OldRacingCars.com

SCCA National (Northern New Jersey Region)

Lime Rock, 6 Jul 1968

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Bobby Brown (F5000) 5-litre Lola T140 [SL140/3] - Chevrolet V8
#3
31 30m 04.8s
94.57 mph
2 WP Fred Stevenson Lotus 41C [41C-FL-44] - Ford twin cam
#93
31 30m 49.7s
92.27 mph
3 Bill Gubelmann Brabham BT23F [1] - Ford twin cam
#37 (see note 1)
30 2nd in FB
4 Steve Brownstein Brabham BT16 [F2-1-65] - Ford twin cam
#22 (see note 2)
30 3rd in FB
5 Fred Ashplant Brabham BT21A - Ford twin cam
#47 (see note 3)
30 4th in FB
6 Steve Durst (F5000) 5-litre Vulcan - Chevrolet Traco V8
#6 "Carliss and Schall Special"
30 2nd in FA
7 John F. Sirmons Lotus 22 - Ford twin cam
#29
30 5th in FB
8 Peter N Goetz Brabham BT21C [1] - Ford twin cam
#9 (see note 4)
30 6th in FB
9 Peter Rehl (FC) 1-litre Cooper T88 [FC-1-68?] - BRM P80
#71 (see note 5)
30 30m 51.2s
89.25 mph
10 Chuck Schroedel (FC) 1-litre Brabham BT18 - Ford Cosworth SCA
#18 (see note 6)
30 2nd in FC
11 Bill Rutan (FC) 1-litre Lotus 32 - Ford Cosworth SCA
#11 (see note 7)
29 3rd in FC
12 Rod deRonge (FC) 1.1-litre Brabham BT15 - Ford Cosworth
#2
29 4th in FC
13 Harry Reynolds (FC) 1-litre Brabham BT15 - Ford Cosworth MAE
#27 (see note 8)
29 5th in FC
14 Don Ward (FC) 1-litre Cooper T76 - BMC
#1 (see note 9)
28 6th in FC
15 Bruce Cargill Lotus 51 - Ford
#69
27 7th in FB
16 Jim Bean (FC) Brabham
#55
28 7th in FC
17 Phil Raeder (FC) Stanguellini
#32
25 8th in FC
R Brett Lunger (F5000) 5-litre Caldwell D8 ['001'] - Chevrolet V8
#34 (see note 10)
28 accident; hit bank
R Mike Hayman Brabham BT21C - Ford twin cam
#7 (see note 11)
21
R Mike Hiss Brabham BT21A - Ford twin cam
#94 (see note 12)
16
R Hap Farnsworth (FC) Cooper T76
#77
16
R Camilo Blanco (FC) Lotus 22/35
#42
9
R Roger Barr Crosslé 12F [C12F/67/32] - Ford twin cam
#61
8
R Fred Opert (FC) 1.1-litre Brabham BT21B - Cosworth SCC
#73 (see note 13)
6
  Edmund C Hessert Brabham BT21C - Ford twin cam Vegantune
#99 [Abrasive Alloys Co] (see note 14)
On entry list

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Qualifying
Qualifying information not available

Notes on the cars:

