Rocky Mountain 150

Continental Divide, 28 Jun 1970

Notes on the cars:

1. McNamara T500 ['1'] (Mario Andretti): New for Mario Andretti at the 1970 Indy 500 as the #1 STP entry. The car arrived late and did not get on track until 11 May, but crashed almost immediately when a universal joint broke and Andretti used a newer car for qualifying and the race. It was rebuilt to road racing specification with a 255 ci Ford engine and used by Andretti at Continental Divide in late June, where he won. Its last known appearance was at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July, when the radiators had been repositioned from the side to the back of the sidepods. It was damaged during the race when Andretti collided with Scooter Patrick's Eisert. It then turned into a show car for use in Europe. It was on display at the Jochen-Rindt-Show at Essen in December 1970, at a show in Stockholm in 1971, and at the Rothmans 50,000 at Brands Hatch in August 1972. In 1977, McNamara loaned a number of their show cars to different institutions and a #1 car, believed to be this one, was noted as being retained at STP Headquarters. Subsequent history unknown.
2. Eagle 69 [701] (Swede Savage): New for Dan Gurney to race at the 1969 Indianapolis 500 as the #48 Olsonite entry, fitted with a 318 ci Gurney Weslake Ford stock block V8. Finished 2nd at Indy and presumably the car in which Gurney finished 2nd at Continental Divide, 1st at Indianapolis Raceway Park, 1st and 2nd at Brainerd and 1st at Sears Point at the start of the 1970 season. It was also presumably the Eagle, still with Gurney Weslake Ford engine, that Swede Save raced at Continental Divide and Indianapolis Raceway Park later in 1970. At the end of the year the car was sold to Shelby-Dowd, a new team set up by Carroll Shelby and Al Dowd, based in the old Shelby headquarters in Venice, CA, and with Carroll Smith as crew chief. Drag racing champion Danny Ongais was the intended driver but he stepped down after crashing the car during practice at Phoenix in March. Jerry Grant took over the drive and qualified the car at Indy, only to be bumped from the field. It was raced by Jim Malloy at two races later in 1971, and advertised by Al Dowd in December. Apparently not used again as the name of sponsor Norris Industries was still visible on the unrestored car in Walter Goodwin's workshop in 2014.
3. Coyote 69? ['69-1'?] (AJ Foyt): New for AJ Foyt at the 1969 Indy 500 as Ansted-Thompson Racing's #6 Sheraton-Thompson entry. Foyt qualified on pole position and finsihed eighth. Photographs indicate that he raced the car at Milwaukee in June, Trenton in July, Dover Downs in August 1969, Trenton in September, and Phoenix in November. He used a 1968 Coyote on short tracks and road courses that season. In 1970, this may well have been Foyt's early-season car. It was then driven by George Snider at Indy in 1970 as the #84 Sheraton-Thompson entry. Later in the season it was Foyt's road racing car at Continental Divide (probably) and at IRP in July, and the car he used at Milwaukee in August, when it had acquired an extra fuel tank on the left side. Assumed to be the car he drove at Phoenix in November. During this time it also had different fuel fillers to the other Coyotes. In 1971, it was used by Foyt at Phoenix in March, and was then Donnie Allison's #83 Purolator entry at the Indy 500 and presumably the #83 he drove a week later at Milwaukee. Its last observed outing with the team was as Foyt's car at Milwaukee in August 1971. For 1972, the car was sold to Lee Brayton (Coldwater, MI) and was the blue #61 Eisenhour Racing Coyote that he crashed during practice on 11 May. It was replaced by a 1970 Coyote and was not rebuilt. Brayton kept the damaged car in storage for many years until it was reported to have been sold some time around 2008. In 2016, it emerged that Bob Donahue (Indianapolis, IN) was the new owner.
