OldRacingCars.com

Rex Mays Classic

Milwaukee Mile, 13 Jun 1976

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Mike Mosley Eagle 74 [7407] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#12 Sugaripe Prune [Jerry O'Connell/Jud Phillips]
(see note 1)
150 1h 14m 02.350s
2 Gordon Johncock Wildcat Mk 1 - DGS 158 ci turbo
#20 Sinmast [Patrick Racing] (see note 2)
150 Finished
3 Bobby Unser Eagle 73/Leary - Offy 159 ci turbo
#3 Cobre Tire [Fletcher Racing]
(see note 3)
149 Flagged
4 Al Unser Parnelli VPJ-6B [001] - Cosworth DFX V8
#21 American Racing Wheels [Vel's Parnelli Jones]
(see note 4)
149 Flagged
5 Johnny Parsons Jr Finley Eagle ['72 7224?] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#93 1st National Travel Check [Vatis Enterprises]
(see note 5)
148 Flagged
6 Billy Vukovich Eagle 74 - Offy 159 ci turbo
#5 Alex Foods [Alex Morales] (see note 6)
143 Out of fuel
7 John Martin Dragon 76 - Offy 159 ci turbo
#98 McIntire Chevrolet [Agajanian/King]
(see note 7)
143 Flagged
8 Bill Simpson Eagle 72 [7225] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#38 Nikon [Bill Simpson] (see note 8)
143 Flagged
9 Johnny Rutherford McLaren M16C [5] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#2 Hy-Gain [Team McLaren] (see note 9)
143 Out of fuel
10 Bobby Olivero Eagle 72 [7226] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#78 Alex Foods [Alex Morales] (see note 10)
143 Flagged
11 Tom Bigelow Eagle 74 [7417] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#24 Leader Card (see note 11)
141 Flagged
12 Wally Dallenbach Wildcat Mk 2 - DGS 158 ci turbo
#40 Sinmast [Patrick Racing] (see note 12)
139 Broken valve trail
13 Tom Sneva McLaren M16C [4] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#68 Norton Spirit [Penske Racing]
(see note 13)
139 Out of fuel
14 Dick Simon Eagle 72 [7212] - Foyt-Ford 159 ci quad cam turbo V8
#44 Bryant Heating [Dick Simon]
(see note 14)
135 Flagged
15 Ed Finley Antares 72 - Chevrolet 355 ci V8
#79 Mahoney (see note 15)
125 Flagged
16 Frank Weiss Vollstedt 67 ['A'] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#90 Eastside Cafe [Art Sugai] (see note 16)
125 Flagged
17 AJ Foyt Coyote 74 ['74-1'] - Foyt-Ford 159 ci quad cam turbo V8
#14 Gilmore Racing [Foyt Enterprises]
(see note 17)
80 Poor handling
18 Duane "Pancho" Carter Eagle 74 [7404] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#48 Jorgensen Steel [E. M. Jorgensen/AAR]
70 Broken transmission
19 Jerry Karl Eagle 70 - Chevrolet Moser
#65 City of Syracuse [Patrick Santello]
(see note 18)
26 Broken fuel pump
20 Ken Nichols Fiore Spyder - Offy 159 ci turbo
#43 Hoffman-Bonniventure [Frank Fiore]
17 Broken clutch
21 Spike Gehlhausen McLaren M16B [2] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#19 Spirit of Indiana [Carl Gehlhausen]
(see note 19)
1 Broken valve
DNS Jack Owens Coyote 71 - Chevrolet 355 ci V8
#31 Dewco Construction (see note 20)
Did not start
(DNQ, poor handling)
DNS Gary Bettenhausen Eagle 72 [7216] - Offy 159 ci turbo
#45 Thermo King [Don Gerhardt] (see note 21)
Did not start
(DNQ, brkn scav pump)
DNS Tom Frantz Eagle 72 [7201?] - Foyt-Ford 159 ci quad cam turbo V8
#72 Custom Motor Home [Tom Frantz]
(see note 22)
Did not start
(DNQ, blew engine)