  1. Brabham BT23F [1] (Bill Gubelmann): Sold to Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) and fitted with a Vegantune Ford twin cam engine for SCCA 'Pro' and NEDiv Formula B. Raced through 1968 and retained for a few races in 1969 as Gubelmann's BT29 was late arriving. Sold to Al Justason (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) who used it in both the Canadian and US Pro series in 1970 and again in the Canadian FB series in 1971. Sold to Michael Houselander who appeared at two Canadian national events in 1972, Later sold to ‘Dino Delousis’ who fitted a turbocharged 2-litre Ford Pinto engine for libre events but found the car to be undrivable and stored it from about 1974 to 2004 when sold to Dave Darrow (Mississauga, Ontario) and fully restored. Retained until 2007 when sold via race-cars.com to Murray Bryden (Melbourne, Australia). Sold to David Kloster (Kinglake, Victoria) September 2011.
  2. Brabham BT16 [F2-1-65] (Steve Brownstein): Driven by Alan Rees for Roy Winkelmann Racing in 1965. Presumably Rees raced the same car all season. Bought in 1966 from Winkelmann by Bob Fuller (Connecticut), fitted with a Cosworth Mk 12 and raced in FB in 1967. To Steve Brownstein (New York) for 1968 and raced again in FB with the Mk 12. Then traded to Fred Opert for a new Chevron. To Bruce Jensen and raced in Canadian FB in 1969 and then to Bill Pickthorne (Ottawa, Ontario) who raced it in 1970 and at the beginning of 1971. It was then stored for 18 years until bought by Murray Wivell (Brantford, Ontario) in October 1989. Restored and used in US vintage racing for ten seasons, initially with the Ford twin cam engine and then with a Cosworth SCA for the last two seasons. Sold to Ivan Scotti (Zurich, Switzerland) November 2004. This is presumably the ex-Alan Rees BT16 run at the 2013 Solitude Revival by Bruno Weibel of Schaffner Racing.
  3. Brabham BT21A (Fred Ashplant): Raced by Fred Ashplant (Franklin Lakes, NJ) and first seen at Lime Rock in early July where Racing Magazine called it "his new Brabham FB". Won the SCCA National at Bridgehampton two weeks later and the Pro race at Mont-Tremblant in September. Finished third in the NEDiv FB title. Retained for 1968 but used much less that season. In 1969, Ashplant ordered a Brabham BT29 and sold the BT21A to Pete LoBianco (York, PA). However, the BT21A was in Fred Opert's stock during the summer of 1969 and as the car had last been raced as #47, it seems likely that this was the #47 FB Brabham that Opert raced a couple of times before his BT29 arrived.
  4. Brabham BT21C [1] (Peter N Goetz): Peter Nichols Goetz (Mohrsville, PA) bought a Brabham BT21C for Formula B in 1968 but only raced it sparingly, advertising it at on 2 Nov 1968 as "only 3 races". Subsequent history unknown until acquired by Brian Julien (Waukesha, WI) in early 2007.
  5. Cooper T88 [FC-1-68?] (Peter Rehl): One of the very last Coopers built was a Formula C car for faithful US customer Peter Rehl (Easton, CT). This T88 was equipped with a 1-litre BRM engine according to Cooper records, presumably one of the 1965-66 Formula 2 P80 engines, and Rehl scored 51 points in NEDiv Formula C, finishing narrowly second to Bill Rutan's Brabham. However, the car also raced as a Formula B car with a standard Ford twin cam, and Rehl managed to finish fourth in FB as well, qualifying for the Run-Offs and finishing third at Riverside as a FB. Rehl bought a new Formula A Cooper T90 for 1969, and the T88 was sold to Ronald L. Stanwicks (Newington, CT). He raced it in 1969 but his son recalls that it was unreliable and did not fit him well. It was sold to Peter Piers in the early 1970s, who stored it for many years. It was eventually sold and is believed to have gone to Italy.
  6. Brabham BT18 (Chuck Schroedel): Chuck Schroedel (New York, NY) raced at Brabham BT18 powered by a 1.1-litre Cosworth SCC engine in Formula C in 1968 and early 1969. He then acquired a BT21 from England and his team, Springdel Racing, then sold the BT18-SCC to Mike Rand who ran it in late 1969 before acquiring a BT21B. The BT18 went back to Springdel Racing but its later history is not yet known.
  7. Lotus 32 (Bill Rutan): Bill Rutan (Philadelphia, PA/Essex, CT) bought two Lotus 32s in 1967 or 1968 from Fred Opert, together with two Lotus 35s [and either a 41 or a 44?]. He sold one of the 32s to Carl Whitney and raced the other in local Formula C.
