SCCA National (Washington Region)

Summit Point, 12 Apr 1970

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT29 [8] (Bob Welch): R. C. 'Bob' Welch (Alexandria, VA) ordered one of the earliest Brabham BT29s but his car did not arrive 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.
2. 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 of Grand Prix Classics (La Jolla, CA) 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.
3. McLaren M10A [300-09] (Bob Esseks): See full history: McLaren M10A 300-09.
4. Brabham BT21B (Russell Freed): Russell Freed (McKees Rock, PA) raced a Brabham in SCCA Formula C from 1970 to 1975. In 1972, he had moved to Coraopolis, PA and was entered by Bonnie Freed. He qualified for the Runoffs in 1970, where his car was identified on the entry list as a Brabham BT21B.
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 BT29 [25] (Harry Reynolds): This is believed to be the blue #74 Brabham BT29 raced by Tim Schenken at Sebring on 28 December 1969. Then to Harry Reynolds (Pottstown, PA) and fitted with 1100cc Cosworth SCC for SCCA Formula C. A regular FC class winner in SCCA Nationals in 1970, but retired from the SCCA Runoffs. Retained for 1971, and again a regular class winner in SCCA Nationals, and this time won the FC class in the combined FB/FC race at the SCCA Runoffs. He continued to dominate FC, winning the FC race at the 1972 SCCA Runoffs, and finishing second in 1973, and third after an engine problem in 1974. After the 1974 SCCA Runoffs, he announced that it was his last race. The subsequent history of the Brabham is unknown, but it is understood to be the BT29 raced by Larry Yeager (Reading, PA) in FC in 1977 and 1978. By 1982, the car had been acquired by Gary Dausch (Indianapolis, IN), who sold it to James King (Belleville, IL) in 1984. King raced the car regularly in US historic racing, initially with a Cosworth BDA engine. After being parked for a number of years, King had it rebuilt to Formula B specification, appearing for the first time in this specification at Road America in May 2008. The car was then rebuilt in 2010 by John Rogers Racing using a new frame fabricated by J&L Fabricating, and King only used it rarely after that. It was sold by King via Mark Leonard of Grand Prix Classics (La Jolla, CA) in March 2013 to Peter McLaughlin (New Hampshire). Sold to Grant Perryman (Australia) in 2017, and then sold again from Perryman to Robert Hancock (Erie, CO) in December 2017.

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

Straightpipe May 1970 pages 6D, 7 contained full results; also Competition Press & Autoweek 2 May 1970 p7. [WG2022]