Herald Traveler National Races (New England Region SCCA National)

Thompson Speedway, 14 Jun 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. 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.
3. Lotus 32 (Carl Whitney): Carl Whitney (Forge Village, Mass) raced a Lotus 32 in SCCA Formula C from 1970 to 1972. He had bought the car from Bill Rutan, one of two that Rutan acquired, and it was still in quite original condition when he received it. Ray Gorski Jr acquired it for 1973, again in FC, and it was raced in Formula B by John Stowe in 1974. Stowe advertised it with a fuel-injected Hart twin cam but also with its original SCA engine. Subsequent history unknown.
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. 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.
6. Brabham BT29 [30] (Dexter Farley): After crashing his FC car at Lime Rock in August 1969, Dexter Farley (Waldorf, MD) part-exchanged the wrecked Brabham for a new Brabham BT29 from east coast dealer Joe Grimaldi, who had recently parted from Fred Opert. Farley drove the car in Pro events in 1970 as well as competing in NEDiv FB races. He retained it for 1971 when Tom Reddy raced it a couple of times and advertised it as "ser no 30" in October 1971. He also had it in the early part of 1972 before moving to Washington state and quitting racing. The next period of the car's life is unknown but it has been identified as the BT29 bought around 1974 from Bill Wonder by engine preparer Ted Wenz and raced in 1975. Wonder had been running it for a woman driver, which must mean Diana Black (Kew Gardens, NY) who raced a Brabham BT29 in NEDiv FB in 1973 and 1974. Wenz later sold it to Texas but it re-emerged in the 1980s and was recently owned by Peter McLaughlin (Hannover, NH).
7. Cooper T76 (Don Ward): Don Ward (New Haven, CT) drove a Cooper-BMC in Formula C in 1969 and a Cooper-Ford in 1970. In Sep 1972, he advertised a Cooper T76 rolling chassis and it is presumed that this is the car he had raced in 1969 and 1970.
8. Lotus 59C [59-FB-15] (Vincent Dileo): In 1970, John F. Sirmons (Weston, CT) and Vincent Dileo (Greenwich, CT) shared a Lotus 59C, Sirmons driving it in rounds of the SCCA Continental Championship, and Dileo competing in SCCA Nationals and in Area 1 Regional Championship races. This is almost certainly the car used by Ian Ashley to win a libre race at Brands Hatch in November 1969, as the car was said to be for an American customer, and Sirmons' car was later said to be a former Ashley car. Dileo won two Area 1 races at Thompson Raceway in July and August, but Sirmons had little success in Pro events. Sirmons and Dileo acquired a Lola T240 for 1971, and the Lotus is likely to have gone to Lola agent Carl Haas in trade. The car is unknown in 1971, but may have remained in stock with Carl Haas, because at some point in 1972 it was acquired from Haas by Phil Raeder (Delmar, NY), his Formula C Lotus 35 being traded in the other direction. Raeder fitted a Renault Alpine Gordini engine and ran the car in Formula C, qualifying for the Runoffs in 1973 where he finished in an impressive fourth place. He was entered during this time by Terri Novotny. Raeder then updated the car with Lotus 69 bodywork and other modifications and ran it as the PRD in 1974 and 1975, still with its Gordini engine. Pearce Raeder recals that the car was then sold to Walter Nelson (No. Haledon, NY/Great Neck, NY). Nelson raced a Lotus in Northeast Division Formula C in 1976, 1977 and 1978. Photographs show that it had Lotus 69 bodywork but Lotus 59 front suspension mounts, consistent with it being the ex-Raeder car. The car was later acquired by Chuck Sieber (McLean, VA), who used it in Solo II events from 1981 to 1989. He had bought the car less engine, and used a 1760 Ford twin cam, followed by an 1840cc BDA. Sieber sold the car to Ian Giles (Didcot, Oxfordshire) at the end of 1990. Its history over the next six years is unknown, but by 1996 it had been acquired by Peter Studer in Switzerland, and he restored it to F2 specification, using the Gold Leaf Team Lotus livery that was used in Formula 3. The car was still owned by Studer when he died in May 2018.
9. 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.
10. McLaren M10A [300-09] (Bob Esseks): See full history: McLaren M10A 300-09.
11. Brabham BT29 [12] (Dale Lang): Dale Lang (Wilton, CT) drove a crimson Brabham BT29 during the latter half of the 1970 season but the early chassis number suggest that the car have seen service before Lang's first observed race at Road America 18 Jul 1970. Fred Harris also drove Lang's car on at least one occasion. The car passed to east coast wheeler dealer Joe Grimaldi (Glenrock, NJ), presumably in trade for the new March 712M that Lang bought, and then on to Charlie J. Derbes III (Metairie, LA) who raced BT29-12 in two Nationals, at Summit Point 18 Apr 1971 and at Savannah 16-17 May 1971, but crashed heavily at the latter race. Charlie has retained the car but it remains unrebuilt to 2012.
12. March 705 [2] (William Prout Jr): New to Bill Prout (Ivoryton, CT) and raced in Formula B in 1970. At Bryar in October, Prout became the first person to win a race in North America in a March. For 1971, Prout repainted the car black, but the first real changes were made to it in 1973, when he updated it to 1973 bodywork. In a long career with the car, Prout set the absolute course record at the 1.8 mile course at Pocono in 1971, and set the FA lap record at Bridgehampton in 1974. By the end of his five seasons with the car, it had 73B bodywork with a 1974 F2-style nose, but with the nose cut to accommodate a front radiator, and large homemade sidepods. Sold to Jack Marsella who raced the unaltered "705/41" in a EMRA Formula B race at Bridgehampton in September 1975, and in a New England Region SCCA Regional at Bryar the following May. Subsequent history unknown but eventually the car came into the hands of Charlie Grasso. By the time he died, around 2020, the car had sports car bodywork, suggesting it was used in C Sports Racing, but exactly how it had been used remains unknown. In December 2021, it was sold to Jeremy Ghent (Lancaster, South Carolina). It was identified from its Arch Motors number, but work continues to determine its full history.

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 4 Jul 1970 p11, official results kindly provided by New England Region archivist Donna Stevens. Rand shaved almost a second off the FC lap record