SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B/C Race

Seattle, 6 Jul 1969

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT18 (Mike Eyerly): Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) ran a red Brabham BT18 with 1.1-litre Cosworth SCC engine in Formula C in 1967, winning seven Nationals and setting lap records right down the east coast. He advertised the car in Autoweek on 18 November 1967 as a late 1966 BT18 chassis with 140bhp Cosworth SCC engine, and it then went to Fred Opert, presumably traded on Gubelmann's new BT23F. From Opert it was sold to Mike Eyerly (Salem, OR) and raced in the Pacific northwest, winning several Regional SCCA events. He kept the orange BT18 when he moved into the SCCA national Formula B series in 1969 and completely dominated the series, winning six of the first nine races and finishing second in another two. Advertised in October 1969. Subsequent history unknown.
2. Brabham BT21C [2?] (William Monson): Nick Reynolds (Sausalito, CA), a musician with folk group "The Kingston Trio", bought a new Brabham BT21C for 1968 which he used in SCCA Nationals, finishing second in NorPac Division and fifth at the ARRC. He sold the car to Dr William T Monson (Kent, WA) for 1969, and Monson went one better, taking the red BT21C to the SCCA Northern Pacific Division title and placing well in the 'Pro' series when it visited his home town. It was then sold to Gary Gove (Tacoma, WA) who raced it locally in 1970 and 1971. Gary cannot recall who he sold it to but recalls that it was an early car, either BT21C/2 or BT21C/3.
3. Brabham BT21C [12] (Charlie Adams): New to Charles W. Adams (Springfield, IL, but then living in Manhattan Beach, CA) via Jim Russell, who then had a racing school at Willow Springs. Charlie Adams was a regular in Formula B with this car from mid-1968 to 1971, his car being green, and entered as #64. Adams won the Southern Pacific Division FB title in 1969 but did not score any points in 1970 and his appearances in the Pro series ceased after the Laguna Seca race in June. In 1971, he scored just two points in the SPDiv championship, for fifth place at the Riverside National in July, and only appeared at one Pro race, the Edmonton round in August. Subsequent history unknown, but the BT21C was bought in the US by Australian Gary Simkin who was working there, and returned with him to Australia in March 1983. It was sold to George Goodare (Sydney, NSW), rebuilt and used in historic racing. It was owned by Peter Addison (Sydney, NSW) then sold to Howard Blight (Sydney, NSW) 1989. and then via Rob Bailey (Victoria) 1998 to Nereo Dizane (Sydney, NSW) December 1998. Dizane died in 2004, aged only 53, but his collection of cars has been kept together by his wife Anna Dizane (Wantirna, Victoria).
4. Brabham BT21 (Michael Brodie): Mike Brodie (Mill Valley, CA) ran a red Brabham BT21 in a handful of 'Pro' FB races in 1969. He had acquired the car directly from Brabham, and recalls that it was a BT21, not a BT21A or BT21C. It replaced a Lotus 35 that he had raced in 1968. Later that season, he took the car to the east coast, where it was raced by Jon Woodner at Road America and Lime Rock. Mike cannot recall who he sold it to. Subsequent history unknown.
5. Lola T62 [SL62/8] (Robert J. Schmidt): John Surtees' 1966 F2 car according to Lola records, and raced only at Karlskoga in August 1966. To Robs Lamplough (London) at the end of 1966 and raced in 1967 F2 and libre, when it was described as having been updated to T63 specification. Then to John L'Amie in Ireland for 1600cc class racing. Sold to the US in Sep 1968, and almost certain to be the car imported by Pierre Philips of Pierre's Motor Racing (Portland, OR) and raced by Robert Schmidt (Portland, OR) for Formula B in 1969. From Schmidt it was sold to Sans Thompson (Banks, OR), who in turn sold it to Robert 'Bob' Tracy (Hillsboro, OR), who raced it in local Formula B in 1973. While owned by Tracy, the Lola was crashed by David E.B. 'Deb' Ward in 1974 at a driving school at Kent. Many years later, it was acquired by Lawrence Hayes, still in Tracy's livery, and sold by him via Rob Shanahan in February 2012 back to Robs Lamplough.
6. Chevron (Warren Flickinger): Warren A. Flickinger II (Golden, CO) raced a Chevron in Formula B in 1969. Flickinger was born in April 1947 and was described in 1969 as a pre-med student and karate instructor from Denver. His car was usually entered as #5, was described as yellow/coral and had Vegantune and later HRE engines. The identity of the car remains a mystery but it is most likely to have been an ex-F3 B9 as all the B14s and B15s can be identified at this point and the B7 appears to have run in FC during the time, not FB. He raced this car until a Regional race at Texas International Speedway in July 1970 when he "flipped his car a number of times". He then acquired a Winkelmann WDB2. Flickinger, later of Denver, CO, went on to race a Chevron B18 in FB in 1971 and then a F5000 Lola T300 for two seasons. Nothing more is known of his 1969/70 Chevron and it is quite possible that it was destroyed in the accident.