DNQ Greg Hodges Lola T150 2WD [SL150/3?] - Chevrolet 355 ci V8
#49 49er (see note 23)
Did not qualify
Qualifying
1 Gordon Johncock Wildcat Mk 1 - DGS 158 ci turbo 127.660 mph
2 Mike Mosley Eagle 74 [7407] - Offy 159 ci turbo 127.660 mph
3 Bobby Unser Eagle 73/Leary - Offy 159 ci turbo 127.389 mph
4 AJ Foyt Coyote 74 ['74-1'] - Foyt-Ford 159 ci quad cam turbo V8 126.538 mph
5 Johnny Rutherford McLaren M16C [5] - Offy 159 ci turbo 126.006 mph
6 Johnny Parsons Jr Finley Eagle ['72 7224?] - Offy 159 ci turbo 125.654 mph
7 Billy Vukovich Eagle 74 - Offy 159 ci turbo 125.305 mph
8 Tom Sneva McLaren M16C [4] - Offy 159 ci turbo 124.654 mph
9 Dick Simon Eagle 72 [7212] - Foyt-Ford 159 ci quad cam turbo V8 124.395 mph
10 Duane "Pancho" Carter Eagle 74 [7404] - Offy 159 ci turbo 123.669 mph
11 Wally Dallenbach Wildcat Mk 2 - DGS 158 ci turbo 123.669 mph
12 Al Unser Parnelli VPJ-6B [001] - Cosworth DFX V8 123.288 mph
13 Bobby Olivero Eagle 72 [7226] - Offy 159 ci turbo 123.119 mph
14 Bill Simpson Eagle 72 [7225] - Offy 159 ci turbo 122.324 mph
15 Tom Bigelow Eagle 74 [7417] - Offy 159 ci turbo 122.200 mph
16 John Martin Dragon 76 - Offy 159 ci turbo 120.846 mph
17 Spike Gehlhausen McLaren M16B [2] - Offy 159 ci turbo 116.959 mph
18 Frank Weiss Vollstedt 67 ['A'] - Offy 159 ci turbo 113.601 mph
19 Ken Nichols Fiore Spyder - Offy 159 ci turbo 112.360 mph
20 Jerry Karl Eagle 70 - Chevrolet Moser 111.214 mph
21 Ed Finley Antares 72 - Chevrolet 355 ci V8 105.202 mph
22 Greg Hodges * Lola T150 2WD [SL150/3?] - Chevrolet 355 ci V8 66.445 mph
23 Jack Owens * Coyote 71 - Chevrolet 355 ci V8
24 Gary Bettenhausen * Eagle 72 [7216] - Offy 159 ci turbo
25 Tom Frantz * Eagle 72 [7201?] - Foyt-Ford 159 ci quad cam turbo V8
 
* Did not start

Notes on the cars:

  1. Eagle 74 [7407] (Mike Mosley): 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Eagle 73/Leary (Bobby Unser): In 1976, Bobby Unser moved to Bob Fletcher's Cobre Tire team, where he had the choice of two 1974 Eagles, one standard and one heavily modified by ex-AAR mechanic Wayne Leary. At Milwaukee in June, photographs show that Unser drove a third Eagle, this being a 1973 Eagle that had been modified in the same way as the 1974 Leary-Eagle, with radiators moved from behind the front wheels to just ahead of the rear wheels. After using the modified 1974 car one more time at Pocono, the team withdrew, and when they returned in August, they focused on the standard 1974 Eagle, so Milwaukee was the only appearance of the 1973 car.
  4. Parnelli VPJ-6B [001] (Al Unser): The original 1975 Parnelli was also Unser's primary car at the 1976 Indy 500 and the 1977 Indy 500 (Hungness yearbooks) and wore #21 throughout. Assumed to be Unser's #21 car throughout 1976 and, as Formula refers to the cars "remaining much as was last season", presumed to be the car used in the early 1977 races. Unser had a backup (also #21) at the 1977 Indy 500 but, with this backup written off, Unser must have used this car at Milwaukee and also, according to race reports, at the Pocono 500 (Formula Sep 1977 p42), California 500 (Formula Nov 1977 p35 where the winner is listed in the results as a VPJ6B), Michigan (Autocourse p238) and Phoenix (Autocourse). In between Pocono and Ontario, Unser may have driven the VPJ6C.