4. Eagle 68 (Bobby Unser): Bobby Unser drove a 1968 Eagle for the Jud Phillips side of the Leader Card team in 1968 and 1969, and had major accidents at Mosport Park in June 1968 and in testing at Riverside in December 1968. Either this car, repaired, or a new car was then raced by Unser on road courses in 1969. In 1970, Mike Mosley drove a car for the AJ Watson side of the Leader Card operation that was identified as the 1968 Unser car, but whether that was the same car as the one Unser had driven in 1969 is unclear, but it assumed here for now that it was. Unser then drove a 1968 Eagle at Continental Divide and Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1970, which has to be a different car to the Mosley car. Its origins are not yet resolved. This was almost certainly the car driven by Steve Krisiloff at Ontario in September 1970 and by Jim McElreath in November. This car was also transferred to the AJ Watson operation and was raced by Mike Mosley at the Indy 500 in 1971 when it was identified in Carl Hungness's Yearbook as a car that had not previously raced at the Indy 500 but had been used "on the trail" by Unser. This car was comprehensively destroyed during the race when Mosley crashed into the outside wall and cannoned across into three retired cars parked against the inside wall. Mosley was hospitalised with a broken leg and elbow as well as serious burns.
5. Colt-Lola T150 [SL150/2] (Al Unser): New to Al Retzloff for his Retzloff Racing Team, prepared by George Bignotti and entered at the 1968 Indianapolis 500 as the #5 Retzloff Chemical car. The car was in two-wheel drive specification for this race, with lead driver Al Unser also having SL150/1 available in 4WD specification as the team's #24 entry. Unser damaged SL150/2 in practice, and raced SL150/1, leaving teammate Carl Williams out of a drive. The car was returned to England for repairs, and was returned in time for the twin races at Indianapolis Raceway Park, both of which Unser won, with the car now in 4WD specification. He also raced it in the twin races at Mont-Tremblant two weeks later, but crashed in the second race and severely damaged the rear suspension. Unser raced it several more times that season. The team was transferred to Parnelli Jones and Vel Miletich's Vel's Parnelli Jones Ford team (Torrance, CA) for 1969, including both Unser and Bignotti, and this car was Bud Tingelstad's #15 drive at the 1969 Indy 500. It was then raced by Jim Malloy and Unser later that season, but its exact usage in 1969 is still to be resolved. In 1970, it was retained by the team, modified along the lines of Bignotti's new Colts, and was raced by Unser on road courses, winning at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July. For 1971, it was sold to Agajanian Faas Racers, and raced as the team's #98 entry by Sammy Sessions. When Agajanian and partner Leonard Faas separated, Faas kept the car and it became his #11 King O'Lawn Special later that season. It appeared once more, at Ontario in September 1972, where Bruce Walkup drove it during practice as the #51 King O'Lawn Special. In 1978, it was sold to Milt Jenson, and in 2000 he sold it to Michael & Danna Huntley-Lashmett. They sold it in 2002 to Harvey Cluxton, who sold to a Nevada car museum which closed in 2007. After that, it was sold to Bill "Speedy" Smith for his Speedway Motors Museum in Lincoln, NE.
6. Eagle 68 [403] (Jerry Grant): Jerry Grant drove for Tom Friedkin (Houston, TX) at Indy from 1967 to 1969, getting new Eagles in 1967 and 1968. Having driven for Marvin Webster for much of 1969, Grant returned to the 1968 ex-Friedkin Eagle for 1970, when he qualified it at Indy in Nelson Iron Works colours, with John Gorman and Gary Duff (both from Seattle) as his mechanics. Grant set up his own team for 1971, Jerry Grant Racing Enterprises, with the 1968 Eagle and again employing Gorman and Duff. He entered the car for the 1971 Indy 500 as the #78 Farrell's Ice Cream car, but it was driven by Sam Posey after Grant was employed by Shelby-Dowd to race a newer Eagle. Posey qualified but was later bumped. It was used by Jerry Grant a few times later in 1971, including at the USAC Road Racing event at Seattle. It then joined Marv Webster's stable and was still with him in 1973, awaiting a rebuild. Subsequent history unknown, but according to Chris Wilke, scion of the Leader Cards family, this was chassis 403 and has now been restored as Bobby Unser's Indy 500 winner and is the car on display in the Unser Racing Museum (Albuquerque, NM). The car still carries its original '403' chassis plate. This may be the yellow 1968 Indy Eagle that Joe Baird (Shelbyville, Indiana) acquired from Bob LaWarre in Florida as part of a package of cars in the 1990s. Baird sold the Eagle to Al Unser.
