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SCCA National (Northern New Jersey Region)

Lime Rock, 5 Jul 1975

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
  Steven Woods (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 705
#5 Woods Racing Enterprises (see note 1)
On entry list
  Lyle Heck (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Brabham BT29 [10] - Ford twin cam
#6 Possum Racing (see note 2)
On entry list
  Jeff Gay (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Brabham BT29 - Ford BDA
#7 Falk Racing (see note 3)
On entry list
  Larry Snover (FC) 1-litre Brabham BT21B - Ford Cosworth SCA
#8 (see note 4)
On entry list
  Ron Ignatowski (FC) 1-litre Rondel M1 [201] - BRM P80
#9 (see note 5)
On entry list
  Joe Ostrowski (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 73B [17] - Ford BDA
#18 (see note 6)
On entry list
  David Ahrens (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Titan
#20 A&S Racing
On entry list
  Tony Nawrocki (F5000) 4.7-litre Taures Special - Ford Shelby Cobra 289 ci V8
#21 Superior Sport and Performance
On entry list
  Paul Corazzo (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Brabham BT38
#22 Sherwood Motor Sport (see note 7)
On entry list
  Joe Sposato (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Chevron B29 [29-75-20] - Ford BDA Hart
#28 Spoasto Motoracing Co (see note 8)
On entry list
  Carl Whitney (FC) Brabham BT29 [46]
#33 (see note 9)
On entry list
  Ken Duclos (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Brabham BT40 [17] - Ford BDA
#34 Trojan Tools, Kay-Dee Automotive Engineering
(see note 10)
On entry list
  Mike Rand (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Brabham BT40 [13]
#37 Cheese Shop, Trojan Saw Blades
(see note 11)
On entry list
  Phil Raeder (FC) 1.1-litre PRD (Lotus 59) [59-FB-15] - Renault Gordini
#45 Terri Novotny (see note 12)
On entry list
  Sue Diamond (F5000) 5-litre McRae GM1 [005] - Chevrolet V8
#54 Susan Diamond Racing (see note 13)
On entry list
  Donald Wirth (FC) 1.1-litre Brabham BT38 - Ford BDA Hart
#55 Walter Binger (see note 14)
On entry list
  Ted Wenz (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Brabham BT29 [30] - Ford twin cam
#61 Competition Research (see note 15)
On entry list
  Joseph Freeman (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Brabham BT35
#65 (see note 16)
On entry list
  Peter Brower (FC) 1.1-litre Brabham BT21 - Ford
#71
On entry list
  Diana Black (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 73B
#73 (see note 17)
On entry list
  Eric Kerman (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 75B [73B-7] - Ford BDA
#87 Audiofax Racing (see note 18)
On entry list
  Rick Wellner (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 74B [9?] - Ford BDA
#89 (see note 19)
On entry list
  Gene Stanton (F5000) 5-litre Crosslé 15F [C15F/68/40] - Chevrolet V8
#98 Stanton's Automotive Service
On entry list

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Qualifying
Qualifying information not available

Notes on the cars:

  1. March 705 (Steven Woods): Steven Woods (Farmington, CT) had a March for New England SCCA Formula B events in 1974. He advertised the car from Hartford, CT in Autoweek in August 1975, and the local Pit Talk SCCA newsletter in September 1975. He continued to race the car, but in late 1975 it had a 2-litre Lotus twin-cam engine and was running in Formula A. Steven Woods drove his 2-litre car again in 1976, and advertised it in March 1977 and in May 1978, when it was described as a FB and had a fresh twin cam and Hewland FT200 gearbox.
  2. Brabham BT29 [10] (Lyle Heck): Bill Bowman (Palm Beach, FL) moved from sedan racing to FB for 1969 and bought one of the first Brabham BT29s to arrive in the US. The 43-year-old veteran first raced it at Daytona on 2 Aug 1969 and competed in 10 races in SEDiv but suffered significant reliability problems with the Vegantune engine and only finished third in the Division. He raced the blue-and-orange #79 car at the Run-Offs and also appeared at the Sebring Pro race in December. Bowman then injured his lower back and was unable to continue racing the car. He sold it in the summer of 1970 to Jack Dartigalongue (Jacksonville, FL) who raced it in SCCA Regional and National events for several seasons. In 1973, he sold it to Lyle Heck (Reading, PA) who raced it until October 1975 when it went to Denny Anderson who discarded the chassis and used the corners to build a CSR racer, the Firand. Anderson later sold the Firand in 2000 to Frank Stark (Mechanicburg, PA) who sold it to Bruce Domeck (Louisville, KY) in 2002. Domeck acquired a repaired original BT29 frame with the intention of restoring it as a BT29 but sold the package to David Irwin (Evergreen, CO) and Eric Stange (Evergreen, CO) instead. Irwin was restoring the car in 2010 when he was able to trace the original frame which Anderson had thrown away. He purchased this frame and then cut it into pieces so it could not be used to build a separate car. Irwin bought out Stange's share in the car in 2011, and in 2013 sold the complete car to Larry Wilson in Florida.
  3. Brabham BT29 (Jeff Gay): Charles 'Chuck' Hansen (Tenafly, NJ) raced a yellow #75 Brabham BT29 in Northeast Division Formula B in 1972. Then to Erv Falk (Westport, CT), and raced by James R Modrall (Westport, CT) in Northeast Division Formula B in 1973, entered by Falk Racing. Falk then acquired Hansen's newer March 722 for Modrall in 1974, and the BT29 was entered for Jeff Gay (Norwalk, CT) in NEDiv Formula B in 1974 and 1975. Subsequent history unknown.
  4. Brabham BT21B (Larry Snover): Laurence R. Snover (Hingham, Mass) acquired a Brabham BT21B for Formula C in 1972. After a first outing in a Drivers School at Lime Rock in September 1972, he next raced it a couple of SCCA Nationals about a year later, when the car had a Cosworth SCA engine. Snover had previously raced with Pennsylvania Hillclimb Association. He then raced the car regularly in SCCA Nationals in 1974, 1975 and 1976, during which time he moved to Lansdale, PA. He then bought a newer Brabham BT40 for 1977, and the subsequent history of the BT21B is unknown.
  5. Rondel M1 [201] (Ron Ignatowski): The prototype Rondel was used for testing in late 1972, before the first production cars were built. It was taken to Hockenheim 8 April 1973 as team spare, and to Pau as a spare for Tim Schenken, but not raced. Its history is then unknown until 1974, and it appears it has been acquired by Fred Opert to use as a set of spares. After Mike Rand crashed his car, wrecking the monocoque, 201 was supplied to Ron Ignatowski (Milford, CT), who rebuilt Rand's car on 201's tub with a BRM 1-litre engine and used it in SCCA Formula C. In 1980 it was sold to Randy Zimmer (Buffalo, NY) as the basis for his Can-Am car. He raced it with a Volkswagen engine in 1982 and then with a Mazda rotary engine from 1983 to 1986. Zimmer then entered it for Jim Del Russo in the 1987 CAT championship, and raced it a few more times himself in 1989, 1990 and 1994. Then retained for many years until Zimmer sold it to Seann Burgess (Markdale, Ontario) in 2019.