7. Brabham BT21C (Gerald Crow): Gerald Crow (Denver, CO) appeared in the 1969 US FB season in a Brabham, identified by the Brainerd entry list as a BT21C-Ford. The car was described at Seattle in July as green/yellow. Fred Opert Racing mentioned his debut in this car at Wentzville (Mid-America Raceway) at the end of March 1969 and said that it was a BT21C with Vegantune engine. Nothing more known.
8. Titan Mk3 (Earl Jones): Earl Jones (Perkin, IL or Hermosa Beach, CA) raced a yellow-and-blue Titan in Formula B through 1969. He raced as #81 at Seattle and Road America in July, which had been Ed Leslie's number in the first four races, suggesting Jones took over Leslie's car when the series moved away from the west coast. The results for the opening round are ambiguous. It is possible that Jones took over Leslie's car for the race, and that Leslie's retirement after zero laps actually undicates that he was a non-starter. Jones then raced as #75 for the six remaining races of the season. In SCCA Nationals, Jones raced a Formula Ford Titan. Nothing more known.
9. Brabham BT14 [FL-3-65] (Bruce Redding): This BT14 was bought new by John Mitchell and raced in northern English libre racing in 1965 and 1966. It was missing for most of 1967, but was sold late that year to Steve Pfeiffer (San Francisco, CA) and equipped with a BRM Phase 4 twin-cam for 1968 Formula B racing, now described as a BT21. It was sold to Bruce Redding (Monterey, CA) for 1969 but crashed early in the season and extensively rebuilt. Redding thereafter entered it in 1969 and 1970 as a Ford Special, Gravelle Special or even as a Honda Special. It was later sold to Steve Jizmagian (San Francisco, CA) in early 1971 and crashed again, then to Tom Gouldstone (Santa Rosa, CA/Napa, CA) in November 1972 and crashed again - each time at Laguna Seca. By 1975, Gouldstone was describing it as a BT18/21. It was sold to Dick McGovern in 1978. It was retained by McGovern until 1994 when sold to George Goodare (Sydney, NSW, Australia) and restored. Later to Brian Wilson in September 2000 then to John Gale in November 2001. Sold to Richard Longes late 2008 and raced in 2009 Tasman Revival races.
10. Brabham BT21A (Ray France): Terry Petmecky (Austin, TX) raced a Lotus 22 in SWDiv Formula B in 1967 but met with little success against the dominant Gus Hutchison team of Lotus 41Cs. Right at the end of the year he took delivery of a Brabham BT21A and finished second in the National at Selma in this car. In 1968 he took the Brabham to Bob Winkelmann but was forced to give up racing due to eyesight problems. F1 driver Alan Rees was holidaying in the Las Vegas area in early 1968 when he raced the car for Winkelmann in the SCCA National at Stardust Raceway. Winkelmann also entered it for Tony Settember at the Tuscon National in April 1968 and it is likely to be the car in which Settember scored 6 points in SoPac FB in 1968. Winkelmann advertised the car in CP&A 23 Mar 1968 as a "Winkelmann-Brabham BT21" with Winkspeed engine. To Ray France (Redondo Beach, CA), and raced during 1968 and 1969, entered as #2 by Centaur Racing Associates. This may have become the basis of the blue-and-gold #29 "Centaur Brabham" raced by France in 1970.
11. Brabham BT21 (Jon Milledge): Jon Milledge (Mountain View, CA) visited England to buy a Brabham for 1968. Having found that factory prices were outside his budget, he was persuaded by Frank Williams to buy a BT21 development car from MRD which Williams then had modified by Arch Motors and built up to full BT21C specification. He focused on the FRA 'Pro' series in 1968, winning at Vaca Valley and Santa Ana, and also won two NorPac Nationals, beating eventual champion Mike Eyerly. He continued his battle with Eyerly in the Pro series in 1969, beating him at Riverside and finishing second at Laguna Seca and Sears Point. The BT21/21C was sold to Mike Hansen (Belmont, CA) for 1970 who used it to win the 1970 Northern Pacific Division Formula B class. The car was then blue-and-white and entered at #40 as a BT21C. He swapped to a new Brabham BT35 for 1971 and retained his title. This is presumably the "ex-Hansen" "BT21/29" advertised by Hayes Racing Equipment (Santa Ana, CA) in March 1971. Subsequent history unknown.
