SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B/C Race

Lime Rock, 2 Aug 1969

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Lotus 59 [59-FB-12] (WP Fred Stevenson): Bought by Pete and Bill Pulver's Dutchess Auto in 1969 for Fred Stevenson (Salisbury, CT) to race in US Formula B and entered by Stevenson's Lotus/East Inc racing operation. The car was sold at the end of the main season to customer Bob Hebert (Monterey, MA) and driven by him at Sebring at the end of 1969 (according to Stevenson's recollection but not in reports) and then through the 1970 season. Hebert and Stevenson had new 69s for 1971 and the 59B may have returned to Stevenson and even been raced by him in some SCCA Nationals in 1971. To Ralph Manaker (Syracuse, NY) for 1972, and raced in NEDiv Regional Formula B that year, entered by BME Racing. By this time it was wearing Lotus 69 bodywork, with the original bodywork remaining with Manaker until the 1990s. The Lotus then went to Leland Gerey, who put it on pole position for a race at Pocono as late as 1980. Then to Kurt Hoffman, and sold for him by Jerry Bensinger via Frans Van den Heuvel (Holland) to Paul Schouwenburg (Belgium). Then back from Schouwenburg to Bensinger in 1989, and offered by sale in 1990. By 1992/93, the car had been sold to a Japanese dealer but when a planned auction in Japan was cancelled, the car remained in a warehouse in California for some time. In 1995, it was sold by Mark Leonard to Tim Gaffney, and he restored the car to Fred Stevenson's #93 livery, but on its newer Lotus 69 bodywork. The car was then sold by Gaffney to Japan.
2. Chevron B15b [FB-69-6?] (Steve Brownstein): Steven Brownstein (Hewlett, NY) had a blue Chevron B15B for Formula B in 1969. He raced in the Pro series but also took 25 pts in Northeast Division FB racing. Brownstein retained the car for 1970, but blew his engine at Brainerd in August and was not seen again. Steve Brownstein cannot remember who he sold his Chevron to, but doubts that it went back to Opert. Subsequent history unknown.
3. Brabham BT18 (Mike Eyerly): Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) ran a red Brabham BT18 with 1.1-litre Cosworth SCC engine in Formula C in 1967, winning seven Nationals and setting lap records right down the east coast. He advertised the car in Autoweek on 18 November 1967 as a late 1966 BT18 chassis with 140bhp Cosworth SCC engine, and it then went to Fred Opert, presumably traded on Gubelmann's new BT23F. From Opert it was sold to Mike Eyerly (Salem, OR) and raced in the Pacific northwest, winning several Regional SCCA events. He kept the orange BT18 when he moved into the SCCA national Formula B series in 1969 and completely dominated the series, winning six of the first nine races and finishing second in another two. Advertised in October 1969. Subsequent history unknown.
4. Brabham BT23F [1] (Bill Gubelmann): Sold to Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) and fitted with a Vegantune Ford twin cam engine for SCCA 'Pro' and NEDiv Formula B. Raced through 1968 and retained for a few races in 1969 as Gubelmann's BT29 was late arriving. Sold to Al Justason (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) who used it in both the Canadian and US Pro series in 1970 and again in the Canadian FB series in 1971. Sold to Michael Houselander who appeared at two Canadian national events in 1972, Later sold to ‘Dino Delousis’ who fitted a turbocharged 2-litre Ford Pinto engine for libre events but found the car to be undrivable and stored it from about 1974 to 2004 when sold to Dave Darrow (Mississauga, Ontario) and fully restored. Retained until 2007 when sold via race-cars.com to Murray Bryden (Melbourne, Australia). Sold to David Kloster (Kinglake, Victoria) September 2011.
5. Lotus 59 [59-FB-13?] (Jacques Couture): Jacques Couture (Laval, Montréal, Quebec, Canada) raced a Lotus 59 in Formula B in 1969, appearing in the Quebec Region's Molson Championship events in Canada, and in two SCCA Pro events at Lime Rock. He won four Molson Championship races, finishing second in the championship. In 1970, Couture raced one of the pair of new Lotuses entered by the new Jim Russell Racing Driver School which had just opened at Mont Tremblant, but may have used his 1969 car in one or two races at the start of the year. Subsequent history unknown.
6. Brabham BT21A [4] (Ken Duclos): Sold new to Lou Sell (Fullerton, CA) and first seen in the Pro Formula B race at War Bonnet in late June where Sell qualified on pole and finished second. Then raced in SCCA Regionals and occasional Nationals in California, and in the pro races at Mont-Tremblant and Lake Tahoe at the end of the season. Sold to Sell's backer Dick Smothers (Woodland Hills, CA) for 1968, although Sell also raced it in one SoPac National early that year. To Fred Opert late 1968 in part-exchange for a new Chevron and from him on to Ken Duclos (Boxboro, MA) for 1969. Duclos believes he returned it to Opert at the end of 1969 when he acquired his new BT29 and it next turns up in 1971 with John Sorbello (Lafayette, MA) who widened the cockpit section into a two-seater and added a Chevron B16 body. However, it is possible that the dates of this are wrong and that Bob Isnor (Newton, MA) raced it as a FB before it went to Sorbello. Later to John Kauffman who thought he had bought a Chevron and then to Joe Maria (White Plains, NY) in the early 1990s. It was restored by David Irwin to BT21A spec and was still with Maria in 2007. To Bob Lima (Meadowbrook, PA) by October 2009 and later repainted in Sell's colours.
