SCCA National (New England Region)

Bryar Motorsport Park, 6 Sep 1970

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. Chevron B15b [FB-69-4?] (Jim Grob): Jim Grob (Ft Lauderdale, FL but later Pompano Beach, CA) raced a Chevron B15b in Pro racing in 1969 and also scored 24 points in Northeast Division FB, representing Northern New Jersey Region. He retained the car for 1970 and again for 1971, then mainly focusing his efforts on SCCA Divisional racing in Southeast Division. He finished second to Hugh Kleinpeter's sister car in 1970 but then won the Division in 1971. He changed to a new Chevron B20 for 1972.
3. Lotus 59 [59-FB-12] (Bob Hebert): 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.
4. Brabham BT21B (Tom deLoughry): Thomas J. deLoughry (Cold Spring Harbor, NY) acquired a Brabham BT21B for Formula C in 1969. He retained this car through moves to North Haledon, NJ, in 1970 and Brooklyn, NY in 1972. Despite using a March 703 with 1.1-litre BDA engine in 1972, he returned to the 1-litre BT21B in 1973, and renewed his licence again in 1978, by which time he was living in Lithia, Florida, and raced the BT21B at Charlotte, Lime Rock, Roebling Road, and PBIR that season. Deloughry was 53 by this time. The subsequent history of the Brabham is unknown.
5. McLaren M10A [300-09] (Bob Esseks): See full history: McLaren M10A 300-09.
6. Brabham BT21 (Wayne Ricciardi): Wayne Ricciardi (N. Haldon, NJ/Winnetke, IL) raced a Brabham BT21 in Formula C races in 1970. He had previously raced a "BT21B" in FC in 1969 but that car had been heavily damaged at VIR in September 1969, leaving Ricciardi with a broken leg. Whether Ricciardi had needed a replacement car for 1970 is not clear but for now it is supposed that he did. Ricciardi advertised a BT21 with Lucas downdraft engine in September 1970, noting that it had recorded seven firsts, two seconds, and one third from 11 starts in Northeast Division in 1969. Unfortunately, at Lime Rock in October 1970 he was hit by James Carlson's LeGrand and flipped the car. Ricciardi and Joe Grimaldi were partners in "The Raceshop" which opened in January 1971 in Midland Park, NJ and if the BT21 survived, it is likely to have bene sold by this dealership. 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

Competition Press & Autoweek 3 Oct 1970 p11, official results kindly provided by New England Region archivist Donna Stevens.