7. Eagle 68 [405] (Gordon Johncock): The #42 AAR entry for Denny Hulme at the 1968 Indy 500 with Olsonite backing and fitted with a 255ci Ford V8. Sold after Indy to Gordy Johncock's Gilmore-backed team and raced at the Mosport Park race in mid-June but crashed and "extensively damaged". It was reported that Johncock returned to Eagle for two new cars but it would appear that the original car was repaired. Johncock used the Eagle-Ford at all the other road course events in 1968: at Continental Divide, IRP, Mont-Tremblant and Riverside. In 1969, he raced it at Continental Divide, IRP and Brainerd, winning at Continental Divide and finishing first and second in the two Brainerd races. He retained it for road courses again in 1970 at Sears Point, Continental Divide and IRP. It was last seen in Johncock's hands at IRP in July 1970. This car then went to Ray W Smith (Eaton, OH), who fitted it with a 206 ci turbocharged Chevrolet engine and entered it as the #70 Smith Speed Shop Special for Tom Bigelow (Whitewater, Wisc.) to drive at Indy in 1972, but Bigelow did not complete his rookie test. It was at Michigan in July, but Bill Puterbaugh did not qualify. Smith returned to sprint racing, and the Eagle is then unknown for some years until it was located and purchased by Roger Rager (Mound, MN), who had heard about changes to stock block rules for the 1979 Indy 500, and thought it could be competitive. He fitted a 355 ci Chevrolet engine and impressed many by getting the car over 181 mph during practice, but did not make a qualifying attempt. Later in the season he raced the car at Milwaukee in June, TWS in July, and Milwaukee again in August. At some point this car must have returned to AAR as it is now in the Gurney family's collection wearing the 405 chassis plate. It was restored as Dan Gurney #48 car, and is usually on display in the AAR museum but in 2011 it was on display at Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, CA), in 2017 it was was part of the Gurney Exhibition at the Petersen Museum in 2017, and in mid-2018 it was on display in the Lyon Air Museum in Santa Ana.
8. Eagle 68 [401] (John Mahler): Sold new to Lindsey Hopkins for Roger McCluskey to drive in 1968 as the #8 G. C. Murphy entry. McCluskey also drove Hopkins' older 1967 Eagle during the season and the '68 car was mainly used for road courses. McCluskey moved to AJ Foyt's team for 1969 and the activities of the Eagle for most of that season are unknown. It was raced by Wally Dallenbach as Hopkins' #22 Sprite entry at the Riverside 300 in December 1969, but was not retained as part of the Hopkins stable after that. John Mahler (Bettendorf, IA) acquired the car, and it was his #100 Eagle-Chev in 1970 and early 1971 before he acquired a McLaren M15A. He retained the Eagle as a backup for 1972, racing it at Trenton in April, and it was taken by Mahler to the 1972 Indy 500 as a backup. It was later the #34 rear-engined car used by Mahler in a Sprint Car race at Winchester Speedway (Indiana) in July 1973, and was raced by Gary Bettenhausen at Winchester in October 1973. Its next owner was Tom Brewer (Roanoke, IN) during whose ownership it is said to have raced at Winchester and Salem (Indiana). Later from Brewer to Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) some time before 1998, but it is possible the car went via Robert Ames (Tigard, OR). Restored for Chuck by Walter Goodwin and appeared at the 1998 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
9. Gerhardt 67 (Max Dudley): Max Dudley (Auburn, WA) raced a Chevrolet-powered Gerhardt in Indy racing from 1969 to 1971, and then reappeared briefly in 1974. The car replaced a 1965 Halibrand Shrike that Dudley had raced in 1968 and early 1969, and which he sold to Bob Cavanaugh. Cavanagh's recollection is that the Gerhardt was new. (Curiously, Dudley was reported by Autoweek to be running the Halibrand Shrike at the Seattle USAC Road Racing Championship race in September 1971.) The only other time he appeared was at Trenton in early 1974 with a Gerhardt-Chev again. Dudley retained the Gerhardt until 1999, when he sold it to Bill Cammarano (Tacoma, WA). It was seen fully restored at the 2009 Seattle Historic Races when it was said to be a 1968 Gerhardt. Also at the Classic Car Races at Sears Point in June 2011. It was driven by Bill Watkins at the Victory Lane Historic Champ/Indy Car Showcase in June 2012. Cammarano died in September 2023, and the car was auctioned by Mecum in May 2023.
