SCCA National (Cal Club Region)

Willow Springs, 14 Mar 1971

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT29 [41] (Ron Dykes): Bought new by Allen Karlberg (Seattle, WA) and raced in Formula B in the Pacific Northwest in 1970. Sold to Dick Doherty (Hollywood, CA) for Ron Dykes (Marina del Rey, CA) to race in early 1971 SoPac Div SCCA Nationals, where he was unbeatable in the category, and then by Doherty himself later in 1971 and in early 1972. Believed to have gone to Byron Hatten (Altadena, CA) and raced by him some time between mid-1972 and mid-1973 after which it was bought by Frank Monise Jr (Pasadena, CA). Monise raced it in 1973/74 before crashing it heavily at Laguna Seca and wrecking the frame. He bought a second BT29 and eventually sold the remains of BT29-41 to Barry Blackmore (San Marino, CA) who had it rebuilt with a new frame fabricated by Wayne Mitchell and stamped 'W12191'. This rebuilt, rechassised car was sold to Australia and was with Mitch Evans (Auckland, NZ) by 2009.
2. Brabham BT29 [48] (Thomas E. Kornell): Sold new to Tom Kornell (Seal Beach, CA) and raced in SCCA Divisional and Pro Formula B in 1971 and 1972. Kornell added a sports car nose and a more substantial rollhoop amongst other changes. He ordered a Brabham BT41 for 1973 and the BT29 went to Fred Opert as a trade. Subsequent history unknown.
3. Brabham BT29 [1] (John Angus): John Angus bought the first BT29, ordering the car as early as late summer of 1968 but taking delivery in August 1969. He ran it in Regionals in late 1969 before participating in the Pro series in 1970. He swapped from a Vegantune to a Racing Services engine for 1971 and continued in Nationals. Angus continued with the car in 1972, when Ron Dykes also drove it in the Bogotá races and again in 1973, when the car continued to be competitive at National level. To Marc Bahner (Santa Ana, CA) for 1974, and rebodied by him with March bodywork. Raced by Bahner in local SCCA events in 1974 and 1975. Bahner retained the car for many years, advertising it in December 1996 as "absolutely new - needing paint and assembly".
4. Brabham BT18 (Ron Southern): Ron Southern (San Rafael, CA/San Jose, CA) raced a green-and-gold #24 Brabham in Formula C from 1970 to 1972. It was identified as a BT18 in 1970 but as a BT21B by the end of 1971. Southern bought a BT40 for 1973 and the BT18 was sold to Gayle Cox for 1973, who entered it as a BT18/21. Then to Dick Moody by 1976, who called it a BT21. Nothing more known.
5. Brabham BT23G [1] (Bob Gage): The history of this car is presently unknown before 1970 but probably the southern California car of Dave Webster, Lee Midgley and Bob Griffith. Then the #51 Brabham BT23G-Ford entered by B & D Racing Enterprises for Bob Gage (Fullerton, CA) at the April 1970 Riverside Pro race. He retired after just a lap with engine failure. Entered for Gage in the next two races, at the Riverside National in Feb 1971 and in a Regional at Riverside in April 1972 where he finished third and won the FB class. In 1973, Ron Lampley (Rialto, CA) had a red #51 Brabham, identified by Formula magazine at the end of the year as a BT23. Sold to Roy Nelson (Huntingdon Beach, CA) in 1975 or 1976 in exchange for Nelson's Titan Formula Ford and fitted with a Ford BDA and raced in FB until 1978. Returned to racing in 1980 (now classed as Formula A) and Roy recalls that he sold it at the end of that year to 'a young guy in San Diego'. Then unknown until 2010, when it was reported to be owned by Bob Swanson in Washington State, US.
6. Eagle Mk 5 [502] (Roy Woods): See full history: Eagle 'Mk 5' 502.

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

Finish Line April 1971 p1,8,9, Competition Press & Autoweek 3 Apr 1971 p20. Unusually, Finish Line gave full results.