SCCA National (New England Region)

Thompson Speedway, 8 Jun 1969

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. 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.
2. Cooper T88 [FC-1-68?] (Ronald Stanwicks): 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.
3. 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.
4. Brabham BT21C (Bill Baldwin): Bill Baldwin (Bound Brook, NJ) ran a red Brabham BT21C at Lime Rock in Sep 1970 and this may be the "BT21A" that he also raced in NEDiv Nationals in 1969. He advertised the BT21C "in immaculate condition" in August 1970 and again in March 1971. Malcolm Starr remembers that Baldwin was his mechanic on the Shelby Mustang GT350R he raced in 1965, and was keen to race, so may have ended up with Starr's BT21C after the 1968 season.
5. 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.
6. Brabham (Bruce Kearsley): In 1968 and 1969, Bruce Kearsley (Manchester, MA) ran a Brabham in regional SCCA racing in New England. He was pictured in Compettion Press & Autoweek competing at an SCCA Regional at Thompson Raceway in October 1968, and was then one of the lower placed finished in another Regional at Lime Rock in May 1969. On the first occasion his car was described as a Formula C, but on the other as a Formula B. The photograph in CP&A appears to show a long-chassis Brabham, so a BT2, BT6 or BT9. In 1970, a Bruce Kearsley appears in Northern Pacific Division results, again in a Brabham, scoring six points in FB Nationals as a member of North West Region. Public records suggest this could well be the same man, as a Bruce P Kearsley born in Massachusetts in 1940 was recently a resident of Minden, NV. Enquiries are underway.
7. Cooper T75 (Lee Sacks): Lee Sacks (Owings Hills, MD) bought an ex-F2 Cooper from a dealer in Annapolis, MD, fitted a 1100cc Renault Gordini engine and raced it in Formula C in 1968, 1969 and 1970. Photographs appear to show a 1965 Cooper T75 but the car's movements in 1966 and 1967 are as yet unknown. Lee moved into IMSA Formula 100 in 1971, and does not remember who he sold the Cooper to.
8. McLaren M10A [300-09] (Bob Esseks): See full history: McLaren M10A 300-09.

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

Pit Talk July 1969 p8.