  5. Finley Eagle ['72 7224?] (Johnny Parsons Jr): Having run a 1972 Eagle and the 1973 'Fleagle' in 1975, the Vatis team introduced a new car in 1976, said to have been built on a spare Eagle tub unused until that year. This ran as the #93 car in 1976 with the 1972 Eagle moving from #93 to #92. This arrangement appears to have continued through 1977 but the two cars become harder to disentangle in 1978 as the 1972 Eagle has been modified to look much the same as the 1976 car. It would appear that the older 1972 Eagle becomes the team's first choice car in 1978 and in 1979.
  6. Eagle 74 (Billy Vukovich): Having crashed his usual #21 Vel's Parnelli Jones 1974 Eagle at the 1975 Indy 500, Mario Andretti drove a different 1974 Eagle at Pocono in June 1975, his final appearance for VPJ. The Pocono car went to Alex Morales for 1976 and was the #5 Alex Foods entry driven by Billy Vukovich and the 1976 Indy 500. Raced by Vukovich for Morales for the rest of 1976 and again in 1977 when it was the #15 entry. Last seen at the 1977 Indy 500 when it was the #75 backup car crashed by Jerry Grant during practice. The car was only moderately damaged so is likely to have been rebuilt. Subsequent history unknown.
  7. Dragon 76 (John Martin): New for John Martin to drive at the 1976 Indy 500 as JC Agajanian & Grant King's #98 Genesee Beer entry. Also driven by Martin at Milwaukee, Pocono, Michigan, Trenton, Milwaukee again and Ontario, but it is possible that he was using the sister car at the short track races. Entered by Agajanian and Evel Knievel for Gary Bettenhausen to drive in 1977, but he used an old 1973 Kingfish at least once at short track events. For Bettenhausen again in 1978, now entered by Agajanian, King and JC Purcell, and with Oberdorfer Foundries as title sponsor. The car was retired from racing at the end of 1978, and crew member Bill Throckmorton recalls that "the Evel Knievel car hung upstairs with the orange Oberdorfer colors on it until Grant restored it".
  8. Eagle 72 [7225] (Bill Simpson): To Roger Penske for Mark Donohue to drive as the #66 Sunoco DX car at the three 500 mile races in 1973. It was then driven by Gary Bettenhausen as the #5 Sunoco DX car in place of his usual McLaren M16C at Phoenix in November 1973 and again at Phoenix in March 1974. For 1976, the car was sold to Bill Simpson and raced as his #38 Nikon car until September that year when it was sold to Arthur E. 'Art' Sugai (Ontario, OR) and became the #90 Eastside Café car for Rick Mears. Raced by Mears, Steve Krisiloff and Bubby Jones in 1977. Sold to collector/dealer Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) in May 1980 and retained by him until purchased by Rick and Alison Dresang (Hartford, WI) in August 2004. Fully restored, and maintained by Kettle Moraine Preservation & Restoration.
  9. 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).
  10. Eagle 72 [7226] (Bobby Olivero): 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.
  11. Eagle 74 [7417] (Tom Bigelow): Mike Mosley's #98 1974 Indy 500 drive for the Lodestar/Leader/Agajanian/Watson combine and identified in a letter from AAR to USAC in Feb 1974 as 7417. Said to be the #98 for Steve Krisiloff in 1975 but the #98 picture in the 1975 yearbook is clearly a 1972 car. Could this be the car Krisiloff wrecked at Phoenix at the end of 1974? It might also be the one he "damaged extensively" in practice at the 1975 Indy (6 May - see trackside report); although the 14 May trackside report says this car was rebuilt, it is an older '72 car that Krisiloff races. Later in 1975, Agajanian left Lodestar/Leader/Watson taking his #97/#98 numbers with him and joined Grant King. Krisiloff's Lodestar/Leader/Watson Eagle then took #10 for the rest of 1975, then moved to the #23/#24 numbers in 1976. Krisiloff may have raced the '74 car later in 1975 but it is not yet known how long the car took to rebuild. At Indy in 1976, Tom Bigelow is bumped in the Leader Card #24 entry which looks like a '74 Eagle but is modified around the front suspension. Maybe 7417 with suitable repairs? Again, the usage of this car in 1976 cannot yet be determined. In 1977, Joe Saldana was bumped in the #64 Leader Card entry, a standard-looking Eagle 74. A picture shows that Saldana's #23 car at the next race was also a '74 Eagle. Finally, at the 1978 Indy 500, Tom Bagley is pictured in Hungness driving a '74 Eagle in practice. As late as 1980, the Leader Card team used an Eagle at short-track events. Subsequent history unknown but this may be the Eagle that Harry Schwartz's Rattlesnake Racing acquired together with a 1977 Watson chassis for 1981.
