Trenton Times 200

Trenton International Speedway, 21 Sep 1975

Notes on the cars:

1. Wildcat Mk 1 (Gordon Johncock): New for Gordy Johncock in 1975 as Patrick Racing's #20 Sinmast entry. Retained for 1976 and used by Johncock at short track events, winning at Trenton and twice finishing second at Milwaukee. Sold to Wildcat Racing Associates (Lynbrook, NY), a partnership of Frank Curtis, Gene Langsam and Walter Albert, with Curtis as chief mechanic and to be raced by Vern Schuppan as the #85 entry. The car was repossessed by lawyers at Pocono, and in August was sold to Danville barber Larry Cannon, who raced it for the rest of 1977 still entered as #85. Retained by Cannon for 1978, 1979 and 1980, qualifying for the Indy 500 in 1980. The car was again entered by Cannon in 1981 for guest drivers. Both Cannon's Wildcats were later bought by Maurice Kraines of Kraco and used as display cars at store openings and malls. Subsequent history unknown.
2. Coyote 74 ['74-1'] (AJ Foyt): New for the start of the 1974 season, and raced by AJ Foyt as Foyt Enterprises' #14 Gilmore Racing entry at Ontario, Phoenix and Trenton. Foyt crashed in practice at Trenton and returned to base. He then raced a new, second,1974 Coyote at the Indy 500, and the only times this older car was seen was as his #10 backup car used in practice for the Indy 500, and then as the #10 entry driven by George Snider at Michigan in September. This older car was almost certainly the team's backup car at the start of the 1975 season, when it was the #10 entry prepared for Joe Leonard at Ontario in March 1975, and raced by Rick Muther after Leonard failed a medical. Photographs show that the same car was used by Foyt at short track races that season: Phoenix in March, Trenton in April, Milwaukee in June and August, Trenton in September, and Phoenix in November. This car reappeared at the start of 1976, now updated with the same style of bodywork used on the other 1974 car the previous year, and was raced by Foyt at Phoenix in March, Trenton in May, Milwaukee in June, and Trenton In August, where Foyt clipped the wall and retired with broken suspension. The car was not seen at all during 1977, and probably not in 1978, although this still remains uncertain. This car was not in the Foyt auction in 1992, and its current whereabouts are not known. One possibility is that it was extensively rebuilt as the 1978 car.
3. McLaren M16C [5] (Johnny Rutherford): New for McLaren Cars to be driven by Johnny Rutherford as the #7 Gulf entry in 1973. He used this car at the Indy 500 but may have used M16C/2 (or even M16C/4) at other races that season. Raced again by Rutherford in 1974 as the #3 car, winning the Indy 500, but he used another M16C at short track events that year. This car then became Rutherford's short-track car in 1975 and 1976. Sold to George Walther to be Salt Walther #33 backup car at Indy in 1977 but how it was used that season is unknown. Entered by Walther at the 1978 Indy 500 as the #34 for Graham McRae but he was bumped. Sold by Walther to Rick Carroll (Jensen Beach, FL) and restored. Sold by Carroll's estate in 1990 via Sotherby's Palm Springs Auction for $495,000 to Patrick S. Ryan (Montgomery, AL). Loaned by Ryan to the IMS Museum but also attended various concours events while owned by Ryan. Repainted by Paintergeek Paintworks (Indianapolis, IN) in May 2013. Sold by Ryan through RM Auctions at Monterey in August 2013 for $3,250,000 to web entrepreneur Bill Oesterle (Indianapolis, IN).
