Spring Nationals (New England Region SCCA National)

Thompson Speedway, 27 May 1973

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. 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.
2. 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).
3. March 71BM [15] (Charles T. Gibson): New to US dealer Joe Grimaldi and supplied in red bodywork. New to Mike Rand (Greenwich, CT) in time for the SCCA Runoffs, where he crashed in practice. Raced in Pro FB and SCCA Nationals in 1972. Sold to Charlie Gibson (Poughkeepsie, NY) for 1973, and again raced in Pro FB and in SCCA Nationals. Retained again for 1974, when it was run in the Canadian series in 73B specification. Also raced more rarely in 1975, before Gibson advertised it in early 1976. According to current owner Simon Perkins, it was sold for 1976 to "Eric Schneider who only did a few events and then neglected the car when he went off to college". In 1989, Charlie Gibson reacquired the car and resold it to Chris Smith, who had it refurbished by Derek Matthews at Ark Racing in 1989/1990. After racing it occasionally, Smith sold it to Perkins (North Newington, Oxfordshire) who did a few US Vintage races in 2002 and 2003 before bringing the car back to the UK in 2004. He has since raced it in HSCC and European F2 races.
4. 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.
5. March 722 Falconer (Charles "Chuck" Hansen): Charles Hansen (Tenafly, NJ) raced a yellow #75 March 722 with Falconer bodywork at a few SCCA Northeast Division Nationals and in the Pro races at Sanair and Trois-Rivières in 1973. He ended the season with 13 points in NEDiv. The 722 was then sold to Jim Modrall (Westport, CT), who had been driving Hansen's previous Brabham BT29 for Erv Falk (Westport, CT) in 1973. Modrall raced the March in a New England Region SCCA Regional at Lime Rock in April 1974, finishing second, and was also entered in it by Falk Racing Inc for the Players Canadian Formula Atlantic race at Mosport in July. After Modrall left the team, the car was also used in practice sessions at Lime Rock by Jeff Gay (Norwalk, CT), but he preferred to race his Brabham BT29. Subsequent history unknown.
6. Brabham BT29 [46] (Carl Whitney): Allan Lader had raced as part of the Fred Opert team during the latter half of 1970 but in 1971 he returned to running his own car with Pacifico Inc backing. He again raced a Brabham BT29, his third, and continued his run of excellent results by winning the opening two rounds of the Pro series from pole. At the third round, at Mexico City, he crashed heavily and the BT29 was wrecked. Lader quickly bought a new Brabham BT35 and the wrecked BT29 frame went via Opert to Carl Whitney and some components from it were salvaged to be used on the Formula C BT29 that he built up for the 1972 season. The remains of the wreck were sold (with another wreck) to Ken Duclos to help keep his FB BT29 running. Marty Handshy (Ridgefield, CT) then bought both sets of remains from Duclos. It is unclear how this car was identified as BT29-46 but a reproduction plate was created at the time of the restoration when the frame was reconstructed by Lime Rock Motors in 1999. He retained the car until some time between 2004 and 2007 when it was sold to Shelby Mershon (Springfield OH).
7. March 705 [2] (William Prout Jr): New to Bill Prout (Ivoryton, CT) and raced in Formula B in 1970. At Bryar in October, Prout became the first person to win a race in North America in a March. For 1971, Prout repainted the car black, but the first real changes were made to it in 1973, when he updated it to 1973 bodywork. In a long career with the car, Prout set the absolute course record at the 1.8 mile course at Pocono in 1971, and set the FA lap record at Bridgehampton in 1974. By the end of his five seasons with the car, it had 73B bodywork with a 1974 F2-style nose, but with the nose cut to accommodate a front radiator, and large homemade sidepods. Sold to Jack Marsella who raced the unaltered "705/41" in a EMRA Formula B race at Bridgehampton in September 1975, and in a New England Region SCCA Regional at Bryar the following May. Subsequent history unknown but eventually the car came into the hands of Charlie Grasso. By the time he died, around 2020, the car had sports car bodywork, suggesting it was used in C Sports Racing, but exactly how it had been used remains unknown. In December 2021, it was sold to Jeremy Ghent (Lancaster, South Carolina). It was identified from its Arch Motors number, but work continues to determine its full history.
8. Brabham BT40 (Jonathan Farkas): Jonathan Farkas (New York, NY) drove a Brabham BT40 in SCCA Regionals and Nationals in 1973. He had driven a BT38 in 1972 and would move to Formula C with a Brabham BT41 for 1973, and it is likely that the BT40 was new via Fred Opert and then traded back to Opert for the BT41. Subsequent history unknown.