10. Eisert 68/69 (Jack Eiteljorg): New to Jack Eiteljorg (Englewood, Colorado) in 1968 for Formula A, and raced in SCCA Continental Championship and in SCCA Nationals. The car was also eligible for the USAC National Championship, and Eiteljorg raced it at Continental Divide and Mont-Tremblant. After using a Lola T140 for much of 1969, he returned to the Eisert for SCCA Continental Championship and in SCCA Nationals late in 1969. Retained for 1970, when he raced it in SCCA Continental Championship and in SCCA Nationals, plus the USAC road racing events at Continental Divide and Indianapolis Raceway Park. Raced also by mechanic John Barker at Bonneville Raceway Park in September 1970. Retained for one race at the start of 1971, then replaced with a Lola T192. Sold in May 1971 to Bill Tempero (Fort Collins, CO), who already owned the original 1965 Eisert that had been in New Zealand for several years. Tempero planned to keep the older car as a spare and race the ex-Eiteljorg car, so it is assumed here that's what happened. Retained by Tempero for 1972, when he used it mainly in SCCA Nationals, winning overall at Hutchinson Naval Air Station in June. Then very probably to Arlon J. Koops (Denver, CO), who raced a light blue #85 Eisert in SCCA Formula A in 1973, entered by Solazure IV Ltd. He was entered for the two Californian Pro F5000 races at the start of the season, but did not appear. He then raced it in Midwest Division SCCA Nationals that year, leading the opening lap at Hutchinson in July before retiring, and winning his class at Fort Sumner in September. He was apparently present for the Road America Pro F5000 race in July, but failed to set a practice time and did not start, so his only start in the L&M series in the Eisert was at Seattle in late September when he finished 12th. Subsequent history unknown.
11. Morris 70 (Dick Simon): According to Bob Sawicki who talked with Jeff Walther at the Walther Auction, the Walthers bought a car from George Morris for the 1970 season, and then had two more built for the 1971 season. The 1970 car appeared at the 1970 Indy 500 where Kevin Bartlett narrowly failed to qualify. Whether this was the second 1969 car or a new 1970 car is not clear. Photographs of the car at Indy in 1970 show a car very similar to the 1969 Morris used by MVS. It was raced for the rest of the 1970 season as the #77. Again according to Jeff Walther, this 1970 car was the #55 entry at Indy in 1971 and was then wrecked by Salt Walther during Indy testing in the fall of 1971.