4. Eagle 74 [7407] (Al Unser): New to Jerry O'Connell's team for 1974 and raced by Billy Vukovich as the #4 Sugaripe Prune Special, with Jud Phillips as chief mechanic. Presumably the car used through 1974 by Vukovich and then through 1975 by Mike Mosley but the team had older 1972 Eagles available and those older cars may have been used at some races. Used again by Mosley in 1977 but O'Connell also acquired a new Lightning for that season. After Pocono in July 1978 the Eagle was sold to Jim McElreath, who had damaged his ex-Patrick 1973 Eagle at that race. Identified by Simmo Iskül from photographs as McElreath's #23 in 1979, and presumed to be the McElreath Racing #23 right up to 1981, although the ex-Patrick car was also repaired and used again. Subsequent history unknown, but at some point in the next 30 years the car was acquired by Chuck Haines and restored to it original Sugaripe Prune livery. For reasons currently unknown, Haines advertises the car as chassis 74-08.
5. Wildcat Mk 1 (Wally Dallenbach): New for Wally Dallenbach in 1975 as Patrick Racing's #40 Sinmast entry. Retained for 1976 and used by Dallenbach in practice at the 1976 Indy 500 and raced by him at Trenton in August. Sold to Bobby Hillin's Longhorn Racing for 1977, and raced by George Snider as the #18 entry at most races that season, a 1974 Eagle being used at others. Retained by Longhorn for 1978, but neither Bubby Jones nor Billy Vukovich could get the car up to speed at the Indy 500 due to a handling problem. Jones raced it at Pocono in July, and then Canadian Cliff Hucul raced it at Ontario in September, but was eliminated in a collision with Steve Krisiloff. It appears that the Longhorn Wildcat was significantly remodelled during repairs, as it looked significantly different to a standard Wildcat Mk 1 when George Snider raced it at Phoenix in October. This remodelled car was owned and driven by Tom Frantz (Littleton, CO) in 1979, again wearing #18. It was sold to Ross Davis (Grand Junction, CO) for 1980, with backing from Jim Land and Jon Abrasom. He raced it at Ontario in March, but was refused a rookie test at Indy, and the drive was taken over by John Martin, who qualified but was bumped. Martin drove the car for the rest of the season. According to Bob Sawicki, "this car was destroyed when the trailer broke away from the truck and crash down a hill in 1980".
6. Riley 74 (Roger McCluskey): New for the 1974 season and entered by Lindsey Hopkins as the #1 English Leather entry for his reigning USAC champion driver Roger McCluskey. Retained for 1975 when it was the #15 Silver Floss Sauerkraut entry for McCluskey. Retained as a backup for 1976 when Mike Hiss drove it as the #11 Hopkins entry at Indy but did not qualify. Chuck Looper told Pete Klain that Hopkins traded three cars to Rolla Vollstedt, including the Riley, and Vollstedt sold it to Kenny Hamilton (Boise, ID) who fitted a Chevy engine and ran it as the #63 Spirit of Idaho in 1981, failing to qualify at Indy but starting at Riverside later that year. It then went to Terry Nish (Salt Lake City, UT) who used the suspension on a sprint car or supermodified. The chassis and other parts passed through several more owners until sold by Gary Trout (Zionsville, Indiana) to Pete Klain (Beverly Hills, MI). Klain visited Nish and bought the original uprights and started work on a complete rebuild with original fabricator Chuck Looper.
7. Eagle 72 [7226] (Jimmy Caruthers): According to AAR records, this car was originally sold to Doug Champlin & Fred Carrillo of Champ Carr, Inc. This is believed to be the team's #34 car for Sam Posey but he was bumped. The team then tried to disguise the #34 car as the team's backup #31 entry to allow Posey another try at qualifying, but the deception was spotted by IMS technical supervisor Frank DelRoy and both the #34 and #31 entries were disqualified. Photographs indicate this car was then used as a short track car for Jim McElreath in 1973. Carrillo retained the car during 1974, but it was not seen. In early 1975, it was repainted as Carrillo's "Spirit of Orange Country" entry, but finance could not be found, and it was sold to Alex Morales, who entered it as the #78 Alex Foods car for Jimmy Caruthers. Assumed to be the #78 car for the rest of 1975 and then the #78 Alex Foods second team car for Bobby Olivero in 1976. The team acquired a pair of new Lightnings for 1977 and the Eagle was not seen again. Unknown after November 1976. Nothing more is known until it was sold by Barry Green via Walter Goodwin to Kenneth Hodge (Ocala, FL) in 2004 to be fitted with a complete spare drive train that Ken had acquired from Smokey Yunick's 1973 Chevrolet turbo engine project.