  12. Wildcat Mk 2 (Wally Dallenbach): Wally Dallenbach had a Wildcat Mk 2 for the 1976 season but we cannot be certain when he drove the Mk 2 that season and when he may have used an older Mk 1. The Mk 3s were produced for 1977 but were only used at a handful of races and Dallenbach drove his 1976 Mk 2 at most races. At the end of 1977, the Dallenbach Mk 2 was sold to Sherman Armstrong's Armstrong Mould team and driven by Tom Bigelow through the 1978 season. It was loaned back to Patrick Racing for Steve Krisiloff to drive at Trenton in September after his usual Mk 2 had been wrecked at Ontario three weeks earlier and the alternative Mk 4 had been shipped to England for the two British races. Retained by Armstrong and driven by Gary Bettenhausen and Howdy Holmes in 1979 and by Bettenhausen in 1980. Used briefly by Rich Vogler as an Armstrong Mould entry in Indy 500 practice in 1981. Subsequent history unknown
  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. 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.
  15. Antares 72 (Ed Finley): New for Pat Patrick's Michner Petroleum team and entered at the 1972 Indy 500 as their #42 car for Swede Savage. Like fellow intended Antares pilot Wally Dallenbach, Savage focused on his 1970 Eagle and qualified that for the race. The Antares was significantly revamped in time for the Ontario race in September but was no quicker and Savage did not attempt to qualify it. Together with the Dallenbach car, it was bought by Ed Finley, Gary Miller and Keith Shuck in 1975 and fitted with a Chevrolet V8 for Finley to drive in 1976. It was not used again but was later stored with the Dallenbach car at the workshop of Ken Mahoney (Peru, IL). All Mahoney's Antares bits were acquired from him at some point by Jack Layton (Howell, Michigan), and the ex-Savage car and other parts went to someone called Al in Grand Rapid, Michigan. He later sold all his Indy stuff to Bill Wiswedel (Holland, Michigan), who sold the Antares stuff to a guy in the Chicago area who was planning to fit a Chevrolet engine and use the car in vintage racing. The tub and spares were acquired some time before 2007 by Michael McKinney (Kennewick WA), also the owner of the more complete ex-McCluskey car.
  16. Vollstedt 67 ['A'] (Frank Weiss): New for 1967 and run by Vollstedt Enterprises as the #17 Bryant Heating & Cooling Spl in 1967 and 1968 with a 255 ci Ford quad cam engine. Appeared at Indy in 1969, now with a turbo Ford but still as the #17 Bryant Heating & Cooling Spl. Dick Simon raced this car for the Vollstedt team at a few races late 1969 as the All Seasons Sports car and then acquired the car, which became his #44 entry in 1970 and then his #44 TraveLodge Sleeper backup in 1971. Retained as part of Simon's stable until the end of 1975 when it was sold to Art Sugai (Ontario, OR) and became his #90 Eastside Café entry for Frank Weiss in 1976. Sold in 1978 to Tom Black (Portland, OR) and Bob Ames and restored by them as the #21 ex-Jim Clark car after being incorrectly identified as that car by Rolla Vollstedt. Then to Don Mack and Hank Albers in 1979 and sold a year later via Eoin Young to Peter Briggs and put on display in his York Motor Museum in Western Australia. Offered for sale by Bonhams at Quail Lodge in August 2009 at which point it was correctly identified as the #17 car. Sold to Greg Smith in 2010.
  17. 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.