12. Huffaker 66 (Ned Spath): New to Gordon Van Liew's Vita-Fresh Orange Juice team (Houston, TX) as the #11 entry for Chuck Stevenson, first appearing at the Indy 500. Stevenson's car was initially fitted with a normally aspirated Offy, but after engine problems on both his car and that of teammate Bobby Unser's, Stevenson's #11 Huffaker was fitted with a turbo Offy by chief mechanic Roy Reed. Just a day later, Unser took over the #11 for the last qualifying session and qualified for the race, leaving Stevenson to unsuccessfully attempt to qualify the supercharged #7. In mid-June, the #7 was destroyed in a towing accident, leaving Bobby Unser with only the #11 car. Unser left Van Liew's team part way through practice at Atlanta later that month, saying he did not trust the Huffaker. Joe Leonard drove the #11 at Atlanta, then Larry Dickson was employed by Van Liew for the rest of the season. He preferred the new Gerhardt that Van Liew had bought, and the Huffaker was driven later in the season by Sammy Sessions and Ronnie Duman. Van Liew then bought a Lotus 38 for 1967, and the Huffaker was not used again. It was next seen in 1969, when it was raced by Ned Spath in CRA and USAC events, fitted with a Chevrolet V8 engine and entered as the #95 Topaz Equipment Spl by car owner Carl Alleman (Redondo Beach, CA). The car was first mentioned as an entry for Spath in JC Agajanian's CRA Open Competition event at Hanford on 9 Feb 1969, when it was described as the car in which Unser finished eighth at the Indy 500, and was said to be Spath's first outing in a rear-engined car. The car was also backed by Alleman's company Alcast Foundry. Photographs confirm that the car was a 1966 model. Spath continued to use the car in 1970 when the car was identified as being part of Pat O'Reilly's Minnesota Serendipity team, still supported by Topaz Equipment, and appeared at least once in 1971 when he failed to qualify at Phoenix in March. The car was next mentioned in early 1972 when USAC News reported that it had been fitted with a "Turbo-Dome" rotary engine designed by Roger and Randall Hanson (Los Angeles, CA) with the intention of appearing in the USAC championship. Subsequent history unknown.
13. Brabham [Gilbert '1'] (Bill Simpson): The #28 Gilbert was the first Gilbert to appear in 1968 and was raced by George Follmer in the early races of that season as George R. Bryant's #28 entry. Follmer took over the sister #41 car at the Indy 500 and the #28 was run in practice by Rick Muther but crashed. After Bryant died in June 1968, the #28 reappeared at the end of 1968 when it was raced by Bill Simpson (Los Angeles, CA) at Riverside in December as his #28 Simpson Safety Equipment entry. Retained by Simpson for the 1969 season when it was fitted with a Chevrolet engine and used in both USAC and SCCA Formula A races. Raced regularly by Simpson again in 1970 as the #28 Carborundum-Kynol car in Indy races and last seen at Milwaukee in August. Sold in mid-1970 to Chuck Elliot (Playa del Rey, CA) who prepared it for Bruce Eglinton to drive at the Riverside USAC race. The car did not appear, but Elliott later used it in local SCCA Regional Formula A races. Advertised by Charles W. Elliott (Manhattan Beach, CA) as a "Gilbert-Brabham" in December 1974. Sold to Art Evans in 1985 and raced in vintage events from 1985 to 1987 by drivers including Jack Brabham and Rodger Ward. Evans started a restoration in 2001 but that stalled until the car was bought by Tim Kuchel (Adelaide, Australia) in 2005. It was then restored by Greg Mobbs in Adelaide. Sold in September 2016 to Steve Francis (New Milford, CT) and shipped to the US.
