SCCA National (New England Region)

Bryar Motorsport Park, 5 Sep 1971

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Lotus 69 [71/69.4.FB] (Bob Hebert): New to "J Silver" in March 1971 with red bodywork according to the Lotus built record. This would have been John Silver, owner of the Barrington House restauarant in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, who sponsored Bob Hebert (Monterey, MA). Raced by Hebert in Northeast Division SCCA Nationals in 1971 and 1972. Sold to George Liebman Jr (New York, NY), who raced it in New England Region NARRC Formula B at Lime Rock in April 1973, but it appears it was borrowed back by Hebert for the Lime Rock National on 7 July where he raced it with Liebman's entry number #77. Then raced by Liebman at a New York Region SCCA Regional at Bridgehampton in October 1973, having earlier been entered in such a car for the Pro FB race that supported the Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. Subsequent history unknown, but Jeff Hailand (Clayton, MO) ran a Formula B Lotus 69 in historic racing between 2014 and 2018 that was registered with the Lotus Formula Ford Register as chassis "71/69/4FB".
2. Lola T240 (John F. Sirmons): John Sirmons (Weston, CT) and Vincent Dileo (Greenwich, CT) shared a white Lola T240 in Formula B in 1971, Sirmons racing it in SCCA Nationals and Dileo in Canadian FB events in the latter part of the 1971 season. Dileo retained the car for 1972, racing in NEDiv SCCA FB events and in the Pro event at Watkins Glen in August. Bought from Dileo by Tom Frasca in 1974 but a year later crashed at Lime Rock and totalled. Frasca scrapped the tub and parted out the other components.
3. Brabham BT29 (Wayne Ricciardi): Wayne Ricciardi (N. Haldon, NJ) raced a Brabham in NEDiv Formula B in 1971, his car being identified as a BT29 in the CP&A report on the June National at Thompson. He appeared on the entry list for the Watkins Glen National in August as #17 entered by Raceshop (Midland Park, NJ) in a yellow Brabham.
4. Brabham BT29 [2] (Ken Duclos): Fred Ashplant (Franklin Lakes, NJ) ordered a Brabham BT29 for 1969 but the car was not delivered until August and Ashplant had moved on to other projects. The car was not used during 1969 and was still in its crate when sold to Ken Duclos (Boxboro, MA) for use in NEDiv Formula B. Duclos won the title with a massive 48 pts from the similar BT29 of Bob Welch. After a quiet season with the black BT29 in 1971 he reclaimed his title in 1972, beating the newer March of Michael Rand. He bought a new Brabham BT40 for 1973 and won the divisional title again that season. The BT29 went in part exchange to Fred Opert and from him to Peter Gates (Wilmington, DE) who ran it in NEDiv FB for three more seasons. After him it went to Ken Valan (Wilmington, DE) for 1976, winning the FB class of the Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series (MARRS) based at Summit Point, then to John Galson (Glen Mills, PA) and was then sold to the Midwest where it was expected to be converted into a sports racer. Subsequent history unknown.
5. Brabham BT29 (Mike Rand): Matt Spitzley (then from Aspen, CO), had a Brabham BT29 for 1970 entered by his Spitzford Racing team (Detroit, Michigan). For 1971 the car was sold to Mike Rand (Riverside, CT/Greenwich, CT) who raced it in NEDiv FB, finishing third overall. It then went to Peter Regna in New Jersey for 1972, after which Regna recalls selling it to Ken Duclos. Duclos, however, does not remember buying it.
6. 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.
7. Brabham BT29 [33] (Philip Geraldi): This Brabham BT29, believed to be chassis BT29-33, was bought new by Michael F. Hall (Chicago, IL) and used in SCCA racing where Hall won the 1970 CenDiv FB title. He also raced it in the Pro series in the latter half of the season. Hall retained the red-and-yellow BT29 for the first half of 1971 but replaced it with a new BT35 in August and sold the BT29 to Phil Geraldi (Valley Stream, NY), who had previously raced a LeGrand in NEDiv FB. Geraldi raced it for the rest of 1971 and in 1972 then sold it to Charles J. Derbes III (Metairie, LA) in the spring of 1973. Derbes won the SWDiv Formula B title in this car in 1974 and attended the Run-Offs, finishing 12th. He was second in the Division in 1975 and tied with Warren Pauge for the 1976 title. Chaz Derbes has retained the BT29 ever since, still owning it in 2012.
