The Glen Nationals (Glen Region SCCA National)

Watkins Glen, 11 Aug 1968

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. 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.
2. Brabham BT16 (Carson Baird): Carson Baird (Birmingham, AL or Beltsville, MD) drove a Brabham in Formula B in 1968, racing in three Pro events and also scoring 15 pts in NEDiv Nationals. His car was identified at Mosport Park 25 Aug 1968 as a BT18 but when he traded the car to Fred Opert for a new Chevron, Opert described it as a 1965 F2/FB, indicating a BT16. He entered a Chevron for the Run-Offs but did not start and evidently gave up on the car as he was in a Brabham again at the start of the 1969 season. He upgraded to a Winkelmann WDB2 mid-season. Nothing more is known about the Brabham.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Lola T63 [SL61/6] (Victor Franzese): New to the MRP team for 1966, this car was primarily raced by Richard Attwood, but also raced once each by David Hobbs and Alan Rees. It then went to Ian Ashley for F3 in 1967, but he rarely appeared in the car. It then appears to have been exported to the US, and is thought to be the "Lola T63" bought from Fred Opert by Victor Franzese (Watkins Glen, NY), and raced in SCCA Northeast Division Formula B in 1968 and 1969. Advertised by Glen Racing Ltd (Montour Falls, NY) in February 1970 as "Lola T-63 Formula B. Excellent condition, Ex-Surtees - Attwood". The ex-Surtees attribution would make sense if this car had previously been chassis 60/3. Vic recalls that he sold it to Bob Tinker (Itahca, NY), and that he sold it to someone in Florida. Subsequent history unknown, but believed to be the car acquired from William E Anderson Jnr (Boca Raton, FL) by William Schlossnagel (El Cajon, CA) c1983, and then sold to Rob Shanahan (San Diego, CA) c1993. To Robs Lamplough (London) 2012.
7. Brabham BT21C (Ted Thomas): Dr Theodore B. Thomas (Bethel Park, Pittsburgh, PA), who raced as Ted Thomas, drove a Bobsy Vanguard in 1967, then moved to a Formula B Brabham in August 1968. He entered the car as a Brabham-Vegantune, but his SCCA licence application later identified it as a BT21C. He was entered in 1969 by Tedar Racing Org of Bethel Park and in 1971 by TEBAR Racing of Bethel Park. In March 1970, the BT21C was advertised by Tebar Racing with a Vegantune engine, noting that it had only raced four times, and a month later a photograph from the VIR National shows Thomas racing a red Brabham BT21C. Thomas was the Steel Cities Region Formula B champion in 1971, after which he upgraded to a new March 722. Nothing more is known of the Brabham.
8. Brabham BT21C (Bob Welch): Bob Welch (Alexandria, VA) raced a black #23 Brabham BT21C in 1968, racing in Washington DC Region Regionals, scoring 15 pts in NEDiv FB and also appearing at the Lime Rock Pro FB race in Sep 1968. The car was described as "brand new" at the Marlboro Regional on 26 May 1968. He advertised the car in CP&A 28 Dec 1968. As Welch ordered a Brabham BT29 for 1969, this is likely to be the #23 car entered by Fred Opert for himself to drive early in 1969 as the BT29s were late. Subsequent history unknown.
9. 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.

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 31 Aug 1968 p14. Results sheet provided by Bryan Miller. [S023]