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SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B/C Race

Dallas International Motor Speedway, 5 Jul 1970

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Mike Eyerly Chevron B17b - Ford twin cam
#74 Mike Eyerly (see note 1)
35 54m 33.4s
94.588 mph
2 Sandy Shepard Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#59 Sandy Shepard (see note 2)
34
3 Nick Craw Brabham BT29 [5] - Ford twin cam
#71 Nick Craw (see note 3)
34
4 Matt Spitzley Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#36 Matt Spitzley (see note 4)
34
5 Doug Brenner Chevron B15b [FB-69-8?] - Ford twin cam
#26 Doug Brenner (see note 5)
34
6 John Marshall Brabham BT21C - Ford twin cam
#37 ("BT21"/"BT29") John Marshall
(see note 6)
34
7 Harold Krech Tecno ["2/3-006"] - Ford twin cam
#60 Harold Krech
34
8 Graham Baker Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#67 Graham Baker (see note 7)
34
9 David McConnell Lotus 59/69 [59-F2/XB-40] - Ford twin cam
(see note 8)
34
10 Fred Opert Chevron B17b - Ford twin cam
#73 Fred Opert (see note 9)
34
11 Dexter Farley Brabham BT29 [30] - Ford twin cam
#28 Dexter Farley (see note 10)
33
12 Randy Fraser Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#54 Randy Fraser (see note 11)
33
13 Mike Hall Brabham BT29 [33] - Ford twin cam
#27 Mike Hall (see note 12)
32
14 Bill Roland Brabham BT29 [40] - Ford twin cam
#47 W. D. Roland Jr. (see note 13)
31
15 Robert Winkelmann Winkelmann - Ford twin cam
25
16 Jacques Couture Lotus 59/69 [59-F2/XB-42] - Ford twin cam
#30 Jacques Couture (see note 14)
29 heat exhaustion
17 Thomas E. Kornell Lotus 41C - Ford twin cam
26 heat exhaustion
18 Allan Lader Brabham BT29 [9] - Ford twin cam
#75 Alan Lader (see note 15)
23 engine failure
19 David G. Smith Winkelmann - Ford twin cam
22 engine failure
20 Roy Maze Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
(see note 16)
16 wrecked
21 Robert S. Lamson Brabham
(see note 17)
9 wrecked
22 John Angus Brabham BT29 [1] - Ford twin cam
#16 John Angus (see note 18)
6 engine failure
23 Jim Grob Chevron B15b [FB-69-4?] - Ford twin cam
#77 Jim Grob (see note 19)
3 stalled
24 Larry Harley Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
(see note 20)
2 oil pressure
25 Peter W Nye Brabham BT18 - Ford twin cam HRE
(see note 21)
1 oil pressure
  Scott Keith Lotus 41C - Ford twin cam HRE
#9 Scott Keith
On entry list
  Jim Ellingson Brabham BT18/21 - Ford twin cam BRM
#21 ("Lotus 21") Jim Ellingson (see note 22)
On entry list
  Skeeter McKitterick Tecno 69 - Ford twin cam
#43 Skeeter McKitterick
On entry list
  Hugh Kleinpeter Chevron B15b [FB-69-5?] - Ford twin cam
#44 H. I. Kleinpeter (see note 23)
On entry list
  Ken Kloster Brabham BT21B - Ford twin cam Vegantune
#46 Ken Kloster (see note 24)
On entry list
  Gene Mason Tecno - Ford twin cam
#56 Gene Mason
On entry list
  Evan Noyes Brabham BT29 - Ford twin cam
#72 Evan Noyes (see note 25)
On entry list

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Qualifying
Qualifying information not available

Notes on the cars:

  1. Chevron B17b (Mike Eyerly): Mike Eyerly (Salem, OR) raced a Chevron B17b for Fred Opert Racing in 1970, winning the first six races of the Continental Formula B Championship. Despite competition from Alan Lader, he won a total of eight rounds of the series and easily retained his title. The car was then sold to Phil Cole, who raced it in an Arizona Region SCCA Regional at Phoenix in December 1970, but then nothing was seen of it until Chuck McCain (Tuscon, AZ) raced it in the Formula B class at an Arizona Sports Racing Association race in October 1973, instead of his usual Brabham. McCain advertised the car in March 1974, but evidently never sold it, as it was ultimately bought from his family by Lee Chapman in 2013. It was fully restored and raced by new owner Jim Victor (Davenport, Iowa) at Road America in 2015, originally in white bodywork, but later restored very precisely to Eyerly's livery . A week after racing the Chevron at Road America in July 2018, Victor sadly died following an accident while driving another car at the same track.
