SCCA National (Mohawk Hudson Region)

Lime Rock, 26 Jul 1969

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Lotus 59 [59-FB-12] (WP Fred Stevenson): Bought by Pete and Bill Pulver's Dutchess Auto in 1969 for Fred Stevenson (Salisbury, CT) to race in US Formula B and entered by Stevenson's Lotus/East Inc racing operation. The car was sold at the end of the main season to customer Bob Hebert (Monterey, MA) and driven by him at Sebring at the end of 1969 (according to Stevenson's recollection but not in reports) and then through the 1970 season. Hebert and Stevenson had new 69s for 1971 and the 59B may have returned to Stevenson and even been raced by him in some SCCA Nationals in 1971. To Ralph Manaker (Syracuse, NY) for 1972, and raced in NEDiv Regional Formula B that year, entered by BME Racing. By this time it was wearing Lotus 69 bodywork, with the original bodywork remaining with Manaker until the 1990s. The Lotus then went to Leland Gerey, who put it on pole position for a race at Pocono as late as 1980. Then to Kurt Hoffman, and sold for him by Jerry Bensinger via Frans Van den Heuvel (Holland) to Paul Schouwenburg (Belgium). Then back from Schouwenburg to Bensinger in 1989, and offered by sale in 1990. By 1992/93, the car had been sold to a Japanese dealer but when a planned auction in Japan was cancelled, the car remained in a warehouse in California for some time. In 1995, it was sold by Mark Leonard to Tim Gaffney, and he restored the car to Fred Stevenson's #93 livery, but on its newer Lotus 69 bodywork. The car was then sold by Gaffney to Japan.
2. Brabham BT21B (Fred Harris): Frederick D. Harris (New York, NY) raced a Brabham in NEDiv Formula C in 1969. It was later identified in a Fred Opert advert as a BT21B with a Broadspeed engine, presumably its original Ford F3 engine, that had been rebuilt at the Brabham factory the previous winter. That would imply that the car spent 1968 racing in Europe. Nothing more known.
3. Brabham BT21B (Rod deRonge): Rod deRonge (W. Hartford, CT) raced a Brabham BT21B in Formula C in 1969, using the same Cosworth Mk 17 1100cc engine he had previously used in a BT15. He won first time out in the Area 1 race at Lime Rock on 10 May 1969. Advertised by deRonge in June 1969. Nothing more known.
4. Brabham BT21B (Wayne Ricciardi): Wayne Ricciardi (N. Haldon, NJ) raced a Brabham in Formula C in 1969, this being his first season after completing driving school. His Brabham was identified in a Fred Opert Racing advert as a BT21B. It was last seen at Virginia International Raceway in September 1969 when Ricciardi crashed and broke his leg. The Brabham was described as heavily damaged. Ricciardi drove a BT21 in 1970 and it is not clear whether this was the same car.
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 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.
7. Brabham BT21A [4] (Ken Duclos): Sold new to Lou Sell (Fullerton, CA) and first seen in the Pro Formula B race at War Bonnet in late June where Sell qualified on pole and finished second. Then raced in SCCA Regionals and occasional Nationals in California, and in the pro races at Mont-Tremblant and Lake Tahoe at the end of the season. Sold to Sell's backer Dick Smothers (Woodland Hills, CA) for 1968, although Sell also raced it in one SoPac National early that year. To Fred Opert late 1968 in part-exchange for a new Chevron and from him on to Ken Duclos (Boxboro, MA) for 1969. Duclos believes he returned it to Opert at the end of 1969 when he acquired his new BT29 and it next turns up in 1971 with John Sorbello (Lafayette, MA) who widened the cockpit section into a two-seater and added a Chevron B16 body. However, it is possible that the dates of this are wrong and that Bob Isnor (Newton, MA) raced it as a FB before it went to Sorbello. Later to John Kauffman who thought he had bought a Chevron and then to Joe Maria (White Plains, NY) in the early 1990s. It was restored by David Irwin to BT21A spec and was still with Maria in 2007. To Bob Lima (Meadowbrook, PA) by October 2009 and later repainted in Sell's colours.
8. 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.
9. Brabham BT18 (Mike Rand): 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.
10. Brabham BT15 (Barton Brownstein): Bart Brownstein (New York, NY) ran a Brabham in FC in 1968. He advertised it in CP&A 16 Nov 1968 as a Brabham BT15 with MAE engine. Nothing more known.

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 16 Aug 1969 p11.