SCCA National (Northeastern Michigan & Detroit Regions)

Grattan Raceway, 16 May 1976

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT38 [15?] (Chuck Dietrich): New for Motul Rondel Racing at Hockenheim in mid-April 1972, and raced all season by Bob Wolleck. Raced once by Carlos Reutemann at Enna. Sold to Bill O'Connor (Highland Park, IL) for Formula B for 1973. To Chuck Dietrich (Sandusky, OH) for 1974, then fitted with a Cosworth BDA for 1975, 1976 and 1977. He continued to race it in 1978, but at the age of 53 was appearing less often. This was presumably the Brabham he drove in 1979, but by 1980 he had replaced it with a Lola T460. The subsequent history of the Brabham is unknown.
2. Chevron B27 [27-74-03] (Keith Feldott): New to Doug Shierson Racing via Fred Opert for Chip Mead (Dayton, OH) to race in Formula Atlantic, initially in the opening races of the British series, then in North America. The car was blue and ran in North America as #23. Sold to Keith Feldott (LaGrange, IL) and raced in SCCA Central Division Formula B in 1975, scoring 11 points to finish ninth in the division. Retained for 1976, when Feldott finished second at Mid-America Raceway and at Grattan Raceway in May, and again at Grattan in July to finish the season on 37 points, tied for second in the division, and racing at the Runoffs. Retained again for 1977, but seen more rarely as Feldott moved into Trans-Am. Subsequent history unknown.
3. Lola T360 [HU3] (John Kowalski): Sold via North American agent Carl Haas to Bill O'Connor (Highland Park, IL) and run for him by Traylor Engineering in the Canadian Formula Atlantic series in 1974. O'Connor won the US GP support race in this car in October 1974. Retained for 1975, when it was used in the Canadian series and at least once in SCCA Nationals, entered by United Racing Ltd. To John Kowalski (Berea, OH), who won Central Division Formula B in 1976 in the car, qualifying for the Runoffs. Kowalski only scored nine points in a Lola in Central Division FB in 1977. Subsequent history unknown.
4. March 722 (Tom Cooney): Thomas A. Cooney (Indianapolis, IN) raced a March 722 in Central Division SCCA Nationals in 1974. He had a delayed start to the season after the car was damaged in a fire in his garage in May, but debuted at Road America in June, the car having "arisen from the ashes of his garage" according to the Indianapolis Region newsletter. He scored a single point that season for his result in the Detroit National at Grattan Raceway. Cooney retained the car for 1975, rising to 11th place in the Divisional standings with 11 points, and kept it again for 1976, but the now ageing car only scored a single point. He acquired a newer Chevron B27 for 1977, and the subsequent history of the March is unknown.
5. Brabham BT38B [18] (Steve Fossett): Thomas M. Shelton (Plantation, FL/Fort Launderdale, FL) raced a red-and-white Brabham BT38B in South-East Division FB in 1972. The car arrived relatively late in the season and was still being described as immaculate and new at the Palm Beach National in September. Tom recalls that the engine broke at the Road America Pro race in August 1973, and he diverted to Chicago on his way home and traded the car to Carl Haas. Haas sold it to Mikeal Bystrom Jr (Minneapolis, MN), who had previously raced a Brabham BT18 in FC, and still recalls the chassis number of the BT38B as being BT38B/18. He broke the Hart twin cam at his first race and fitted a BDA instead, racing it in US Pro races in 1974 and then in the Canadian series in 1975. He sold it to Steve Fossett (Chicago, IL), then a commodities trader in Chicago, but later more famous for his ballooning exploits. Fossett raced it in SCCA Formula Atlantic in 1977.
6. Lola T142 (William Schmitt): Former snowmobile racer Gerald 'Jerry' Geishart (Wisconsin Rapids, WI) bought a Lola T142 from "a Firestone engineer in Ohio" in April 1970. He raced the red #98 Lola T142 in SCCA Nationals, Midwest Council events and in some Pro races in 1970. He scored 25 points in CenDiv Formula A, narrowly losing the title to McKee driver Kurt Reinold. He appeared again in 1971 but only scored four points in Nationals and was a non-starter at the Elkhart Lake Pro race in July. To Barry Michael (Coldwater, MI) in 1971, Bill Schmitt (Frankenmuth, MI) in late 1974 or 1975, then Ed Murray (Farmington, MI) 1976. To Dino Crescentini (Rochester Hills, Michigan) early 1980 and stored the car in a museum in San Marion for about ten years. Restored by RM Motorsports (Wixom, MI) in 1996 then sold to Mead Korwin (Shelby Township, MI) in 2001.
7. March 75B (Dan Carmichael): Dan Carmichael (Columbus, OH), a 56-year-old veteran of SCCA racing, raced a #74 March 75B in SCCA Central Division Formula Atlantic in 1976. The car was in very similar livery to the Interscope March 75B: black with an orange stripe. He retained the car for 1977, scoring 14 points in the Division, although his car was described at the end of that season as a "Mascot". John Gloviak used this car at the 1977 Runoffs, but Gloviak returned to his Brabham BT35 in 1978, so may have just hired the March for this one event. For 1979, Carmichael acquired a brand new March 79B, but it is not clear whether he had also bought a newer car for 1978. Carmichael, who was 60 when the 1979 season started, was an architect from Columbus and had focused on his golf in 1978, winning the Ohio Senior Golf Championship, so may not have raced that season. The subsequent history of the 75B is unproven, but if this was the ex-Interscope car, then it went to Steve Bonney in late 1977 or early 1978.

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 76-N-22S. Official practice times, results and entry list from SCCA records at the IMRRC.