  2. Brabham BT29 (Sandy Shepard): Sandy Shepard (Denton, TX) raced a new black #59 Brabham BT29 from the start of the 1970 season. With support from his father's KDNT Radio Station, Shepard competed in every round, finishing second in his 'home' race at Dallas. He also raced the car in the Polar Prix SCCA National in February 1971 before it to Fred Opert who had it lined up for a Mexican customer.
  3. Brabham BT29 [5] (Nick Craw): Nick Craw (Washington,DC) bought one of the first Brabham BT29s from local Brabham dealer Fred Opert, a car identified by Ted Walker of the Brabham Register as chassis BT29-5. Craw raced in SCCA events from August 1969 onwards, finishing second in the SEDiv FB championship by a single point, and in two Pro races. He continued with a BT29 in 1970 in Pro racing as part of Fred Opert Racing and to the best of his and Opert's recollection, used the same car. He bought a Brabham BT35 for 1971 but before this arrived in the US, he raced the BT29 once more, winning a National at Summit Point in April 1971. The car appeared in Fred Opert's stock list on 1 May, and on the reverse of one of this list, as sent by Opert's secretary Jeannie to Brabham historian Denis Lupton in 1971, a handwritten comment gives Craw's car as "BT29-5". A column by Craw in June 1972 said the car was sold to Jiro Yoneyama, a Japanese driver who raced a Brabham BT29 in US Formula B as part of Fred Opert's team. His car was white and ran as #76. The Road America entry list noted it was using a Hart engine. He was not seen after Road America in August 1971, and the BT29 was then sold to Gary Gove (Tacoma, WA) who raced it in SCCA Regional and ICSCC events in 1971 and 1972, It was reportedly crashed in 1972 and its later history is presently unresolved.
  4. Brabham BT29 (Matt Spitzley): Matt Spitzley (then from Aspen, CO), had a Brabham BT29 for 1970 entered by his Spitzford Racing team (Detroit, Michigan). For 1971 the car was sold to Mike Rand (Riverside, CT/Greenwich, CT) who raced it in NEDiv FB, finishing third overall. It then went to Peter Regna in New Jersey for 1972, after which Regna recalls selling it to Ken Duclos. Duclos, however, does not remember buying it.
  5. Chevron B15b [FB-69-8?] (Doug Brenner): A new Chevron B15B was prepared for Reine Wisell to race - and win - at Sebring 28 Dec 1969. Doug Brenner bought this car for 1970 and raced in the Pro series and then sold it to Byron Hatten (Altadena, CA) for 1971. Hatten continued to race it into 1972 but crashed heavily at Riverside in Feb 1972, the first event of the season, badly damaging the Chevron. Art Brisbane (Covina, CA) bought the damaged car, and also bought the ex-Syd Demovsky damaged B15b frame from Wayne Mitchell. Frank Monise cut the two frames in half and "beautifully attached the good parts together". Brisbane used the rebuilt car in Cal Club Formula C from 1974 until 1978 at least. Subsequent history unknown.
  6. Brabham BT21C (John Marshall): John Marshall (Sandusky, OH) drove a red Brabham BT21C in Formula B in 1970, entered by Suzy Dietrich's 'Team Suzy'. He finished sixth in Central Division with 21 points. Marshall had raced a Lola Mk 5A in Formula C the two previous years and took over John Bisignano's F5000 McLaren M10A for 1971. Nothing more known.
