver
4Bob Lazier
5Evan Noyes
6Randy Lewis
7John David Briggs
8John Benton
9Vern SchuppanRetired
10"Tuck" Thomas
11Bob Nagel
Qualifying
1 Brian Redman (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332C [HU56] - Chevrolet V8 1:24.056
2 Al Unser (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 ['K1'] - Chevrolet V8 1:25.318
3 Alan Jones (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU34] - Chevrolet V8 1:26.031
4 Danny Ongais (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332C [HU60] - Chevrolet V8 1:26.243
5 Brett Lunger (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332C - Chevrolet V8 1:26.305
6 Jackie Oliver (F5000) 5-litre Shadow DN6B [1A] - Dodge V8 1:26.737
7 Teddy Pilette (F5000) 5-litre Chevron B37 [37-76-01] - Chevrolet V8 1:27.324
8 Bob Lazier (F5000) 5-litre Lola T330/T332 [HU15] - Chevrolet V8 1:27.899
9 David Purley (F5000) 5-litre March 73A/751 ["75AM"] - Chevrolet V8 1:28.034
10 Evan Noyes (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU51] - Chevrolet V8 1:28.318
11 Peter Gethin (F5000) 5-litre Lola T430 [HU2] - Chevrolet V8 1:29.815
12 Vern Schuppan (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU46] - Chevrolet V8 1:30.932
13 Richard Shirey (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332C - Chevrolet V8 1:31.043
14 Bob Nagel (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU33] - Chevrolet V8 1:35.641
15 Roger Bighouse (F5000) 5-litre Rassey 74 - Chevrolet V8 1:35.887
16 John Benton (F5000) 5-litre Lola T330 [HU26] - Chevrolet V8 1:35.903
17 Geoff Davie (F5000) 5-litre March "741" [73A/3(B)] - Chevrolet V8 1:36.159
18 John David Briggs (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU50] - Chevrolet V8 1:36.942
19 Horst Kroll (F5000) 5-litre Lola T330 [HU2] - Chevrolet V8 1:41.791
20 "Tuck" Thomas (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU38 (B)] - Chevrolet V8 1:41.858
21 Bert Kuehne (F5000) 5-litre Lola T300 [HU10] - Chevrolet V8 1:54.385
22 Randy Lewis (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU39] - Chevrolet V8 No time
23 Skeeter McKitterick * (F5000) 5-litre Lola T332 [HU29] - Chevrolet V8 No time
 
* Did not start

Notes on the cars:

  1. Shadow DN6B [1A] (Jackie Oliver): Built new for 1975, and raced by Jackie Oliver at the first two races of the season. Then became the spare car, and raced by Jean-Pierre Jarier at Watkins Glen. Also raced by Oliver at Riverside after DN6/2A had been damaged at Long Beach. It was then retained as Oliver's spare car for 1976, and was raced at Mid-Ohio and Road America in August. The car was retained by Don Nichols after the US team closed down, and was sold by him Michael Duncan (Los Altos, CA) in 1988. Sold by Duncan to Mike McComas (Pampa, TX), who sold it to Jim Bartel (Wixom, MI) in 1997. Bartel had it restored by RM Motorsport and it was raced by Craig Bennett (Brighton MI) at Road America in July 2005. Sold to Andrew Simpson (Houston, TX) in 2007, then via Scott Monroe (Kemah, TX) in 2008 to Jim Kelleher (Sugarland, TX) in 2009. Raced by Kelleher in vintage racing until damaged at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in June 2014. Sold back to Bartel who had it repaired by RM Motorsport and returned to competition in 2015.
  2. Chevron B37 [37-76-01] (Teddy Pilette): To VDS Racing and entered for Peter Gethin in the 1976 US F5000 series (also raced once by Teddy Pilette) and in the Rothmans series in Australia in early 1977. To Bruce Allison (Brisbane, Australia) and raced by him in the 1977 UK Group 8 Championship and in the Rothmans series again in Australia in early 1978. Then to Ivan Tighe (Brisbane) and raced in national Australian F5000 and in the International series in 1979. Raced by Tighe up to the end of F5000 in Australia in 1982 and retained by him until 2001. Then sold via Race Car Warehouse (Brighton, England) in early 2002 to Simon Hadfield (Shepshed, Leicestershire) and completely restored. Raced with great success by Hadfield in historic racing both in the UK and in Australia from 2004 to 2008. It has since been raced by guest drivers, including Tony Trimmer at Oulton Park in 2009, Marcus Pye at Oulton Park in 2010 and Ben Anderson at the 2012 Silverstone Classic. Sold in October 2014 to Neil Glover (Ansty, West Sussex).
  3. Lola T430 [HU2] (Peter Gethin): VDS spare car US 1976 (raced by Peter Gethin: 3 races; Warwick Brown: 2 races); VDS for Warwick Brown Australian Internationals 1977 (won at Oran Park and Surfers Paradise, crashed in practice at Sandown Park, second at Adelaide) - Alan Hamilton (Australia): Australian Gold Star 1977 (debut R1 Surfers Paradise 28 Aug 1977); Australian Internationals 1978 (driven by Derek Bell at Oran Park); crashed at Australian GP 1978 and broken in half. All the surviving running gear from the wreck stayed with HU1 through various owners until reaching David Abbott in New Zealand in 2005. Over the next two years David, with Alan Hamilton's agreement, recreated this car and it first ran, with Hamilton driving, at Christchurch in October 2007. Raced by Abbott in the Formula 5000 Tasman Cup Revival at the Australian GP meeting 28 Mar 2009.
  4. Lola T332 [HU39] (Randy Lewis): See full history: Lola T332 HU39.
  5. Lola T330/T332 [HU15] (Bob Lazier): See full history: Lola T330 HU15.
  6. Lola T332 [HU51] (Evan Noyes): See full history: Lola T332 HU51.
  7. Lola T332 [HU50] (John David Briggs): See full history: Lola T332 HU50.
  8. Lola T330 [HU26] (John Benton): See full history: Lola T330 HU26.
  9. Lola T330 [HU2] (Horst Kroll): See full history: Lola T330 HU2.
  10. Rassey 74 (Roger Bighouse): First known appearance was at the Pro F5000 race at Road America in July 1975, where Mark Alderson drove. He was not slowest in practice, and improved each session to record a time 15% slower than pole position, but only marginally slower than some of the other Midwest Division amateurs in a range of one-year-old and two-year-old Lolas. Alderson retired early in Heat 1. Mike Brockman took over the drive at Mid-Ohio a month later, but did not record a practice time and was the first retirement from Heat 1. A year later, Roger Bighouse drove the Rassey at Mid-Ohio and put in a much improved performance, qualifying 15th out of 21 in practice, but still 14% off pole, and finished both heats to be classified 15th overall. The car was not seen again but in 2003, Bruce Reimer got in touch to say he owned the car and was running it in vintage events in southern California.
  11. March "741" [73A/3(B)] (Geoff Davie): See full history: March 73A/3.
  12. Lola T332 [HU33] (Bob Nagel): See full history: Lola T332 HU33.
  13. Lola T332 [HU46] (Vern Schuppan): See full history: Lola T332 HU46.
  14. Lola T332 [HU34] (Alan Jones): See full history: Lola T332 HU34.
  15. Lola T332 [HU29] (Skeeter McKitterick): See full history: Lola T332 HU29.
  16. Lola T430 [HU1] (Teddy Pilette): VDS for Teddy Pilette US 1976 (6 races; best result 3rd at R3 Mosport Park 20 Jun); used as spare car to Brown's HU2 in Australian Internationals 1977 - Alan Hamilton (Australia): used as spare car; maybe Jon Davison's car Australian Gold Star 1977 (R1 Surfers Paradise 28 Aug 1977 only). Built up after Hamilton's crash at the 1978 Australian GP and raced by Alfredo Costanzo: Australian Gold Star 1978; Australian Internationals 1979 (won at Sandown Park and Adelaide); Australian Gold Star 1979 (won at Sandown 9 Sep); Australian Gold Star 1980 (won at Sandown 14 Sep and Winton 26 Oct); Australian GP 1980 (4th) - Bob Minogue: Australian Gold Star 1981, Arco Graphic 1981/82. Minogue still holds several lap records in Australia, including the Sandown International circuit record for F5000, set on 2 Mar 1986 and the Historic F5000 record at Winton on 30 May 1993. Subsequently sold to Gavin Bain, then to Graham Cameron, who raced it at Historic Sandown in 2000. To David Abbott (Christchurch, NZ) by 2002, and raced in the F5000 Tasman Revival regularly from 2003 to 2008, when Abbott moved over to his newly rebuilt HU2. Then raced by Ken Smith in the series from 2008 to 2010.
  17. Lola T332 [HU54] (Danny Ongais): Thought to be the F5000 Lola T332 chassis bought by Interscope Racing for Danny Ongais to replace the car damaged by Ongais at Riverside 1975. Then the T332-spec spare car used by Ongais alongside his new T332C in the US series in 1976. The spare car was "comprehensively written off" in practice at Elkhart Lake but may well have been repaired. This is believed to be the car deposited in the Justice Brothers Museum some time between 1977 and 1980 by Ed O'Brien. It remained in the museum until 2010 when acquired by Ken Smith (Auckland, New Zealand), his chief crew Barry Miller and Phil Richardson. Raced in the 2011/12 F5000 Tasman Revival series but Smith crashed heavily at its second race. Rebuilt with a new monocoque, and raced in the series every season from 2012/13 to 2017/18.

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.

1968 US information has been taken from SCCA results sheets with additional information from Autoweek race reports and from some entry lists. Thanks to David McKinney and Wolfgang Klopfer for providing these. Identifying the classes and model of some entries has proved very difficult so all new information would be welcomed.

1969-1971 US information has been collated by Chris Townsend using Autoweek reports. All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome.

1972-1976 US information was originally collated by Wolfgang Klopfer, converted to database format by Dawn Harrison and checked by Jim Thurman and Don Capps. Wolfgang's main sources are Autoweek and individual SCCA results bulletins but Autosport, Autocourse and Road Racing Annual have also been consulted.

US SCCA Runoffs, Nationals and Regionals results were collated by Wolfgang Klopfer from Autoweek reports. These reports were usually very brief so the information on the majority of races is limited just to the identity of the FA class winner.

Some race programs have also been used for entry lists and other information. My thanks to Richard Coe for the generous contributions from his collection.

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