14. Eagle 68 [402] (Mike Mosley): Sold new to the Leader Card team and prepared by Jud Phillips and Tom 'Red' Herrmann for Bobby Unser to race in 1968 as the #3 Rislone entry. He won the Indy 500, but just two weeks later "wiped out" his 500 winner in an accident on only the third lap at Mosport Park. Unser used his two 1967 Eagles after that, and also in early 1969 until his new Lola T152 was ready. After the Lola was badly damaged at Milwaukee in June, Unser appeared in a 1968 Eagle at Continental Divide in July and at other road course events later in the season. At Riverside on 5 December 1969 his car was described as "the actual Indy winner". This car was transferred to the AJ Watson half of the Leader Card operation and was raced by Mike Mosley at the Indy 500 and at Ontario in 1970 as the #9 G. C. Murphy entry. For 1971, Watson acquired a second '68 Eagle, but Mosley wrecked this at the Indy 500. George Snider drove the original ex-Unser car at the Indy 500, and also drove it for the team later in the season, while Mosley was recovering from his accident. Photographs show that this was the car used by Mosley in the first two races of 1972, but the team had also bought the ex-Dan Gurney '68 Eagle from the Jim Robbins team, and it was that car that Mosley raced in the Indy 500. After his crash in the Indy 500, Mosley was again out of racing for some months, and Rick Muther drove the team's original ex-Unser car in four races in the summer of 1972. Mosley returned again in time for the Ontario 500, at which he raced his repaired Indy 500 mount. Photographs show that the ex-Robbins car was used at Ontario in 1972, and at Ontario in 1973, so it is assumed here that it was also used in the intervening races. The last race for the ex-Unser car was therefore at Milwaukee in August 1972. In January 1973, it was sold to the Indianapolis Speedway Museum, and by May 1973, it was on display as Bobby Unser's 1968 Indy 500 winning car. It has remained on display ever since, and still carries the 402 chassis plate.
15. Eisert 69 (Kevin Bartlett): New to Marvin Webster's Webster Racing and fitted with Webster's 319 ci stock block Ford V8 engine for Jim Malloy to drive in the California 200 at Hanford Motor Speedway in April 1969. It was later raced by Jerry Grant at Continental Divide, Indianapolis Raceway Park, Seattle and Riverside later that year. He also drove it at Phoenix in November but was too slow to qualify. Kevin Bartlett drove it at Sears Point in April 1970, then failed to qualify at the Indy 500, and later drove it at Continental Divide in June. Rob Grable raced it at IRP in July, after which it was not seen for over a year until Lothar Motschenbacher raced it at Seattle in August 1971, when it was still black with a red stripe, as it had been since new. Ronnie Bucknum tried it briefly in practice at Ontario, and then Johnny Parsons Jr crashed it while trying to qualify at Phoenix. Its last known appearance was when Don Brown drove it at Ontario in 1972, but again no attempt was made to qualify. According to a later Bonhams auction catalogue, the car was then stored by Webster until 1987, when he sold it to Tom Armstrong (Bellevue, WA). Armstrong restored it with a Gurney-Weslake V8 and used it in US historic racing from 1988 to 2003. It was offered for sale from 'the Tom Armstrong Collection' by Bonhams in August 2012, but did not sell.
16. Mongoose 70 (Lloyd Ruby): One of two new cars built by the Gene White team for 1970, both of which were raced by Lloyd Ruby during the season. The #12 car appeared at the start of the season and won at Trenton in April. Ruby was the fastest car in practice at Indy on several days in early May in this car before the #25 sister car appeared. Ruby started his qualifying run in this car and was averaging over 168 mph when the engine blew up on the final lap. After another abortive attempt in the #12 car he moved to the #25 car and qualified that instead. According to Hungness, the 1970 #12 was back at the Indy 500 in 1971, again numbered #12. However, a total of four 1970-type Mongoose chassis were built so how this particular car was used in other races is unknown. Three of these cars were acquired by Robert B. McConnell (Urbana, OH) and this #12 car remains in his collection in unrestored condition in 2014.
17. Gerhardt 66 (Steve Krisiloff): Having run a 1966 Gerhardt in 1967, Ken Brenn (Warren, NJ) acquired a replacement Gerhardt with 255ci Ford V8 engine for the 1968 season, and ran it for Bob Harkey at the Indy 500 as the #88 entry, where he was bumped. This car has been described as a 1967 Gerhardt, but Simmo Iskül's analysis shows it was built to a 1966 pattern and The Indy Star called it a 1966 car in 1970. It was driven later in the 1968 season by Bruce Walkup. It was then sold to Mike Krisiloff's American Racing Associates (Lake Hiawatha, NJ) and run for his son Steve Krisiloff backed by VTM Finishing. The Gerhardt ran as #112 in 1969 and #92 in 1970. At Indy in 1970, Hungness notes that it has an underpowered non-turbo Ford, given as a 225 ci in press reports. It last appeared at Michigan International Speedway in July 1970, after which it was reported that it had been stolen from the Holiday Inn at New Stanton, PA, while on its way back to New Jersey. Subsequent history unknown but reported to have been parted out.