  7. Brabham BT29 (Graham Baker): Graham Baker moved from New Zealand to the US for a season of Formula B in 1970. He bought a new green Brabham BT29 from Chip Gompf and Wayne Mitchell, one of three new BT29s they had in stock. He was entered by Charlie Hayes Racing Equipment as #82 for his first race, at Edmonton in May, but was then self-entered as #82 for the next eight races as #67 before ending the season as part of the Bonphil Racing Industries team. Hayes sold the car for Baker at the end of the season to a non-racer in Laguna Hills who appears to have retained it, unused, for three years. In late 1973/early 1974, CSCC racer Jeff Alkana learnt from engine specialist Steve Jennings about the car and he bought it with Frank Monise (Pasadena, CA), who needed a new BT29 having wrecked his earlier BT29-41. Monise raced the car for several more seasons with Ford twin cam and BDA engines before selling it around 1976 to Tito D'Oporto and Gary Green and replacing it with a March.
  8. Lotus 59/69 [59-F2/XB-40] (David McConnell): New to David McConnell (Montréal, Quebec, Canada) and raced in the SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B series and the Quebec Region Molson Championship during 1970. The car was entered by Jim Russell RDS (Canada) Ltd, and generally wore #86. McConnell then took the car out to New Zealand for the start of the 1971 Tasman Cup, where the car was described as a Lotus 69. After a run of poor results in New Zealand, he fitted an 1800cc Cosworth FVC engine for the Australian rounds, but failed to qualify for the Warwick Farm race. Local Lotus agent Leo Geoghegan tried the car in practice at that event. After one more race, McConnell abandoned the series. The subsequent history of the Lotus 59/69 is unknown.
  9. Chevron B17b (Fred Opert): Fred Opert ran a team five-car team in 1970 which included a Chevron B17b for himself and a sister car for Mike Eyerly. Opert's personal car was sold to Tom Outcault (Cranford, NJ) for 1971 who used it in NEDiv events and also in the Pro race at Road America in Aug 1971. Outcault sold it via Fred Opert to Carmelo Crisafuli (Great Neck, Long Island, NY), and it was registered by the SCCA at Watkins Glen in September 1972. He raced it in SCCA Regionals including two New York Region rounds of the North Atlantic Road Racing Championship in 1974. RJ Nelkin (Roslyn, NY) bought the car for 1975, and raced it in SCCA and EMRA events that season. It was sold in 1976 via Fred Opert to Roy Aber (Penn Hills, PA) who recalls racing the car until 1981. He sold it to JC Gongaware (Youngwood, PA), and did not hear of it again. The car was next seen about 1986 when Lee Chapman (New Milford, CT) of Auto Restorations had the car, having bought it from Jim Wisheart in Pennsylvania. It went from Chapman to Fred Gunther (Trumbull, CT), then to Peter McLaughlin (Hannover, NH), and then to Travis Engen (Weston, CT) in 1994 or 1995.
  10. Brabham BT29 [30] (Dexter Farley): 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).
  11. Brabham BT29 (Randy Fraser): Randy Fraser (Piedmont, Quebec/Rhode Island) raced a blue-and-silver #54 Brabham BT29 in 1970 as part of Team IRI and with sponsorship from Multimetals. He appeared in both the Canadian and US Pro series but focused on the US series after the first few races. He moved to a new March 71BM for 1971 but the Brabham remained unsold. It appeared in his advert in CP&A in November 1971 when it was described as a rolling chassis in parts. Subsequent history unknown.
  12. Brabham BT29 [33] (Mike Hall): This Brabham BT29, believed to be chassis BT29-33, was bought new by Michael F. Hall (Chicago, IL) and used in SCCA racing where Hall won the 1970 CenDiv FB title. He also raced it in the Pro series in the latter half of the season. Hall retained the red-and-yellow BT29 for the first half of 1971 but replaced it with a new BT35 in August and sold the BT29 to Phil Geraldi (Valley Stream, NY), who had previously raced a LeGrand in NEDiv FB. Geraldi raced it for the rest of 1971 and in 1972 then sold it to Charles J. Derbes III (Metairie, LA) in the spring of 1973. Derbes won the SWDiv Formula B title in this car in 1974 and attended the Run-Offs, finishing 12th. He was second in the Division in 1975 and tied with Warren Pauge for the 1976 title. Chaz Derbes has retained the BT29 ever since, still owning it in 2012.