9. Lotus 59 [59-FB-15] (Phil Raeder): In 1970, John F. Sirmons (Weston, CT) and Vincent Dileo (Greenwich, CT) shared a Lotus 59C, Sirmons driving it in rounds of the SCCA Continental Championship, and Dileo competing in SCCA Nationals and in Area 1 Regional Championship races. This is almost certainly the car used by Ian Ashley to win a libre race at Brands Hatch in November 1969, as the car was said to be for an American customer, and Sirmons' car was later said to be a former Ashley car. Dileo won two Area 1 races at Thompson Raceway in July and August, but Sirmons had little success in Pro events. Sirmons and Dileo acquired a Lola T240 for 1971, and the Lotus is likely to have gone to Lola agent Carl Haas in trade. The car is unknown in 1971, but may have remained in stock with Carl Haas, because at some point in 1972 it was acquired from Haas by Phil Raeder (Delmar, NY), his Formula C Lotus 35 being traded in the other direction. Raeder fitted a Renault Alpine Gordini engine and ran the car in Formula C, qualifying for the Runoffs in 1973 where he finished in an impressive fourth place. He was entered during this time by Terri Novotny. Raeder then updated the car with Lotus 69 bodywork and other modifications and ran it as the PRD in 1974 and 1975, still with its Gordini engine. Pearce Raeder recals that the car was then sold to Walter Nelson (No. Haledon, NY/Great Neck, NY). Nelson raced a Lotus in Northeast Division Formula C in 1976, 1977 and 1978. Photographs show that it had Lotus 69 bodywork but Lotus 59 front suspension mounts, consistent with it being the ex-Raeder car. The car was later acquired by Chuck Sieber (McLean, VA), who used it in Solo II events from 1981 to 1989. He had bought the car less engine, and used a 1760 Ford twin cam, followed by an 1840cc BDA. Sieber sold the car to Ian Giles (Didcot, Oxfordshire) at the end of 1990. Its history over the next six years is unknown, but by 1996 it had been acquired by Peter Studer in Switzerland, and he restored it to F2 specification, using the Gold Leaf Team Lotus livery that was used in Formula 3. The car was still owned by Studer when he died in May 2018.
10. March 73B [4] (Warren Ogden): New to Warren Ogden III (North Andover, MA) and raced in SCCA Nationals in 1973 and 1974. He competed in six events in 1973, but failed to start his first race at VIR in April after a crash in practice. He then retired from his next three Nationals due to engine problems and his only finishes were a Thompson Regional in August and the Bryar National in September. He then loaned the car to Skip Barber for the Pro Colombo Yogurt Formula B race at Watkins Glen in October, where he finished third. The car was rebuilt and updated for the 1974 season by Bob Fletcher's Fast Co. in Marblehead, MA, with a fuel-injected Hart engine, F2 wing, Konis, and F5000 front brakes. It was run in 1974 by Fletcher with help from Norm Marx and Chris Wallach. Ogden's season again started badly with engine failure in practice at Palm Beach in February. During the engine rebuild, the car was repainted from its original red to blue. The engine again failed at the Bridgehampton National in May, but he then won his first race in the car at a Thompson Regional in July. He was classified as a finisher in his four remaining races that season, scoring his first National point for sixth place at Bryar in September. Fletcher alerted Bobby Reen (Springfield, MA) when the car was for sale in January 1975, and Reen acquired the car. He ran it in four SCCA Nationals in 1975, and a few Regionals, winning all of the Regionals. He sold it to Bill Marlowe (Martinsville, VA) who first raced it in the North Carolina Region SCCA Regional at Charlotte in late August 1976, winning easily against a field of Formula Fords. Marlowe bought a Chevron B34 for 1977, and sold the March to Chuck Coleman (Jacksonville, Arkansas) in 1977, who sold it on in 1978 when he upgraded to a newer March 75B. Subsequent history unknown.
11. March 732 [73B-3] (Mike Rand): New to Mike Rand (Riverside, CT/Greenwich, CT/Amherst, Mass) and raced in SCCA Nationals, but also taking in Pro races at Sanair and Watkins Glen. To Fred Opert in part-exchange for a Rondel and traded to Joe Grimaldi, who sold it to E. Jay Erickson (Stevens Point, WI) in July 1974. Raced by Erickson at Blackhawk Farms in September 1974 and at Watkins Glen three weeks later. He fitted it with a BDA engine for 1975 and raced it in Canadian Formula Atlantic. Advertised by Erickson in late 1975 and sold to Bill Nees (Lenexa, Kansas) in May 1976. Nees crashed at Mid-America Raceway in just a few weeks after acquiring the car and the tub was returned to England for repairs. He then drove it three times in Midwest Division SCCA Regionals and Nationals in 1977, and at Hallett in April 1978. The car's SCCA logbook records that it was sold to "John Iiams" in January 1981, but it was Roger Riekenberg that raced the car in 1981, appearing four times until an engine failure in August 1981. It was sold in September 1981 to Wayne Horst (Wichita, KS), who raced it three times in 1982. Then to Mike Hays in August 1983 who did not race it, and then in August 1986 to Derek Fox, who used it for a Drivers School and one other event in 1987. Brian Haupt (Kansas City, MO) bought the car in March 1988 and used it in SCCA C Sports Racing in 1988, 1989 and 1990, qualifying for the Runoffs in all three seasons. He then returned the car to Formula Atlantic specification and raced it in 1991 and 1993. During 2023, Haupt was restoring and upgrading the car.

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.

Individual sources for this event

Sports Car, Pit Talk