  8. Brabham BT15 (Harry Reynolds): Harry Reynolds (Pottstown, PA) drove a FC Brabham in 1968 which was identified in the Lime Rock 7 Jul 1968 results sheet as a BT15 and in the Mid-Ohio 21 Jul 1968 results sheet as having a MAE engine. Reynolds told Candian researcher Rupert Lloyd Thomas that it came from Fred Opert and was virtually new. He believed it may have been driven by Bobby Brown at some point and may originally have been bought for Ford of France. He recalls the chassis number as "3". The car went from Reynolds to Randy Neiman (Pottstown, PA), who converted it to Formula Ford. Neiman drove it in a Regional at Cumberland in July 1971. Subsequent history unknown.
  9. Cooper T76 (Don Ward): Don Ward (New Haven, CT) drove a Cooper-BMC in Formula C in 1969 and a Cooper-Ford in 1970. In Sep 1972, he advertised a Cooper T76 rolling chassis and it is presumed that this is the car he had raced in 1969 and 1970.
  10. Caldwell D8 ['001'] (Brett Lunger): Entered by Autodynamics Corp. for Brett Lunger, and first seen in an SCCA National at Lime Rock on 6 July 1968, where Lunger crashed. Later appeared in the Us Pro series driven by Lunger (at Mosport Park 25 Aug 1968, Donnybrook 22 Sep 1968 and Laguna Seca 12 Oct 1968) and by Sam Posey (at Lime Rock 2 Sep 1968). Delano Trott, who was Chief Engineer at Autodynamics at the time the D8 was built, commented in 2019 that one of the team's mechanics, Fred Whittier, "ended up owning the car". He used it as a supermodified at Bryar Motorsports Park and destroyed it in an accident. Trott added "as I recall, he had a head-on with a tow truck running the wrong direction!".
  11. Brabham BT21C (Mike Hayman): Mike Hayman (Washington, DC) raced a Brabham BT21C occasionally in Formula B in 1968 and 1969. He scored just nine points in NEDiv in 1968, and four in 1969, and none of his Pro race entries in the orange-and-blue Brabham resulted in starts. He advertised the car as a BT21C with Vegantune engine in CP&A 30 August 1969. Subsequent history unknown.
  12. Brabham BT21A (Mike Hiss): To Mike Hiss (Laurel, MD) to replace the earlier Brabham that he "demolished" in practice for the Bridgehampton National in July 1967. He raced the BT21A for the last two Pro races, finished third at Lake Tahoe. Retained for 1968, finishing third at Palm Beach in February and then winning at Marlboro in March. Second in Bridgehampton National and won a Regional at Marlboro but less successful in the Pro series. Last seen when crashed at Lime Rock in September 1968 following a suspension failure. Hiss had by that time moved up to Formula A with a Lola T140 and it is not known whether the Brabham was rebuilt.
  13. Brabham BT21B (Fred Opert): Fred Opert, the leading US racing car importer in the late 1960s, raced a Brabham in Formula C in 1968. At the end of the season, he advertised it in CP&A (7 Dec 1968) as a BT21B with fuel-injected SCC engine, six-speed Hewland gearbox and "extra light chassis and body". Opert's car was sometimes reported at races as a Formula B and it is unclear whether this was a mistake or whether Opert was driving other cars he had in stock. Sold to Dewey Harless (Portland, OR) for 1969 and raced with great success in FC. Harless advertised it in July 1970, still with its fuel-injected SCC engine but as a BT21, not a BT21B. He retained it until early 1971 when it was sold to Butch Owsley (Aptos, CA/San Jose, CA) who ran it at Laguna Seca in June 1971. Subsequent history unknown.
  14. Brabham BT21C (Edmund C Hessert): Dr Edmund C. Hessert Jr (Haddonfield, NJ) was a surgeon at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia and was a regular in SCCA events in the mid-1960s. With backing from Ellwood F. Thum's Abrasive Alloy Co team (Riverside, NJ), he bought a brand new Brabham BT21C-Vegantune for 1968 but although he was photographed in the car at a launch, only one entry for it has so far been found. The car wore #99 and appears to have been white with black stripes. Hessert moved into NASCAR for 1969. The later history of the Brabham 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

Competition Press & Autoweek 27 Jul 1968 p14 and full Northern New Jersey Region results sheet (provided by Bryan Miller).