SCCA National (New England Region)

Bryar Motorsport Park, 29 May 1977

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Chevron B39 [39-77-05] (Ken Duclos): New to Ken Duclos (Boxboro, MA) and raced in Northeast Division SCCA Nationals in 1977. Sold to Gaston Andrey (Framingham, MA) for SCCA Nationals in 1978, and advertised by Andrey in August 1981. According to a later history of the car, it was acquired by Rick Stone in the 1980s, and then acquired by Tim Gaffey who sold it to Cy Moreland (Trainer, PA). It was bought from Moreland in 2002 as a pile of parts by Lee Chapman and restored. Sold by Chapman in December 2010 to Chris Locke (San Francisco, CA), who raced the "ex-Ken Duclos" Chevron B39 in US historic racing in 2011 and 2012, and at the Monterey Historics in 2013. Locke still had the car in 2014, when it was driven by Lyn St James. In late 2014 or early 2015, the car was sold to Robert Gray Gregory (Houston TX), and was raced during his ownership by Gregory and by Ethan Shippert. Acquired from Gregory by John Taphorn (Kingwood, TX) in 2024 following a full restoration by J & L Fabricating.
2. Chevron B34 [34-76-18] (Rick Bell): To Rick Bell (Lakeville, CT) and used in Northeast Division Formula B, entered by Bell Racing. Also raced in two Pro races in Canada in July and August. Retained for 1977 again for NEDiv FB, but also taking in two Pro races at Trois-Rivières and Québec City. Subsequent history unknown.
3. Chevron B29 [29-75-20] (John Higgins): 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.
4. Lotus 69 (Robert Silvestro): An "ex-Jacques Couture" Lotus 69 bought from Joe Grimaldi by Victor Gagliano (Floral Park, NY) and Bob Silvestro (Patterson, NY). They raced the car in SCCA Northeast Division Formula B and then Formula Atlantic from 1974 to 1979, appearing at Bridgehampton, Lime Rock and Watkins Glen. The car was often entered by VAS Enterprises, Gagliano's company, which had previously been the entrant of his Formula C March 703, or by Continental Automotive. Silvestro sold the car to Keith Park (San Diego, CA) in about 1993, and later heard that Park had sold it to Dave Bean (San Andreas, CA). The car was still owned by Bean when he died in 2017.
5. "Chevron" (Brabham BT21A) [4] (John Sorbello): Sold new to Lou Sell (Fullerton, CA) and first seen in the Pro Formula B race at War Bonnet in late June where Sell qualified on pole and finished second. Then raced in SCCA Regionals and occasional Nationals in California, and in the pro races at Mont-Tremblant and Lake Tahoe at the end of the season. Sold to Sell's backer Dick Smothers (Woodland Hills, CA) for 1968, although Sell also raced it in one SoPac National early that year. To Fred Opert late 1968 in part-exchange for a new Chevron and from him on to Ken Duclos (Boxboro, MA) for 1969. Duclos believes he returned it to Opert at the end of 1969 when he acquired his new BT29 and it next turns up in 1971 with John Sorbello (Lafayette, MA) who widened the cockpit section into a two-seater and added a Chevron B16 body. However, it is possible that the dates of this are wrong and that Bob Isnor (Newton, MA) raced it as an FB before it went to Sorbello. Later to John Kauffman who thought he had bought a Chevron and then to Joe Maria (White Plains, NY) in the early 1990s. It was restored by David Irwin to BT21A spec and was still with Maria in 2007. To Bob Lima (Meadowbrook, PA) by October 2009 and later repainted in Sell's colours.
6. Brabham BT29 [25] (Larry Yeager): This is believed to be the blue #74 Brabham BT29 raced by Tim Schenken at Sebring on 28 December 1969. Then to Harry Reynolds (Pottstown, PA) and fitted with 1100cc Cosworth SCC for SCCA Formula C. A regular FC class winner in SCCA Nationals in 1970, but retired from the SCCA Runoffs. Retained for 1971, and again a regular class winner in SCCA Nationals, and this time won the FC class in the combined FB/FC race at the SCCA Runoffs. He continued to dominate FC, winning the FC race at the 1972 SCCA Runoffs, and finishing second in 1973, and third after an engine problem in 1974. After the 1974 SCCA Runoffs, he announced that it was his last race. The subsequent history of the Brabham is unknown, but it is understood to be the BT29 raced by Larry Yeager (Reading, PA) in FC in 1977 and 1978. By 1982, the car had been acquired by Gary Dausch (Indianapolis, IN), who sold it to James King (Belleville, IL) in 1984. King raced the car regularly in US historic racing, initially with a Cosworth BDA engine. After being parked for a number of years, King had it rebuilt to Formula B specification, appearing for the first time in this specification at Road America in May 2008. The car was then rebuilt in 2010 by John Rogers Racing using a new frame fabricated by J&L Fabricating, and King only used it rarely after that. It was sold by King via Mark Leonard of Grand Prix Classics (La Jolla, CA) in March 2013 to Peter McLaughlin (New Hampshire). Sold to Grant Perryman (Australia) in 2017, and then sold again from Perryman to Robert Hancock (Erie, CO) in December 2017.