8. McLaren M16B/A [B-3/A-2] (John Martin): McLaren Cars 1972 for Gordy Johncock (#24) and 'wrecked' at Ontario. Repaired and sold to John Martin 1973 (#89) and 1974 and 1975. Wrecked at Milwaukee June 1975 and tub "thrown in dumpster". Rebuilt using a M16A monocoque bought from Lindsey Hopkins, first appearing in this form at Pocono three weeks later, and raced by Martin to the end of 1975. This M16B/A was acquired by Danny Jones and Roy Dickinson in 1976 and rebuilt for the 1977 Indy 500. They were then joined by Bill Freeman Racing, appearing on the 1977 Indy 500 entry list as #30 Caesars Palace entry. Bob Harkey failed to qualify the car at Indy and it was raced by Johnny Parsons Jr later in the 1977 season. To Fred Ruth for 1978 and qualified for the Indy 500 by Jerry Sneva in 1978 as the #30 Smock Material entry. Ruth was joined and at some point as co-owner by Marv Schmidt. Returned again in 1979, entered by Thunder Racing and with Molly Mate sponsorship. It was next seen in 1981 when John Martin qualified at the Indy 500 but was bumped. Cliff Hucul ran it later that year as the #57. Then unknown until 1991 when it was owned by Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) and still in Hucul livery.
9. Eagle 72 [7228] (Johnny Parsons Jr): Supplied as a monocoque to Lloyd Ruby and his chief crew Mike Devin after Ruby had crashed chassis 7224 at Ontario. Chassis 7228 was built up using the components of 7224 and raced as Ruby's #18 Commander Motor Homes for the rest of the season. Retained in 1974 as a backup car to Ruby's new 1974 Eagle, but actually raced more often than the '74 that season. Sold to Anastassios "Tassi" Vatis, a Greek shipping tycoon and veteran Indy car owner, and run by Vatis's faithful chief mechanic Bill Finley for Johnny Parsons Jr in 1975. In 1976, the team had a "new" car built on an "unused" chassis, presumably 7224 as it still carries the 7224 plate today. However, 7228 remained the main car, Parsons' #93 Ayr-Way/Vatis entry in 1976 and 1977. In 1978, 7228 was modified with straight sidepods and radiators repositioned to the rear of the tub, matching the specification of 7224, after which they are hard to tell apart. John Mahler (Bettendorf, Iowa) bought the Vatis team in November 1978 with the support of longtime backer Richard Deutsch, and it is believed that 7228 was the #92 car that Mahler had bumped after qualifying. Retained as a backup in 1980 and 1981, then sold to Rick DeLorto (Wood Dale, IL) who attempted to qualify for several CART races in 1982. Then to John Griffith (Chicago, IL) 1983, then Steve Burgner (Chicago, IL) 1984, after which it was sold to Mountain View Motorsport Park in Colorado. It then passed to a dealer in Connecticut, from which Eric Camiel (Danbury, CT) bought it in 1991. Then unknown until acquired from Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) by John Mueller (Fresno, CA) in late 2005. Chuck is believed to have got it from Lilo Zicron (Burbank, CA). Extensively rebuilt by Mueller to standard specification. Sold to Rick and Alison Dresang (Hartford, WI) in May 2016.
