Hoosier Grand Prix (Indianapolis Region SCCA National)

Indianapolis Raceway Park, 19 Sep 1976

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Lola T460 [HU5] (Jerry Hansen): New to Jerry Hansen (Long Lake, MN) for SCCA Central Division Formula B during 1976, and first appeared at the Road America June Sprints. Finished second at the 1976 Runoffs to Bobby Brown's March 76B. Sold to Frank Mahaney III (Wayzata, MN) for 1977, but Hansen confusingly acquired a different T460, the ex-Tom Klausler car, to run himself that year, as his 1977 Lola T560 was late to arrive. HU5 was sold to Steve Overton (Belleville, IL), a member of St Louis Region, for 1978 and is probably the car raced by Ernst Schneider (St Louis, MO) in 1979 and 1980. Then unknown until bought from Californian Paul Schafer by Cy Moreland (Trainer, PA) in 1997. Sold to Colin Haste (Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia) in 2003 as a "basket case" with a new tub fabricated by Marc Bahner. Restored to Jerry Hansen's livery.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Chevron B34 [34.76.35?] (Paul Henry): New to Fred Opert Racing and believed to be the car raced by José Dolhem at Trois-Rivières in early September. Then to Paul Henry (Clyde, OH), and believed to be the car he drove in Formula Atlantic specification at Indianapolis Raceway Park two weeks later. Converted to Formula C specification with a Cosworth BDJ engine and raced by Henry at the SCCA Runoffs in October. Retained by Henry for 1977 and used in SCCA Nationals in Formula Atlantic spec. In 1978, Henry ran 76-35 in SCCA Formula A specification, still with the same engine but adding 100 lbs of weight, and won a Regional F5000 series based at Nelson Ledges. Henry retained the car until 2006, when he advertised his three Chevrons. All three cars were acquired by David Gathercole in 2008 and returned to England. Sold to Ken Thorogood, and raced by John Finch in HSCC events in 2013 and 2014. Crashed by Finch at Donington Park in 2015, and rebuilt by Thorogood over the next four years, reappearing when raced by Clive Wood at the Oulton Park Gold Cup in September 2019.
5. Brabham BT40 (Peter Robinson): Peter Robinson (Madison, Wisc) raced a Brabham in Formula B at the Indianapolis Raceway Park SCCA National in September 1975. In 1976, Robinson raced a Brabham BT40 at Brainerd in September 1976, and it seems likely this was the same car. He made further appearances in a FB Brabham in 1976 and 1977, before acquiring a newer Chevron B39 for 1978. Nothing more known.
6. Chevron B24 [24-73-05B] (Ed Kasprowicz): Built for 1974 season. James Dunkel: raced in US 1974, US 1975 (1 race + 1 DNS) - Ed Kaprowicz August 1976: raced in US 1976 (1 race), SCCA FA 1977, SCCA FA 1978 - Steve Bollinger January 1982 - Randy Reso April 1982 - Rupert Bragg-Smith December 1982: raced in Can-Am 1983 (2 races), Can-Am 1984 (2 races), Can-Am 1985 (1 race) - Jack Boxstrom December 1987 - Dick Leppla December 1992: raced at HSR Mid-Ohio July 1994 - Jack Boxstrom (again) of RM Auctions, Inc. (Canada) February 1997 - Albert Way (Oceanview, NJ) Feb 2001 - Philip Jewell (Rushcutters Bay, NSW, Australia) May 2012 - Dean Camm (Melbourne, Australia) December 2016.
7. March 74B (Dick Ralls): Dick Ralls (Lake Bluff, IL) raced a March in Central Division Formula B towards the end of the 1976 season, and again in 1977. He had raced a Formula C Beech up the end of August, so the car may have been an end-of-season purchase. The March has not been identified, but is believed to have been a March 74B. He advertised it, complete with an unusual Bertils BDA in April 1977 as a "1975 March".
8. Lola T240 (Rob Jones): Robert Jones (Tipp City, OH) drove a Lola T240 in SCCA Central Division Formula B races in 1975 and 1976. He advertised the car in Formula magazine in February 1977, when it still had a Hart twin cam engine. He raced it again later in 1977, appearing in a Mid-Ohio Regional in June. Nothing more known.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. March 712M [20?] (Gary Robinson): Bruce Cambern (Dearborn, Michigan) bought an "ex-Pace" March 712M from Fred Opert, but the deal was brokered by Doug Shierson (Adrian, Michigan). Pace had raced several 712Ms as part of Williams' F2 team but this was the only one to move to the US, and a later advert for 712M-20 suggests it was that one. The F2 FVA engine was kept by Opert, and Cambern acquired a tired Vegantune twin cam. He raced the car in Central Division Formula B in 1973, when he scored eight points in SCCA Nationals, and may have had it earlier that that. Cambern recalls that the car was sold to a 'Gary' from Oklahoma, which is very likely to be Gary Robinson (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma) who raced a "March 712" in Southwest Division Formula Atlantic in 1976, 1977 and 1978. Robinson later acqured a March 75B, but exactly when he moved over to the newer car is unclear. Then unknown for ten years. In September 1989, Michael Duncan (Los Altos, CA) advertised a March 712, giving its chassis number as #20 and saying it had three owners from new, suggesting he had acquired it directly from Robinson. It then had a "fresh" Bahner tub and 77B bodywork, but the 1971 bodywork was with it. In 1990 or 1991, so possibly in response to these adverts, Simon Hadfield and Tony Thompson bought a March 712M from the US that still had its original HSCC logbooks. They sold it unrestored to Alain Filhol in France. Subsequent history unknown.
12. McLaren M4B (Dick Drexler): Dick Drexler (Pewaukee, WI) had a red/grey McLaren M4A which he entered in local SCCA Formula B events from 1969 to 1972, usually as #5 or #51. A one-time Regional Executive of the SCCA Milwaukee Region, Richard W Drexler was president of Milwaukee-based oil refiner Lubricant, Inc. Records of him actually starting a race are rare but he was a regular entry at his local Road America and Blackhawk Farms circuits or even as far afield as Brainerd. He returned in 1973 with the car now fitted with a 997cc HRE engine for Formula C, qualifying for the Run-Offs that year. He then bought a 1066cc Cosworth SCA engine (bored out for SCC pistons) from Al Essig, who had used it in a Brabham BT15. Drexler is believed to have used that engine in the McLaren in 1974, 1975 and 1976. The car was acquired in 1987 by Dave Hammers (Sea Cliff, NY), restored, and put on display.
13. 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.
14. Lola T192 [HU19] (Larry McNeil): New to Roger Penske for Mark Donohue to drive in the 1970 US series, starting at Mosport 13 Sep 1970. To Competition Research & Development (Pomona, CA) for Brett Lunger US 1971, then to Larry McNeil US 1972, US 1973 and then in SCCA Nationals from 1974 to 1978. Via Alan Marvin to Gordon Close (Hinsdale, IL) 1979, and used it for 1979 SCCA drivers school and Regionals. To former racer Don O'Sullivan (Perth, Western Australia) in 1983 but not run by him and sold to Bob Harborow (Camberwell, Victoria, Australia) in 1989. Restored and used in historic racing in Australia, including VHRR Historic Sandown and Phillip Island Classic 1999-2013, and the Australian GP support races in 2009 and 2010. Reappeared in October 2015, when run by Kieran Patel (Victoria, Australia) at the Baskerville Historics. More information about Lola T192 HU19
15. 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.

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-62S. Official results from SCCA records at the IMRRC. Formula December 1976 pp42-43.