18. Vollstedt 67 ['B'] (Art Pollard): New for 1967 and run by Vollstedt Enterprises as the #21 Bryant Heating & Cooling Spl in 1967 and 1968 with a 255 ci Ford quad cam engine. Driven by Jim Clark as the #21 Sperex entry at Riverside in November 1967. Acquired a turbo engine in late 1968 and continued to run as the #21 Bryant Heating & Cooling Spl in 1969 and then as Vollstedt Enterprises' #21 car in 1970 and 1971. Raced by Gordon Johncock as the #7 on some occasions in 1971, and last seen with the team at Phoenix in November 1971 when it was raced by Wally Dallenbach. Sold to Art Sugai (Ontario, OR) and entered at Phoenix in November 1972 as the #17 East Side Special for Kenny Hamilton, but he slid into guard rail during practice and the car was heavily damaged. The remains went to local car builders Tom Fox and Ron Yurich in 1976 who intended to use it to build a Super Modified but it remained with them, still unrepaired, until 2007 when purchased from Yurich's son John by Michael McKinney (Kennewick WA) together with friends Ron Hjaltalin and Marc Prentice. The car was restored over the next few years and was run at Indianapolis in May 2011.
19. Coyote [Lotus 38/4?] (Crockey Peterson): Built 1965 (fifth chassis built) from spares with symmetrical suspension and using some parts from the original 38/2. Used by Jim Clark at St Ursanne and Ollon-Villars 1965. For Jim Clark at the 1966 Indy 500 (#19 qualified 2nd, finished second). Sold to AJ Foyt and wrecked in practice at Milwaukee a week later when the suspension on the straight and the car hit the wall and burst into flames. Returned to Lotus in England and rebuilt; returned to Foyt August 1966 but no further results known in 1966. Likely to have been the #84 Lotus 38 used by Foyt in the opening races of 1967 at Phoenix and Trenton. Then used by Gary Congdon at the Indy 500 when he was bumped. With the other Foyt 38s wrecked, this last survivor was the car Foyt raced at Langhorne in July. Several years later, a ‘Coyote’ was raced in F5000 by Crockey Peterson, but photographs show that it was a Lotus 38, and it has been identified as 38/4. Later sold to Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) and then to collector James L. Jaeger (Cincinnati, OH). Run at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 1997, 1998 and 2000. On display in the Speedway Museum March 2009. Ran again at Goodwood 2011.
20. Eagle 69 [704] (Bud Morley): New for Denny Hulme to drive at the 1969 Indy 500 as the #42 Olsonite factory entry. Hulme ran second behind Mario Andretti for a while, before his clutch let go. Hulme was only entered for Indy but this is probably the car raced four times later in the season by Swede Savage, its original 159ci Ford quad cam turbo V8 having been replaced by one of the team's 318 ci Gurney Weslake Ford stock block V8s. Identified by a Laycock card as the Eagle-Ford of Bud Morley (Denver, CO) at the Speedway in 1970, crewed by chief mechanic Carroll Horton of ABC Engines assisted by Dick Corrow, and then said to be a car just purchased from Dan Gurney. Morley did not start after failing to complete his Rookie Test, but then fitted the car with a Chevrolet V8 and raced it at Continental Divide later in the season. He was unable to qualify the Eagle-Chevy at Phoenix in November 1970 and again in March 1971, after which he returned to F5000. The Eagle is then unknown until 1976, when Chuck Bartlebaugh (Rochester, MI) acquired an ex-Indy car directly from AAR, which he recalled was still set up for ovals. He entered it as as the #26 Bartlebaugh Eagle, a "1970 Eagle", at the Riverside F5000 race in October 1976 but failed to start. He set the 38th fast time in practice, but the throttle stuck open during practice and although Chuck was able to bring the car to a halt without injury, the engine was damaged and he could not start the race. Bartlebaugh, who later ran the Center for Wildlife at Missoula, Montana, said that his brother sold the car in the Chicago area, where it was to be raced on short ovals. According to the Indy Star, the car was sold by the Bartlebaughs to Dean Vetrock (Racine, WI) in April 1980. He fitted it with a 355 ci Chevrolet V8 and ran it in several Indy events, but the only time he qualified was in the poorly-supported USAC race at Pocono in June 1981. Sold by Vetrock to Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) in the fall of 1981 and later restored for him by Walter Goodwin. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June 2006 completely restored to Hulme's dark blue #44 livery. Bought late 2007/early 2008 by Doug Magnon and put on display in the Riverside International Automotive Museum (RIAM), also having occasional outings at historic events. After Magnon's death in February 2015 the car remained in RIAM until sold by RM Sotheby's at Monterey in August 2016 to Mike Moss (Ottsville, PA).