10. Kingfish 72 ['2'] (Spike Gehlhausen): The second new 1972 Grant King car appeared for the first time at the Indy 500 as the #15 car for Steve Krisiloff. As the other 1972 car was destroyed in Merle Bettenhausen's accident at the 1972 Michigan 200, it would be reasonable to assume this is the 1972 Kingfish acquired by Carl Gehlhausen's Mid-West Manufacturing Dura-pot team. A Racing Pictorial photograph shows that it first appeared as the team's #58 entry at Phoenix in November 1972, but driver Larry Dickson did not start. It was raced as the #58 by Dickson at the start of 1973, and was driven by Johnny Parsons Jr, Arnie Knepper, Tom Bigelow and Tom Sneva later that season. The Gehlhausen team only made a couple of appearances with the Kingfish in 1974, but made a more concerted effort in 1975, with the Kingfish now as the #38 entry, raced initially by Jerry Karl, and then by Al Loquasto, Jerry Sneva and Mike Hiss (who crashed it) in practice for the Indy 500. Spike Gehlhausen, Carl's son, was then given his first chance in the car after the 500 and kept the drive to the end of the season. The Gehlhausens then acquired a McLaren M16 as the #19 Spirit of Indiana entry, and the Kingfish acted as backup until an Eagle was acquired in mid-1977. Subsequent history unknown but at some point the car was repainted with Sta-On Glaze livery, Gehlhausen's 1979 sponsor. By 2008, it was part of a collection of unrestored Indy cars owned by Walter Medlin.
11. Eagle 72 [7212] (Dick Simon): To Dick Simon, fitted with a Foyt-Ford V8 turbo engine and first raced as his #44 Travelodge entry at Phoenix in November 1972, where he was second fastest in Friday practice. Raced by Simon through 1973 and 1974 as the #44, retaining its Travelodge sponsorship until mid-1974. Returned in 1975 with Bruce Cogle Ford backing and in 1976 with Lan Hairpieces and later Robyn CB sponsorship when it was driven by Roger Rager. Not at Indy in 1977 but later in the year it was acquired by Nick Krantz and entered for Phil Threshie, still as the #44 but now with Mr. Golden Sunflower sponsorship. Crashed by Threshie in practice for the 1977 California 500 at Ontario and not seen again.
12. Eagle 70 [803] (Larry Cannon): New to the Jud Phillips half of the Leader Card team for Bobby Unser to race at the 1970 Indy 500. However, Unser preferred his usual 1967 car and the 1970 car was only used in practice. According to a later Hungness yearbook, the car was entered as a spare in 1971 and in 1972 and raced at least once during those three seasons, by Rick Muther in the 1972 California 500. Acquired by Gus and Richard Hoffman (Milford, OH) of Hoffman Racing and entered for Larry Cannon in 1973 as the #59 PEP Gas Treatment Spl. Returned in 1974 and qualified for the 500, now with American Financial Corp backing. Used again in 1975 before the team acquired a newer 1973 Eagle for the 1976 season. Subsequent history unknown but the ex-Unser, ex-Cannon car advertised by Robert Pass (Maryland Heights, MO) in 1992, having been restored by Jim Robinson. Later advertised by Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) as being chassis 803. The car had been restored to Cannon's 1974 livery.
13. McLaren M16C [4] (Tom Sneva): The history of this car in 1973 and 1974 remains unproven, but believed to be new for Peter Revson as McLaren Cars' #15 entry at the 1973 Indy 500. Crashed by Revson and it is unclear when the car returned to the team. Almost certainly Johnny Rutherford's black rollhooped short track car in 1974. McLaren records show that M16C/4 was sold to Roger Penske in November 1974. Raced by Tom Sneva in 1975 as the #68 Norton Spirit entry after his original M16C was wrecked at the Indy 500. Used again by Sneva as his #68 car during 1976, and appears to have been the #68 driven by Mario Andretti in two late-season races. Sold to Bill Simpson with M16C/3 and became part of Teddy Yip's Theodore Racing team in 1977 as their #38 car, raced by Clay Regazzoni at the Indy 500 and by Rick Mears later in the season. Unknown in 1978 but reappeared in 1979 as Bill Alsup's #41 WASP Racing car. Raced by Phil Caliva for Alsup Racing in 1980 as the #47 and at Indy 1981 where it was "extensively damaged" on 12 May in an accident during practice. Not seen again.