  6. March 73B [17] (Joe Ostrowski): New to Bruce MacInnes (Sharon, CT) and raced as part of a two-car team with Ron Cohn. Raced in the Players Canadian FB series and in the SCCA Pro FB races at Road America and Watkins Glen. Retained for 1974, and raced in the Players Canadian series again, and in the US GP support race at Watkins Glen in October. Sold to Joe Ostrowski (Trenton, NJ), and raced in NEDiv SCCA Nationals in 1975 and 1976. Presumably the March he raced in NEDiv in 1977 and 1978. Retained by Ostrowski until early 1982 when it was bought by Seann Burgess (Caledon, Ontario). Burgess won the CASC Ontario Formula Atlantic championship and the BARC Drivers Championship in 1982 as well as appearing in 'pro' events. After two more seasons of Atlantic, he converted the car to Can-Am specification at the end of 1985 and then fitted a McLaren M1B body and a Mazda 13B rotary engine for 1986. This "March RX10-B" was raced through the 1986 season. Burgess kept the Can-Am body after the car was retired from racing and sold the March to Richard Smith (Barrie, Ontario) who raced it in 1989 and 1990, still with the Mazda engine, and fitting 1975 bodywork for 1990. He sold it to Chuck Sieber (McLean, VA) who imported it back to the US in January 1991. He raced it in Solo events in 1991, and maybe in one or two more seasons until selling it back to Seann Burgess. Burgess initially restored it to MacInnes' 1973 livery, but at the request of the Villeneuve Museum traded his 73B bodywork to Marchives for a set of 1975 bodywork, and rebuilt the car to resemble Gilles Villeneuve's Skiroule March 75B. By May 2010, it was on display in the Musée Gilles Villeneuve (Berthierville, Quebec).
  7. Brabham BT38 (Paul Corazzo): Paul Corazzo (Wethersfield, CT) raced a Brabham BT38 in Formula B in 1975, primarily in SCCA New England Region events. When he entered the car for the Canon Camera Nationals at Lime Rock in September, it was blue/yellow and numbered #22. This is likely to be the car raced by Carmelo Crisafulli (Great Neck, NY) in NEDiv FB in 1976, as RJ Nelkin recalls buying a FB Brabham from Corazzo and selling it straight away to Crisafulli.
  8. Chevron B29 [29-75-20] (Joe Sposato): New to Joe Sposato (Ridgefield, CT) and used in SCCA Northeast Division Formula B in 1975, entered by Spoasto Motoracing (Waccabuc, NY). Also used in one Players Canadian Formula Atlantic race at Mosport. Retained for 1976, again in NEDiv SCCA Nationals and for two IMSA Formula Atlantic Championship races. To John Higgins (Elizabeth, NJ) for 1977, and raced in NEDiv SCCA events. Presumably the Chevron he raced in 1978. Chris Townsend advises that the car then went to Mike Cronin, and was retained by him until it was sold to Mike Malley (Greenville, NC) in April 2001. Malley crashed the car at Summit Point in 2003, breaking his back, and the car was then rebuilt using "a new tub by Chevron" and sold to Dick Ward (Australia) in 2007 or 2008. Ward raced it in events at Waneroo Park from 2009 to 2014, before selling it to Gwyn Pollard in the UK in 2015. Pollard had the car extensively rebuilt by Vin Malkie, then fitted a Gathercole BDG and raced the car in HSCC racing from 2016 to 2019, prepared by Gerry Wainwright Motorsport.
  9. 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).
  10. 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).
  11. Brabham BT40 [13] (Mike Rand): New for Brian Robertson (Brockville, Ontario) and raced by him in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Batu Tiga in April 1973, but wrecked the following weekend during practice at the Singapore Grand Prix. The car was rebuilt and raced a few times in Canada as part of Fred Opert's team, including by David Fram at Halifax in October 1974, and by Bob Beyea at Trois-Rivières two weeks later. Then sold to Mike Rand (Greenwich, CT) in time for the 1974 SCCA Runoffs, replacing a crashed Rondel M1, after which Rand raced the BT40 in Northeast Division SCCA Formula B in 1975. For 1976, Rand converted the car to Formula C. He bought a Modus for 1977, and the Brabham was sold to Larry Snover (Langsdale, PA) who raced it in FC and then in FB again. He sold it after the 1979 season to someone who planned to add sportscar bodywork for Can-Am. However, this never happened, and the car was offered for sale by Rick Parent (Asheville, NC) in June 2018, still in Snover's livery, noting that "the car has been sitting since 1980".
  12. PRD (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.
  13. McRae GM1 [005] (Sue Diamond): See full history: McRae GM1/005.