12. Lotus 44 [44-F-3?] (Peter Darr): To Ron Harris Team Lotus (RHTL) for 1966 and first raced by Mike Spence at Reims in July. It then became Jim Clark's regular car for the rest of the season, finishing second at Montlhéry in September but it was not competitive against the Brabham BT18s. Advertised in December 1966 and probably the car sold to the US. John Hick (East Orange, NJ) had a Lotus 44 for Formula C in May 1968 but later that season the car had transplanted to the west coast and was raced by Peter Darr (Government Camp, OR) in Formula B. Raced again in FB by Darr in 1969 and advertised in September 1969 as "Clark's own". Sold to Robert "Denny" Ericson (Spokane, WA) of Repco NW in 1970 and then to Don Breidenbach (Oakland, CA) by 1973. Breidenbach raced the car in SCCA Regionals in 1973 before buying himself a brand new March 74B for 1974. Last seen when advertised by Breidenbach in February 1974. Subsequent history unknown. Philipp Buhofer owned a Lotus 44 in 2019 that was said to be 44-F2-3. The car's preparers say that it is the car owned at one time by Cedric Selzer, then sold to Japan. It was later sold by Lutziger Cars to Philipp Buhofer some time before 2014.
13. Brabham BT21B [24] (Matt Spitzley): Matt Spitzley ran a Brabham in SCCA Nationals and in the 'Pro' FB series in 1969. His car is identified in the July 1969 Seattle entry list as a yellow and red Brabham BT21 but has been identified by Ted Walker as the ex-Guthrie Tasman BT21B [24] (10 Tenths ref 1544290).
14. Chevron B14 [FB-68-14?] (Dick Smothers): Bought late in 1968 by Dick Smothers of Smothers Bros Racing (Fullerton, CA) and first raced in the Donnybrooke Grand Prix at Brainerd 22 September 1968 . Chevron records appear to identify this car as chassis FB-68-14. Smothers had a blue #29 Chevron FB for 1969 and this is very probably the same car, even though it was sometimes referred to as a B15B. Loaned to Joe Alves (Sherman Oaks, CA) for 1970 but not raced after blowing the engine in practice at Sears Point in June 1970. Alves eventually sold the car some time between 1975 and 1978 but it is then unknown until owned by a D Hullinger around 1992 who started a restoration. It passed to Gabe Lakatosh (Los Angeles, CA) in 1998 who completed the restoration and raced it infrequently. Then sold to Jeff Giannini (Puyallup, WA) in 2003 who has raced it continuously since then. It had a full restoration in 2008 and is maintained by J&L Fabrication (also in Puyallup, WA).
15. Lotus 59 [59-FB-9] (Malcolm Starr): Malcolm Starr (Union City, NJ) bought a new F2-spec Lotus 59 from Lotus East (Millerton, NY) for 1969 and raced it in Pro Formula B events that season. Malcolm recalls selling to to "a fellow named Woodbury from Virginia" which would be the William J. Woodbury Jr (Springfield, Virginia) who raced a Lotus "69" at Mid-Ohio in September 1970, and at least one SCCA National in early 1971. Woodbury retained the car when he stopped racing, and still had it when he died in early 2022. The car was offered for sale in August 2022 on behalf of his widow.
16. Titan Mk3 (Harvey Snow): Harvey Snow (San Jose, CA) raced a white Team CIRT Titan in Formula C in west coast SCCA and Pro events during 1969, qualifying for the Run-Offs. Retained for 1970 and again qualified for the Run-Offs. Subsequent history unknown.
17. Brabham BT16 [BT15 F3-2-65] (Ray Smith): To Bill Moss Racing for Andrew Fletcher (Alva, Clackmannanshire, Scotland) to race in mainly British F3 in 1965. Retained for 1966 but seen less often and in more minor events. Last seen in September 1966. Fletcher acquired the ex-David Preston 1.6-litre Brabham BT18 for 1967, and how the BT15 was used that season is unknown. It was refurbished at the Brabham factory in 1968 but remained unused that season. It was bought in Scotland in the winter of 1968/69 by Ray Smith from Fenwick Motors in East Lothian, Scotland. It was then described as a BT16, but was still fitted with a F3 MAE engine. Smith took the car back to Canada and ran it in FC and FB in 1969 and 1970. Last seen when advertised by Smith (as a BT18) in February 1971. 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.

1970 US FB results were compiled from Autoweek reports by Jim Thurman; 1971 results were transcribed from Autoweek by Allen Brown and 1972 results were compiled by Chris Townsend from an SCCA results publication.

The US Formula B series did not continue in 1973 but a race was organised in Caracas in March 1973 that fits here probably better than anywhere else, as do the occasional SCCA F/Atlantic and FB races in 1974 and 1975.

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.