21. Vollstedt 66 [8] (Bob DeJong): Built for 1966 and raced by Billy Foster as the #27 Jim Robbins entry. Retained for 1967 and intended to be raced by Lucien Bianchi in 1967 but borrowed by Mario Andretti for the opening race of the 1967 season, only to crash it in practice. Bianchi was later bumped at the Indy 500. Raced by Jim Malloy for the rest of 1967 and for occasional races in 1968 and 1969. To Frank J Fiore's Fiore Racing Enterprises for 1970 and raced as the #43 by Bob DeJong and then in 1971 by Denny Zimmerman. Later entered by Fiore as the #43 again for Al Loquasto in 1972, Jerry Karl and Bob Harkey in 1973, and Karl Busson in 1974. Later sold by Fiore and the car passed through several collectors until purchased by the Fiore family in 2001. Fiore died in 2007 but his son Frank Fiore Jr (Dallastown, PA) continued with the car's long-term restoration. The car appeared in public for the first time in 45 years at the Vintage Celebration at Pocono Raceway in August 2017.
22. Mongoose 67 (Bruce Walkup): New to the G. C. R. team managed by Jim Rathmann and backed by two US astonauts. Entered as the #71 at the 1967 Indy 500 but crashed in practice by Bobb Johns. Reappeared as Milwaukee later in the year as the #76 for Gary Congdon when it had been converted from Offy to Ford power. Then sold to J.C. Agajanian and entered as the #98 Agajanian REV 500 for Billy Vukovich at Riverside at the end of the season. Retained as the #98 entry for Vukovich through 1968 except at the Indy 500 where it was the #97 entry for Gary Bettenhausen. Retained again for 1969, again as the #98 for Vukovich when it was used with Ford, Offy and Chevrolet engines. Retained again for 1970 but now as the #97 entry as the Agajanian team had a new Wolverine car as the #98. It appeared yet again in the middle of 1971, when it was raced twice by John Martin as the team's #97 entry. Then unknown until it was bought from Bob Jongbloed by an unknown owner as a "Brabham" but still wearing a USAC registration tag '71 - 97'. Identified by Dave Laycock from photographs as a 1967 Mongoose. Sold it 2012 to Butch Gilbert (Westley, CA) who started a restoration of the car to its 1969 livery.

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.

The foundation for this research is the work done by the late Phil Harms collating the results of all AAA, USAC and CART races, including the period covered here. His data was refined by Michael Ferner who added more information before making it available to OldRacingCars.com. Since the start of the USAC project on OldRacingCars.com in 2004, a wealth of further information has been gleaned from the Carl Hungness and Donald Davidson Yearbooks, Formula and On Track magazines, USAC News, National Speed Sport News and other published sources. Gerry Measures has also provided much information from his files as have others on TNF and Trackforum. Since 2009, the work of Simmo Iskül and others identifying cars from period photographs has has moved this research forward significantly.

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.