14. McLaren M16C [M16-1?] (Al Loquasto): To Roger Penske at the 1971 Indy 500 for Mark Donohue (#66 Sunoco). Donohue retired from the Indy 500 but his car was later "destroyed" when Mike Mosley crashed his Eagle into it. It was said that nothing was salvageable and a new car (M16-4) was built in time for Pocono. However, detailed study of photographs establishes that M16-1 was rebuilt and was raced by Gary Bettenhausen for Penske at short-track races in the first half of 1972. Sold to Roy Woods Racing for John Mahler (#74) at Ontario 1972 but wrecked in the race. Not seen again until entered by Roy Woods for David Hobbs (#73) at Ontario September 1973 then for Mahler (#74) at the 1974 Indy 500 but DNQ. It had been updated to M16C form during this time. Sold to Al Loquasto, replacing the M16B he had previously raced, and used from 1975 to 1978 as Loquasto's #86 Frostie Root Beer entry. Loquasto may have used his M16B at some tracks, but no photographic evidence has yet been found for that. Sold by Loquasto to Robert W. LaWarre Sr. (Titusville, FL) for Tony Bettenhausen II (#86 Tilton) late 1979. History then unknown until the M16 was bought from someone in Florida by Joe Baird (Shelbyville, IN) and a partner in the 1990s, when the car still had Loquasto and LaWarre bodywork. Sold via Jim Mann and Steve Truchan to former Formula Atlantic driver Glen A. Smith (Rockwall, TX) and retained by Smith until his death in 2008, after which his wife sold it to Bob Boyce (Michigan City, Indiana).
15. Eagle 72 [7221] (Steve Krisiloff): New to Leader Card Racers in time for the TWS race at the start of 1973. Raced by Mike Mosley as the #98 Leader Card entry. Then taken to the Indy 500 as a backup, renumbered #97, and qualified by Rick Muther. It was then Mosley's short track car, and raced by Muther at Pocono and by Johnny Parsons Jr at Ontario and at the late-season races. Presumably for Parsons again at Ontario in March 1974. Then Mosley's short track car when he wasn't using his new 1974 Eagle. Signs of repairs to the left side of this car allow it to be identified from 1975 onwards. It was raced by George Snider as the #97 at Ontario at the start of 1975, then by Steve Krisiloff in the Indy 500 as the #98 and later in the season as the #98 and then the #10. For 1976, the car was sold to Patrick Santello and was his #65 City of Syracuse or S&M Electric entry that season for Larry Dickson and Lee Kunzman. Then to Gus and Richard Hoffman (Milford, OH) of Hoffman Racing for 1977 and entered for Jerry Grant and later Joe Saldana as the #69. Driven again by Saldana in 1978 and 1979. Also appeared once for Bob Frey in 1980. Reappeared briefly in 1982 when it was entered by George T. Smith's GTS Racing as the #86 Empress Traveler for Al Loquasto. Sold by Smith to Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) who sold it to Bob Colllings (Boston, MA) in April 1985. Retained by Collings and now forms part of the auto collection in The Collings Foundation (Stow, MA).
16. Eagle 68 [406] (John Hubbard): Roger Penske bought a road-racing version of the 1968 Indy Eagle and Mark Donohue raced it at Mosport and Riverside that season with a Chevrolet V8. It went to Weinberger Homes for 1969 and was driven at Indy by Ronnie Bucknum. It was not seen in 1970, but then went to Arnie Knepper and became his #90 C.H.E.K. Racing entry in 1971 and 1972, and finally his #45 entry at the 1973 Indy 500. It was then the LaWarre Precision Eagle entered by Robert W. LaWarre Sr (Titusville, FL) for Larry Rice and John Hubbard in 1974 and 1975. The Eagle was then retired but remained in LaWarre's ownership until his death in April 1997, after which it was bought by Joe Pirrotta (Palm City, FL) in 1999. The Eagle was fully restored to Penske livery and appeared at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in 2005.
