SCCA National (Indianapolis Region)

Indianapolis Raceway Park, 5 Oct 1969

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Lola T142 [SL142/21] (Chuck Dietrich): See full history: Lola T142 SL142/21.
2. Lola T140 [SL140/8] (John Mahler): New to Jerry Hansen for the 1968 US series, then to John Mahler (Bettendorf, IA) for the 1969 series. Subsequent history unknown but believed to be the car acquired by Wayne "Bing" Sherer (Buffalo, NY) in 1972 and raced in SCCA Nationals. To Phil "Butch" Hollenbeck for 1973, then to Art Cross (Auburn, NY) who ran it in to Florida for several years. Via Owen Starr, Lou Pavesi and Rick McLean to Mark Rincon (Redding, CA) and Hal Williams by 1994, for historic racing. Later sold to Richard Cross, then via Rincon to John Bryant (Adelaide, Australia) at the Monterey Historics in August 2007 and imported into Australia. Crashed at Philip Island March 2008, but rebuilt and raced in the 2011/12 Tasman Revival series. More information about Lola T140 SL140/8
3. Brabham BT29 [8] (Bob Welch): R. C. 'Bob' Welch (Alexandria, VA) ordered one of the earliest Brabham BT29s but his car did not arrive until late August 1969, giving him time for a short test before the Lime Rock Pro race where he finished seventh. He then set about qualifying for the SCCA Runoffs with just four weeks of the season left and on successive weekends won Nationals at Marlboro, VIR, IRP, and Pocono. Welch retained the car for 1970 when he scored 42 points in NEDiv but was again beaten to the title, this time by Ken Duclos in yet another BT29. The car was sold for 1971 and is believed to be the BT29 in which David Pearl (Atlanta, GA) was killed at Daytona that August. The ex-Welch car is known to have been involved in a major accident and its remains were used by Carl Whitney (Forge Village, MA) in 1972 when he constructed a BT29 out of two wrecked cars. By 2005, this car was with John Stowe.
4. Brabham BT29 (Chet Freeman): Chet Freeman (Columbus, OH) bought one of the earliest Brabham BT29s to arrive in the US and used it in SCCA Central Division FB, accumulating 25 pts and narrowly winning the Division. Freeman then sold the car back to Fred Opert where it was advertised in November (French Blue, Vegantune engine, Cen Div FB champ, less than 4 months old). Subsequent history unknown but note that Freeman bought a second BT29, chassis BT29-42, in June 1970.
5. Chevron B15b [FB-69-3?] (Syd Demovsky): Syd Demovsky (Chicago, IL) bought a Chevron B15b for 1969, racing in Pro events and also in SCCA FB events, finishing fifth in CenDiv. The car was red and blue and raced as #11, Demovsky's usual number. Demovsky, a dentist, retained the car for 1970 but at the opening race of the season at Riverside, he went off during practice and crashed through a fence. He was taken to hospital with "pulmonary contusions and bruises". Although he was reported to be driving a Chevron again in the second round, at Edmonton in May, it seems likely that reports were referring to the Chevron that he entered for the race, rather than the car he actually arrived in. From the third race of the season onwards, Demovsky raced a Brabham BT29. The car was advertised by Ron Hunter (Denver, CO), one of Demovsky's crew, in September 1970, and was sold to Wayne Mitchell (San Diego, CA), who used it to build up a new car for Terrance Peterson around a new Chevron B17 chassis. The original B15 frame was also repaired and sold to Frank Monise. Frank recalls that it was combined with the frame that Byron Hatten had damaged to create a car for Art Brisbane.
6. Brabham BT18 (Evan Noyes): Evan Noyes Jr drove a #75 Brabham BT18 in Central Division and Midwest Division SCCA Nationals in 1969. His home town was given as Indianapolis, IN during 1969, then Carmel, IN in early 1970, then Cedarville, Michigan later in 1970. His car was usually just called a Brabham, but the results sheet for the National at Blackhawk Farms in July identified it as a BT18, and several press releases also said it was a BT18. Noyes ran a Brabham BT29 as part of Fred Opert Racing in 1970, so the BT18 may have been traded to Opert. Subsequent history unknown.
7. Brabham BT2 [FJ-1-62] (Dennis F. Lokmer): Sold to Briggs Cunningham (Bridgeport, CT) and raced by his team of drivers in 1962, but most often by Briggs himself. Sold to team driver Augie Pabst (Milwaukee, WI) for 1963 and raced by him in the last seasons of Formula Junior and in the first season of the SCCA's new Formula C. Then to Tom Gelb (Hartford, WI) for 1966 who was enormously successful in Central Division FC over the next three seasons, winning the Divisional title in 1968 with a maximum 54 points. The car was then sold to Dennis Lokmer (De Pere, WI) who continued its success, qualifying for the Run-Offs in 1969 and 1970. He then sold it to Bill Anspach (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) who won the Florida Region FC title in 1971. It went to Bud Bakels (also Palm Beach Gardens, FL) in 1972 and is then missing until 1985 when it was found, still in Anspach's livery, and bought from Randy Morvant (Vidor, TX) by David Roland (Alexandria,  LA). Sold to Wayne Mitchell (Cardiff, CA) in 2006 and bought from him by Robs Lamplough (Hungerford, Berkshire) and returned to the UK in 2011.
8. Brabham BT21B (Larry Skeels): Larry Skeels (Madison, WI, later Rockford, IL) raced a Brabham in Formula C from 1969 to 1971 (or later). The car was identified on several occasions as a BT21B and on one late occasion as a 1000cc car, implying it had been 1000cc all along so probably using its original Ford-based Cosworth MAE engine. Nothing more known.
9. 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.
10. Brabham BT21 (William Marsh): William Marsh (Muncie, IN) raced a Brabham in Formula B in SCCA Regional and Nationals in 1969. Nothing more is known of this car, but Marsh, who was heir to the Marsh Supermarket fortune, bought a Brabham BT29 for the 1970 season. It seems likely that his 1969 car would have been nearly new, suggesting it was a BT21C.
11. Brabham BT21B [24] (Bobby Brown): 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).
12. McLaren M10A [300-09] (Bob Esseks): See full history: McLaren M10A 300-09.
13. Hodges Special (Jerry Hodges): Jerry Hodges (Overland, St Louis, MO) raced a Hodges Special in Midwest Division Formula A in 1970. He retired from the Lake Garnett Grand Prix, a Kansas City Region SCCA National, in July 1969, and from the Indianapolis Region SCCA National at Indianapolis Raceway Park in early October, but then won his class in an SCCA National at War Bonnet a week later. The nine points from this win were enough to give him a three-way tie for the championship, with Frank Egger's Lotus 38 and Jack Eiteljorg's Eisert. Hodges attended the Road Race of Champions at Daytona in November with the car, but again retired. Hodges recalls that he later had a towing accident with the car, after which he salvaged what he could and the remainder of the car went to the scrapyard. For 1970, Hodges and team manager Bob Williams bought the ex-Joe Leonard McKee Mk 10 for Can-Am racing, and then built a Hodges Mk 2 for 1971, said to have been built from the McKee

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

Results sheet provided by Richard Page of the Formula One Register . Also Competition Press & Autoweek 25 Oct 1969 p3.