  18. Eagle 70 (Jerry Karl): For 1972, Lindsey Hopkins added a 1970 Eagle to his already crowded stable for Wally Dallenbach to drive as the #10 entry. The origins of the Eagle are presently unknown but it could be the redundant ex-Gurney AAR car or the unwanted Gordy Johncock car. Dallenbach drove it in the opening races of the season but was bumped at the Indy 500. He then joined the STP team to replace the injured Art Pollard and Hopkins recruited Lee Kunzman to take over the #10 Eagle. A 1972 Eagle replaced the 1970 car at some point, but a photograph shows Kunzman drove the older car at Texas World Speedway in April 1973, so exactly where Kunzman raced this car instead of the new '72 Eagle is not clear, and photographs are needed to completely resolve this. Photographs indicate that this was the 1970 Eagle acquired by Patrick Santello (Syracuse, NY) for 1975. His mechanic Willie Davis fitted it with one of Richard Moser's DOHC Chevrolet V8 engines, but the car did not race until near the end of the season, when Larry Dickson raced the #65 City of Syracuse Spl at Phoenix in November 1975. Retained by Santello for the 1976 season as a backup to a newer 1972 Eagle, and raced by Dickson, Lee Kunzman and Jerry Karl. Subsequent history unknown but this is likely to be the car advertised by Ron Cameron (San Diego, CA) in March 1991, when it was identified as "VIN: AAR-805" and "USAC: R71-10". The car was then dark blue with a white stripe and fitted with a Chevrolet V8 engine. Its nose and water pipes were in 1970 works form, but it had 1972-style front and rear wings. A year later, it was for sale by G & G Motorsports Ltd (Indianapolis, IN) who described it as the car Gurney drove to third place in the 1970 Indy 500. It was next seen Tom Hollfelder drove it in a VARA historic event at Willow Springs in October 1995, where it was still dark blue with a white stripe but now wore number #48. Hollfelder also ran the car at Road America in 2009. Steve Zautke and Jacques Dresang have examined the car and observed Santello era paintwork showing through the more recent dark blue. It still has a Chevrolet small block engine, as it did when Santello owned it.
  19. McLaren M16B [2] (Spike Gehlhausen): McLaren Cars 1972 for Peter Revson (#12), and raced at the Indy 500, Pocono and Ontario. Also raced by Gordie Johncock at Trenton in September after his usual M16B/3 had been wrecked at Ontario. To Lindsey Hopkins for Roger McCluskey to race in 1973 as the #3 Hopkins Buick entry, but McCluskey raced his older M16A at the Indy 500 and at Pocono, before settling on the M16B at the end of the season. The two cars took McCluskey to the USAC National Championship. The M16B was retained for 1974 and 1975 as a backup to Hopkins' new Riley-built 'English Leather' car. The McLaren was used at Trenton in 1975, and then entered for Graham McRae at the 1975 Indy 500, but he could not qualify. Sold to Carl Gehlhausen for Spike Gehlhausen to drive in 1976 (#19 Spirit of Indiana) and 1977 (#19 PV Corp) but crashed at Ontario, Indy and Pocono in 1977 with serious damage each time. Replaced with an Eagle in mid-1977. Acquired from Gehlhausen by Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) some time in the 1980s, and restored by Gehlhausen's chief mechanic Eddie Baue and Walter Goodwin. USAC's history of this car identified it as the #86 "ex-Revson" McLaren (actually Hopkins' other M16) and it was restored to this specification and then sold to Gene Wagner (Atlanta, GA), who used it in US vintage racing between 1988 and 1990.
  20. Coyote 71 (Jack Owens): New for AJ Foyt at the 1971 Indy 500, where he finished third. Presumably the car he used for the rest of the season, but it is possible he used the sister car or older cars at short track events. NSSN reported that he used this car when he won at Phoenix in October 1971, his first USAC race win in over two years, when the car had "undergone major chassis changes, including the moving of the radiators to the rear of the chassis, ala McLaren". The car was sold to the MVS team for 1972 and raced by Jim Hurtubise at the Indy 500. MVS also bought an older 1969/70 Coyote for the short ovals. This car was then raced by George Snider as MVS's #29 entry on the longer tracks later in 1972. Although Sessions was reported to be driving the team's 1972 Eagle at all his races in 1973, photographs and race video show him driving the Coyote at least twice. It was bought from MVS in 1975 less engine by the Dewco Construction team of Jack Owens (Indianapolis, IN), and fitted with a stock block Chevrolet. It ran in this form for two years, but only started one race. Then unknown until the early 1980s when it was entered by Robert W. Gaby's B&G Racing for Steve Ball (Osslar, IN) at the 1981 Indy 500. Ball's entry was withdrawn after the team's owner ran into financial issues, but Ball was invited to start the Pocono race a month later as USAC were short of entries. The car was later sold to Chuck Haines, who later sold it to a new owner who took it to Walt Goodwin to be restored.