17. Peat-Lola 71 (Tom Frantz): Built by Wally Peat for Dick Simon (Salt Lake City, UT) and first appeared at the Ontario race in September 1971 as the #10 TraveLodge Sleeper Special. Raced by Simon through 1972 until he acquired a new Eagle near the end of the season. The Peat-Lola was then sold to Tom Frantz (Littleton, CO) who entered it for the 1973 Indy 500 for Bruce Jacobi to drive, but was turned away. After using the car in supermodified racing, Frantz returned to Indy racing with the car in 1975 as the #96 Spirit of Idaho entry, using a Chevrolet engine. He may then have driven it briefly in 1976, but photographs found so far indicate that his #72 Custom Motor Home entry was an Eagle-Foyt. The next few years of the Peat-Lola's life are unknown, but by June 1980 it had been modified by Keith McArthur, to use in supermodified racing at Bonneville Raceway Park's ⅓-mile oval, "chopping" the chassis and modifying the aerodynamics. In July 1980, after McArthur had tested it a few times, it was acquired by Kent Knowley, Marc Sullivan and Wes Brunner Sr for Brunner's son, Wes Brunner Jr to race, and he quickly came to dominate local Salt Lake Valley Racing Association events. Brunner crashed the car heavily in early July 1981, but it was rebuilt by Knowley and Sullivan, and raced again in August. Brunner continued to race the car in 1982. After Brunner died in early 1984, the car was raced for Knowley and Sullivan by Jeff Nish, who set a new track record of 15.074s at BRP in May 1984. Its subsequent history is unknown, but some years later the car was acquired by Duncan Fox. At that time, it carried the name of Beehive Bail Bonds, owned by Gary Walton in Salt Lake City, suggesting it had remained in the Salt Lake area to the end of its racing career. Fox removed the engine and gearbox, and sold on the rest of the car.
18. McLaren M16C/D [6] (David "Salt" Walther): New in 1974 for McLaren Cars as a M16C/D for David Hobbs to drive at the 1974 Indy 500 as the #73 Carling Black Label entry. Sold to George Walther by early July for Salt Walther to drive and used as his main #77 car at the Indy 500 in 1975, 1976 and 1977. Walther had other McLarens during this time and he is likely to have used those on short tracks. Sold with M16C/2 to Jerry Karl for 1978 and entered as his #88 Offy car at the 1978 Indy 500 with Frank Fiore as chief mechanic and a #89 RasCar/Atlanta as his backup. This was Karl's car at Pocono, Ontario and Trenton later in 1978, and again at five races in 1979. It was modified as a "McLaren-Karl" for 1980 and 1981 but was wrecked at Riverside in August 1981. Karl then used his backup M16C/2 in the last few races of the season. Both M16Cs were sold to Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) and stored for some years, before undergoing a complete restoration in 2015. Appeared at the Historic Indycar Exhibition in May 2016 in immaculate Carling livery. To Rob Dyson (Millbrook, NY) of Dyson Racing c2017.
19. Eagle 74 (Duane "Pancho" Carter): New to Robert L. 'Bob' Fletcher's Cobre Firestone team and entered as the #21 car for Jimmy Caruthers in 1974. Firestone withdrew from racing In August 1974 and Fletcher, who ran the largest Firestone dealership in the US, had to use Goodyear tyres in 1975. He also lost chief mechanic Jim McGee to Penske. This car became the white #11 entry for Duane Carter in 1975. Unknown in 1976 but presumably a backup car for Bobby Unser's regular #3 car. Sold to Carl Gehlhausen and entered for Spike Gehlhausen as the #19 PV Corp car at four races towards the end of the 1977 season and then through the 1978 season, until it was crashed heavily at Michigan in September. Gehlhausen then bought Pat Santello's '74 Eagle to replace it. The Michigan wreck is believed to have been repaired for 1979, and may be the car sold to Todd Gibson for 1980.

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.