8. Chevron B17 [17.70.04] (Ron Cohn): New to New Zealander Bert Hawthorne and raced in British F3 using Holbay engines. Hawthorne wrecked the car in late May, and after trying a couple of other cars, settled on the new Tui F3 car. The Chevron was repaired at the factory and sold via Fred Opert to Ron Cohn (Modena, NY) to be used in SCCA Formula C in 1971. It was later sold to Bill Anspach (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) and is presumably the car he raced in 1973, 1974 and 1975, winning the FC class at the 1974 Run-Offs. To Sandy Brandt (Ft Lauderdale, FL/Pompona Beach, FL) for SEDiv FC in 1976 and 1977. To Ric Capone (Riviera Beach, FL) for FC in 1978, qualifying for the Runoffs, and advertised by him in October 1978. Subsequent history unknown. In 2017, a car with this claimed history was acquired from Ed Lamantia at Huffaker Engineering in the US by a customer of Damon Milnes in the UK.
9. 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.
10. Brabham BT21A (John Schwengerer): John Schwengerer (Westport, CT) raced a #76 Brabham BT21A in at least one SCCA National in 1968, when he was entered by Robert W. Hansen, and in Pro Formula B events in 1969 when he raced as #46. He did not score points in SCCA Nationals in either season. Schwengerer had previously driven a LeGrant-Alfa in a FB race in 1967, and prior to that he had driven an H Production Sprite. In 1971 a Joe Schwengerer (S. Norwalk, CT, just a few miles from Westport) drove a #46 Formula B Brabham in a National at Bryar, which is presumably the same car. Nothing more known.
11. Brabham BT29 (Dave Ober): Dave Ober (Suncook, NH) raced a Formula B Brabham BT29 in Northeast Division SCCA Nationals in 1971, ending the season with four points. He advertised the car in October that year, noting a HRE engine, but continued to race it in 1972, including the Pro FB race at Bryar that May. The car was red with yellow wings and raced as #45 in 1971 and #42 in 1972. Artwork of the car shows it wearing #21. Ober also raced a FB Brabham at a Regional in October 1970 but it is not known whether that was the same car. Nothing more known but the car's colour and the date Ober first had it are consistent with it being the former car of William Marsh (Muncie, IN).
12. 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.
13. March 703 [2] (Fred Ashplant): Described in March records as a Works F3 for Tom Walkinshaw, first run in early June 1970 and in Petonyer colours. Raced by Walkinshaw until he crashed it heavily at Brands Hatch at the end of August. Rebuilt on a new frame and presumably the car that Walkinshaw raced at Thruxton in November, his first race since the Thruxton accident. Almost certainly the car sold to Fred Ashplant (Wayne, NJ) and raced in SCCA Formula C in 1971, fitted with a 1000cc Lucas engine. However, at the Runoffs at Road Atlanta in November, Ashplant drove Walter Nelson's car, equipped with a 1100cc BDA built by Vegantune. In 1972, Tom Watson (Richardson, TX) acquired 703/2 and used it in Formula C at a few SCCA events in Southwest Division. He won the division in 1972, against minor opposition, and also qualified for the Runoffs in 1973. In 1974, the car was raced at least once in Nationals by "household engineer" Karen Watson (Richardson, TX), which was sufficient to qualify for the Runoffs. She placed 13th at Road Atlanta, the only woman out of the 440 qualifiers. In March 1975, the car went to David Carter (Tulsa, OK), and he won the Mid-Am Regional title in the car in 1975. He advertised it in December 1977 when it had a SCA engine, but still a Hewland Mk 8 gearbox. It was sold to Gerry Strickfaden (Los Alamos, NM) February 1978, who converted it to C Sports Racing specification with a Datsun engine. Acquired by Ben Treadway (Roswell, GA) from a friend in Atlanta, GA in 1984, and raced briefly as a CSR. In 1990, the car was restored to F3 specification for him by David Irwin, and raced once in SVRA in 1992. Sold in January 2005 to Patric Capon (Bickley, Kent). Sold by Capon in March 2009 to John Counsell (Coleby, Lincolnshire), who raced it in Historic F3 in 2010-2011. Counsell sold it in June 2012 to Simon Armer, who raced it in HF3 from 2013 onwards.

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

SCCA Sanction 71-N-40P. Official results kindly provided by New England Region archivist Donna Stevens.