  13. Brabham BT29 [40] (Bill Roland): William D "Bill" Roland bought a new Brabham BT29 for SWDiv Formula B racing in 1970. The car was one of the last built and was new in July 1970. He scored two second placed finishes in Nationals in 1970, both times at Texas World Speedway, but narrowly failed to qualify for the Run-Offs, He later crashed the car heavily at Road Atlanta requiring a new frame, In 1973, Roland sold the rebuilt car plus its original frame to Mike Calvert (Deer Park, Pasadena, TX) who raced it in SWDiv Regionals in 1977. Subsequent history unknown. This car was owned by Brad Balles in 2007-2008, and sold to Dean Butler.
  14. Lotus 59/69 [59-F2/XB-42] (Jacques Couture): New to Jacques Couture (Laval, Montréal, Quebec) and raced in the SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B series and the Quebec Region Molson Championship during 1970. The car was entered by Jim Russell RDS (Canada) Ltd, and generally wore #86. Sold to Eligio Siconolfi (Montréal, Quebec) for 1971 and raced in the Players Canadian Formula B series and the Quebec Region Molson series. The car was acquired from Siconolfi by Mauro Lanaro (Montréal, Quebec) who took some time restoring it, and then raced it in regional events in Canada in 1973. Lanaro recalled to Joe Griffin in 2021 that "after a bad accident at Mosport, I sold what was left it to Peter Draggfy". Peter Dragffy is known to have had several Lotus 59/69s in the 1980s.
  15. Brabham BT29 [9] (Allan Lader): This early chassis number would have raced in 1969 but its first owner is still unknown. Working backwards from its modern ownership, it would have been the black-and-yellow BT29 raced by Allan Lader (Gresham, OR), until Lader got a new 1970-spec BT29 in July. The older car was sold to Ron Householder (Portland, OR) and raced by him in SCCA, CASC and ICSCC events in 1971, 1972 and 1973. Householder sold it to Paul Anderson (Huntington Beach, CA) who entered it for Pete Halsmer in SCCA events in 1974. Then to Bill Hill (Olympia, WA) in March 1975. Hill drove this car, mainly in ICSCC events, until April 1980 at least, and Hill advertised the car "for rent" in mid-1980. Retained by Hill until his death. It was sold by his widow to David Irwin (Evergreen, CO) in December 2017.
  16. Brabham BT29 (Roy Maze): Roy Maze (Alvin, TX), owner of local car dealer Royal Dodge Inc, won the 1970 Southwest Division SCCA Formula B title in a Brabham BT29, amassing 33 pts over the season. He scored a second place early in the season but won at Texas International Speedway in July, just a week after crashing out of his only Pro appearance at Dallas International Motor Speedway, and went on to win two of the remaining three Nationals. He was entered for the Run-Offs but did not appear.
  17. Brabham (Robert S. Lamson): Robert S. Lamson (Fort Collins, CO) raced a #85 Brabham BT29 twice in Pro FB in 1970, at Dallas on 5 July 1970 and at Road America two weeks later and although he was entered at Mont Tremblant it looks like the Canadian organisers had copied the whole Road America entry list into their program. He does not appear in any Divisional FB points table. In March 1971, Bob Lamson advertised a late 1970 Brabham BT29 from Scot's Ltd in Fort Collins. The car was fitted with a Vegantune engine and had just two races on it, Lamson saying that he did not have the time to enjoy it. When contacted on his yacht in Hawaii in 2012, Bob was unable to remember who he had sold it to, but kindly offered to keep digging.
  18. Brabham BT29 [1] (John Angus): John Angus bought the first BT29, ordering the car as early as late summer of 1968 but taking delivery in August 1969. He ran it in Regionals in late 1969 before participating in the Pro series in 1970. He swapped from a Vegantune to a Racing Services engine for 1971 and continued in Nationals. Angus continued with the car in 1972, when Ron Dykes also drove it in the Bogotá races and again in 1973, when the car continued to be competitive at National level. To Marc Bahner (Santa Ana, CA) for 1974, and rebodied by him with March bodywork. Raced by Bahner in local SCCA events in 1974 and 1975. Bahner retained the car for many years, advertising it in December 1996 as "absolutely new - needing paint and assembly".