  14. Brabham BT38 (Donald Wirth): For 1974, Donald Wirth (Laurel, NY) bought a Brabham BT38 from Fred Opert Racing in 1974 fitted with a new 1100cc Hart BDA engine for Northeast Division Formula C. The car had previously been used in F3 in Europe, so would have been a BT38C. It was sold to Wally Binger (W. Hempstead, NY) for 1975, and raced again in NEDiv FC but after Binger's first daughter was born in September 1977 he sold the car back to Wirth. Wirth crashed the car at Bridgehampton in 1978 or 1979, and the engine bay was badly damaged. The car was sold to someone in the New England area, but was still unrepaired when last seen.
  15. Brabham BT29 [30] (Ted Wenz): After crashing his FC car at Lime Rock in August 1969, Dexter Farley (Waldorf, MD) part-exchanged the wrecked Brabham for a new Brabham BT29 from east coast dealer Joe Grimaldi, who had recently parted from Fred Opert. Farley drove the car in Pro events in 1970 as well as competing in NEDiv FB races. He retained it for 1971 when Tom Reddy raced it a couple of times and advertised it as "ser no 30" in October 1971. He also had it in the early part of 1972 before moving to Washington state and quitting racing. The next period of the car's life is unknown but it has been identified as the BT29 bought around 1974 from Bill Wonder by engine preparer Ted Wenz and raced in 1975. Wonder had been running it for a woman driver, which must mean Diana Black (Kew Gardens, NY) who raced a Brabham BT29 in NEDiv FB in 1973 and 1974. Wenz later sold it to Texas but it re-emerged in the 1980s and was recently owned by Peter McLaughlin (Hannover, NH).
  16. Brabham BT35 (Joseph Freeman): New to Jim Gutfruend (Des Moines, Iowa), and raced by him in 1971 and 1972. To Joe Freeman (Boston, MA) for 1973, and raced by him for three seasons, finishing fourth in North East Division in 1974 and qualifying for the Runoffs. He planned to sell the car at the end of 1975, but in a final practice session at Lime Rock in October 1975 he hit a stalled B Production Camaro and had to be cut out of the wreck. The salvageable parts were sold to his fellow racers.
  17. March 73B (Diana Black): Jas Patterson (Roslyn Heights, NY) raced a March 722 in British Formula Atlantic in early 1973 and after a couple of accidents in the car reappeared for the British GP support race in July in a March 73B. He raced this car for the remainder of the 1973 season, and retained it for 1974, again running in the British Formula Atlantic series. He then raced the 73B at the US Grand Prix Formula B support race in October 1974. Photographic evidence shows that this was the March 73B raced by Diana Black (New York, NY) in minor Formula B races at Lime Rock and Bridgehampton in 1975 and 1976. Later in 1976, she moved to the former Bobby Brown Chevron B34, and the March was sold to David Laemmle (Wiscasset, ME) who continued to race it in SCCA Regionals that year. Laemmle recalls that he sold it to someone from New York state. Subsequent history unknown.
  18. March 75B [73B-7] (Eric Kerman): New to Ron Cohn (Modena, NY), and run as a two-car team with Bruce MacInnes in 1973, entered by DRC Formula Racing Inc in Players Canadian and SCCA Formula B races, running as #56. Retained for 1974, running in the Players Canadian Formula Atlantic series and in the US GP support race at Watkins Glen in October. To Eric Kerman (Hempstead, NY/Glen Cove, NY) for 1975 and updated with new orange bodywork, entered as #81 or #87, and running as a 75B. Raced by Kerman in SCCA Nationals from 1975 to 1979. Later to Oran Bushey (Huntingdon, NY) and raced until 1982. Subsequent history unknown, but this is a leading candidate for the car used by Cory Mayo with a Chevrolet V6 engine in the RCCA series in the 1980s. .
  19. March 74B [9?] (Rick Wellner): John Mortensen (New York, NY) and Rick Wellner (New York, NY) shared a blue March 74B in SCCA Nationals and Regionals in 1975. The car was entered by Karaba Racing Enterprises as a March 742B, indicating a 74B that had been updated to 742 specification. This was previously thought to have been the ex-Bobby Brown 74B, but a Fred Opert stock list in November 1975 said that the ex-Brown car had not been raced since June 1974. This car may have been traded to Opert when Mortensen bought a new March 76B for 1976.

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

SCCA Sanction 75-N-36S. Entry List kindly provided by Gordon Medenica.