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South West Division SCCA Formula B 1975

Sandy Shepard re-entered Formula B after four seasons away, and his brand new Lola T360 was by far the quickest car in Texas. The previous season's top two, Charlie Derbes' Brabham BT29 and Norman Johnson's Brabham BT40, made a few appearances, and were joined by Warren Pauge, who had relocated from California to Texas and replaced his old Brabham BT21 with a BT38 during the season.

Although the points table in Sports Car showed Shepard winning the title, Sandy tells us that Charlie Derbes scored points in a late-season National and won the title, with Sandy in second.

The whole Division relied in 1975 on only three racing venues, all on abandoned airfields: Texas Region's new home at the abandoned Greater Southwest International Airport, the older and more primitive track shared by Alamo Region and Houston Region called Six Flags Raceway on what was once Aloe Army Airfield, and Southwest Louisiana Region's annual Cajun Grand Prix at the former Chennault Air Force Base. The SCCA would return to Green Valley Raceway in 1976.

Final standings (as originally reported)

1. Sandy ShepardLola T360Texas18 pts 
2. Charlie Derbes IIIBrabham [BT29]Delta12 pts 
3. Warren "Bud" PaugeBrabham [BT21, BT38]Texas10 pts 
4. Norman JohnsonBrabham BT40Houston9 pts 
5. Peter W NyeMarch [71BM]Lone Star9 pts 
6. Fred PhillipsLola T360SW Louisiana4 pts 

Southwest Division SCCA Nationals in 1975

02 Mar 1975Greater Southwest RacewayTexas Region
23 Mar 1975Aloe FieldHouston Region
25 May 1975Chennault Field (Lake Charles Airfield)SW Louisiana & Houston Regions
29 Jun 1975Greater Southwest RacewayTexas Region
31 Aug 1975Chennault Field (Lake Charles Airfield)SW Louisiana & Houston Regions
14 Sep 1975Greater Southwest RacewayTexas Region

Southwest Division SCCA Regionals in 1975

19 Jan 1975Greater Southwest RacewayTexas Region
02 Feb 1975Aloe FieldHouston Region
16 Feb 1975Aloe FieldAlamo Region
04 Mar 1975Aloe FieldAlamo Region
24 May 1975Chennault Field (Lake Charles Airfield)SW Louisiana & Houston Regions
03 Aug 1975Greater Southwest RacewayTexas Region
30 Aug 1975Chennault Field (Lake Charles Airfield)SW Louisiana & Houston Regions
13 Sep 1975Greater Southwest RacewayTexas Region
16 Nov 1975Aloe FieldHouston Region
07 Dec 1975Greater Southwest RacewayTexas Region

Southwest Division sources

Coverage of SWDiv was much slimmer in Competition Press & Autoweek than for other Divisions. To make the historian's life even more difficult, a couple of the Regions that organised National events do not appear to have had their own newsletters for much of this period: Alamo Region in Texas and Central Louisiana Region in Louisiana. The known Regional publications are:

  • Deltagram (Delta Region)
  • Journal (San Jacinto Region)
  • Lone Star Draft (Lone Star Region) - from 1979
  • Roundup (Texas Region)
  • Spinout (Southwest Louisiana Region) - from 1978
  • Border Bulletin (South Texas Border Region)

For much of the 1960s, the most important publication for this area was Southwest Racing News, published from 1963 onwards by Bill Gay from Dallas and running on until at least 1974. We are exceedingly keen to acquire copies of any of these.

We are also keen to get scans of entry lists from all SCCA Nationals and Regionals in this Division.