  19. Chevron B15b [FB-69-4?] (Jim Grob): Jim Grob (Ft Lauderdale, FL but later Pompano Beach, CA) raced a Chevron B15b in Pro racing in 1969 and also scored 24 points in Northeast Division FB, representing Northern New Jersey Region. He retained the car for 1970 and again for 1971, then mainly focusing his efforts on SCCA Divisional racing in Southeast Division. He finished second to Hugh Kleinpeter's sister car in 1970 but then won the Division in 1971. He changed to a new Chevron B20 for 1972.
  20. Brabham BT29 (Larry Harley): Larry Harley (Dallas, TX) bought a Brabham BT29 for the 1970 season, using it in the Southwest Division FB title race - where he finished just a single point behind winner Roy Maze - and in a couple of Pro events. After finishing ninth in the Run-Offs, the car passed to Steve Louden (also Dallas) who raced it in 1971 and 1972, winning the SWDiv title in 1971 and tying in 1972.
  21. Brabham BT18 (Peter W Nye): Peter Nye (Ann Arbor, MI) bought a Brabham BT18 rolling chassis from Fred Opert for the 1969 season. Opert fitted a used Vegantune twin cam engine to it for Formula B, but the engine kept bending valves and Nye rarely finished a race. After returning the Vegantune to Opert, he bought an HRE engine from Gus Hutchinson for the 1970 season but did not have much more success. Nye does not recall whether he sold that car privately, but may have traded it to Joe Grimaldi's Race Shop for his next car, a Brabham BT29. Subsequent history unknown.
  22. Brabham BT18/21 (Jim Ellingson): Jim Ellingson (Laramie, WY/Greeley, CO) entered a blue/white/red Brabham BT18/BT21 in several Formula B races in 1970, usually entered as #95 or #25, but does not appear to have arrived for any of them. He did make an appearance in an SCCA National at Fort Sumner in October 1971, scoring four points in MidWest Division Formula B. In 1976, five years later, Ellingson advertised a "BT18-21" with BRM phase IV engine and Hewland Mk 5 gearbox that he said was "seldom raced". Nothing more known.
  23. Chevron B15b [FB-69-5?] (Hugh Kleinpeter): Just as many other SCCA FB drivers were acquiring Brabham BT29s, Hugh Kleinpeter invested in a Chevron B15b to replace the Beach T11 with which he'd won the SEDiv FB title. He retained his title in 1969 and retained the Chevron for 1970, winning his third successive title. After the 1970 season, the car was sold to Dave Yoder (Plantation, FL) and it was raced by Yoder and by Frank Marrs (Plantation, FL) in local SCCA events and occasional nearby Pro events over the next four seasons. Yoder scored nine points in Southeast Division FB in 1972, and ten points in 1974, qualifying for the Runoffs that year. It was then sold to Bill Anspach, who used it for spares for his Formula C Chevron B17. It was later sold to Barry Geng (Burlington, Iowa), to replace the B17b that Geng had wrecked at Road Atlanta. It ended up with someone who was going to break it up for a 3-wheeler project, but was rescued by Wayne LaFrenz (Iowa), who has owned it since the early 1980s. It arrived complete with a 1100cc HRE-built Ford twin cam engine and Hewland FT200 gearbox.
  24. Brabham BT21B (Ken Kloster): Ken Kloster (Toledo, OH) raced a Brabham BT21B in Formula B in 1970, starting with third place in a National at Green Valley in February. He advertised the car in Sep 1970 as a BT21B with all-steel Vegantune engine and also mentioning wins at MIS and at the Donnybrooke National. Subsequent history unknown.
  25. Brabham BT29 (Evan Noyes): Evan L. Noyes Jr . (Cedarville, MI) entered a yellow Brabham BT29 for Sebring 28 Dec 1969 but did not arrive, implying his car was not quite ready on time. His first known race is at Green Valley Raceway on 22 Feb 1970, a SWDiv National and he ran the canary yellow BT29 in both the 1970 Pro season, where he was a member of the Fred Opert Racing team, and in Nationals where he finished second in CenDiv to Michael Hall. He finished second to Skip Barber's Tecno at the Run-Offs. This is not the same car that Noyes then took to the Tasman series in January 1971 as his well-used US car was on Fred Opert's stock list on 1 May 1971 with a comment that it had not raced since the Run-Offs.

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.