7. March 77B [5] (Joe Sposato): New to Joe Sposato and used in SCCA Nationals in 1977. Retained for Pro Formula Atlantic for first half of 1978, then sold to Charles Crotts (High Point, NC) for remainder of 1978. Believed to be the car retained by Crotts and run in SCCA events up to 1985.
8. Chevron B29 [29-75-21] (Lyle Heck): New to Bobby Brown (Hicksville, NY) who took delivery in England. Raced by David Morgan in two early British Formula Atlantic races, entered by Roger Chalk Racing, before being shipped to the US. Raced by Brown in the Players Canadian Formula Atlantic series in 1975, entered by B&B Racing. Unseen in early 1976, then sold to Lyle Heck (Reading, PA) and raced in NEDiv SCCA Nationals. Retained by Heck for 1977 and 1978, and presumably the Chevron he raced at Summit Point in May 1979. Then to Mike Rand (Amherst, Massachusetts) for NEDiv SCCA events in 1979, then to Nolan 'Lanny' Drevitch (Milton, MA) and Nick Leonard. Devitch was a member of the SCCA's New England Region, and scored one point in SCCA Nationals in 1980 in this car. It was then advertised by Leonard (Pipe Creek, TX) in early 1982, noting that the car was in New York. Then to Chris Perrotti (New Rochelle, NY), and fitted with a Chevrolet V6 engine for the RCCA Formula American class, but Perrotti found he had litle competition. By 1988, the car was with Tony Carpanzano (New Milford, CT), who restored it to Atlantic specification. Sold to Paul Lasko (Las Vegas, NV) in 2006.
9. Brabham BT29 [46] (Paul Thomas): 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 Dave Irwin's Lime Rock Motors in 1999. He retained the car until some time between 2004 and 2005 when it was sold by Handshy to Shelby Mershon (Springfield, OH), who raced it at the Vintage GT Challenge at Road America in 2005. Sold by Dan Mershon to Joel Quadracci (Hartland, WI/Sussex, WI), who raced it in historic racing from 2009 onwards.
10. Bobsy SR6 [18] (Fred Knoll): New to Fred Knoll and fitted with a 1600cc pushrod Ford engine for C Sports Racing. Knoll raced it in SCCA Northeast Division events from 1973 onwards, qualifying for the Runoffs every year from 1975 to 1979. He continued to race it up to 1986, then in historic events from 1987 onwards. It was sold to Bill Lockwood in 1998, then to Mike Crumay in 2005, then to Mike Rankin (Mundelein, IL), who had it rebuilt by Jerry Mong. It was later sold to Ward Witkowski in 2016, then to Tom Quaranto (Denver, CO) in 2023.
11. 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.
12. March 74B/75B [3] (Peter Dodge): Believed to be the Ecurie Canada entry for Gilles Villeneuve (Berthierville, Quebec, Canada) at the opening race of the Players Canadian Formula Atlantic season with Schweppes sponsorship. Villeneuve appears to have then moved to a newer car, and 74B/3 was used by Chuck Hansen (Tenafly, NJ) at Edmonton and Sanair. It then returned to March importer Joe Grimaldi, and was raced as a Race Shop entry by Dale Lang at Road America in late August, before being updated to the latest F2 specification for George Follmer to drive as an Ecurie Canada entry at Trois-Rivières. Raced by Bertil Roos at Watkins Glen in October, then hired by Grimaldi to Eric Kerman for the SCCA Runoffs. Sold by Grimaldi to Tom Pumpelly and run for him by Cavanaugh Racing (Ambler, PA) in early 1975. Pumpelly then moved to Doug Shierson Racing but exactly and apparently updated to 75B specification. Advertised the car in January 1976 as a "74-75B", "ex-Follmer/Roos", and sold to Peter Dodge (New York, NY/Stamford, CT), for SCCA Nationals and IMSA Formula Atlantic in 1976. Sold to Omer Norton (Vernon, CT), who owned it from 1978 to 1983, and then to Ed Capullo (Norwich, CT), who crashed it in a test session at Lime Rock in 1984 and sold it off for parts. Subsequent history 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 77-N-21S. Official results kindly provided by New England Region archivist Donna Stevens.