  21. Eagle 72 [7216] (Gary Bettenhausen): Built in the fall of 1972 as one of the two replacement Thermo King/Gerhardt cars after Malloy's crash at Indy in 1972. Used by Mike Hiss in the 1973 500 as the #6 car; then the #46 car used by Jim McElreath in practice in 1974; then the #46 car used by Rick Muther and Jan Opperman in practice in 1975; then the #45 car qualified by Gary Bettenhausen in 1976. After Eddie Miller wrecked the sister Gerhardt Eagle (7209) at Indy in 1976, 7216 was driven by Bettenhausen and Steve Krisiloff for the rest of 1976. Sold by Fred Gerhardt to Gary Howard when Gerhardt stopped racing but not raced by Howard, and sold to Bob Featherly (East Syracuse, NY) about 1980/81.
  22. Eagle 72 [7201?] (Tom Frantz): The prototype 1972 Eagle was tested over the winter and then used as AAR's #6 Olsonite entry for Bobby Unser on "the mile tracks" during 1972, winning at Phoenix, Trenton, Milwaukee and Phoenix again in November. Sold to Stan Malless, Bob Voigt and Dick Sommers of MVS and converted to turbo Ford engines. Raced for MVS by Sammy Sessions as the #9 in 1973 then reappeared at the 1974 Indy 500 for Denny Zimmerman and at the 1975 Indy 500 for various drivers but did not qualify for either race. Then almost certainly the #72 Custom Motor Home car raced by Tom Frantz (Littleton, CO) in 1976 which went to Ed Crombie (Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada) for 1977, when it was driven by Larry Cannon and Jerry Sneva. Crombie still had the car in 1983 when he ran it at the Knox hillclimb (Kelowna, British Columbia). History then unknown until advertised by Bob Jordan's Investment Motorsport Inc (Glenview, IL) in June 1990, when it still had its Ford engine and was said to be unraced since 1976. At some point the car was restored by former AAR fabricator Mike Lewis to its 1972 livery and with an Offy engine. It appeared in this specification at the Amelia Island concours in 2002, and was raced by Bob Jordan (Winnetka, IL) at Road America in July 2006. It was offered at the Gooding & Co Pebble Beach auction in August 2008 but did not sell. In 2010, the car was featured on a 'The Motorcar Society' video.
  23. Lola T150 2WD [SL150/3?] (Greg Hodges): New to Roger Penske, in December 1968 according to Lola records, although it has been claimed that Penske's car was a rebuild of a car that raced some time in 1968. The car would be driven by Mark Donohue, who was also driving Penske's Lola T70 in sports car racing, and both Lolas used Chevrolet engines. The T150 did not run at the Indy 500, where Donohue used a brand new T152 instead, and was a non-starter at IRP in July. Donohue was seventh and fourth in two races at Brainerd in September, but retired at Seattle and Riverside. The car was fitted with a turbo Ford for testing at the start of 1970, but used a Chevrolet engine when raced at Sears Point and IRP. Sold to Dick Simon for 1971, and raced with a turbo Ford engine as the #10 TraveLodge Sleeper entry. Also used at Milwaukee in August 1972, when Simon focused on his new 1972 Peat-Lola, and possibly at other short track events. The car reappeared in 1976 when Greg Hodges (Indianapolis, IN) attempted to qualify it for several short-track Indycar races, without success. The car then had a Chevrolet engine, and still had the bulbous sidetanks seen when Simon had raced it in 1971. Subsequent history unknown, but some time around 1982 the car was in the collection of Dieter Holterbosch (Cove Neck, NY), a well-known collector of cars who died in July 2016 age 95. It was for sale from the collection at the time for $12,000.

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.