7. Brabham BT21B [24] (Matt Spitzley): Matt Spitzley ran a Brabham in SCCA Nationals and in the 'Pro' FB series in 1969. His car is identified in the July 1969 Seattle entry list as a yellow and red Brabham BT21 but has been identified by Ted Walker as the ex-Guthrie Tasman BT21B [24] (10 Tenths ref 1544290).
8. McLaren M4B (Brian Robertson): Brian Robertson (Brockville, Ontario) bought a McLaren M4A for 1968 and raced it in both the US SCCA Pro series and in local Canadian races, generally as #35 and with support from Indusmat Inc. He reappeared with the car in July and August 1969 before replacing it with a new Brabham BT29. To Kris Harrison (Montréal, Quebec) for a handful of events in September 1970 at Trois-Rivières and Mont-Tremblant. Harrison would later found Ecurie Canada, the team that launched Gilles Villeneuve's career. Subsequent history of the McLaren unknown
9. Brabham BT21B (Fred Harris): Frederick D. Harris (New York, NY) raced a Brabham in NEDiv Formula C in 1969. It was later identified in a Fred Opert advert as a BT21B with a Broadspeed engine, presumably its original Ford F3 engine, that had been rebuilt at the Brabham factory the previous winter. That would imply that the car spent 1968 racing in Europe. Nothing more known.
10. Chevron B15b [FB-69-3?] (Syd Demovsky): Syd Demovsky (Chicago, IL) bought a Chevron B15B for 1969, racing in Pro events and also in SCCA FB events, finishing fifth in CenDiv. The car was red and blue and raced as #11, Demovsky's usual number. Demovsky, a dentist, retained the car for 1970 but at the opening race of the season at Riverside, he went off during practice and crashed through a fence. He was taken to hospital with "pulmonary contusions and bruises". Although he was reported to be driving a Chevron again in the second round, at Edmonton in May, it seems likely that reports were referring to the Chevron that he entered for the race, rather than the car he actually arrived in. From the third race of the season onwards, Demovsky raced a Brabham BT29. The car was advertised by Ron Hunter (Denver, CO), one of Demovsky's crew, in September 1970, and was sold to Wayne Mitchell (San Diego, CA), who used it to build up a new car for Terrance Peterson around a new Chevron B17 chassis. The original B15 frame was also repaired and sold to Frank Monise. Frank recalls that it was combined with the frame that Byron Hatten had damaged to create a car for Art Brisbane.
11. Chevron B14 (Oliver Grant): Oliver E. Grant (Norfolk, VA) raced a yellow #21 Chevron in SCCA FB events in 1969, describing it as a B14 at Mont-Tremblant in September. He retained the car for a few races in 1970 when it wore #18 but was described as a B15B. It is possible that Grant had acquired Joe Grimaldi's B14 and traded it back to Grimaldi for a newer B15B for 1970. Grant died in 2007 and the subsequent history of the Chevron remains unknown.
12. Brabham BT18 [F2-25-66] (Phil Raeder): New to "Rollo" Feilding and used in European F3 in 1966. To Peter Gaydon for 1967, and raced in British F3. To Charles Carling for 1968, and again used expensively in British F3. Sold via Len Selby to Fred Opert and shipped to the US for Formula C. Sold to Philip K. Raeder Jr (Delmar, NY) for 1969 and used in Regional Formula C. To Ron Cohn (Modena, NY) for 1970, and again used in local Formula C events. To Walter Hagstrom (Jackson Height, NY) and continued to be used in FC. Hagstrom advertised the car in November 1971 but his recollection is that he used it for several seasons.
13. Chevron B15b [FB-68-13?] (Joe Grimaldi): Joe Grimaldi acquired one of four late 1968 Chevrons to arrive in the US. At least three of these were described by Chevron as B14s, including Grimaldi's. He debuted the car at Mosport Park in Aug 1968 and raced it twice more in Pro events. Grimaldi reappeared in August 1969 with what was reported to be a Chevron B15B which he raced three more times. Larry Wright then acquired a Chevron from Grimaldi for the 1970 season which was described to him as a B15 but when Wright advertised the car in 1971, he called it a "late-1968 Chevron FB" which identifies it as a B14. Wright traded the Chevron to Charlie Hayes in May 1971 for a new Brabham BT29.
14. Lotus 59 [59-FB-9] (Malcolm Starr): Malcolm Starr (Union City, NJ) bought a new F2-spec Lotus 59 from Lotus East (Millerton, NY) for 1969 and raced it in Pro Formula B events that season. Malcolm recalls selling to to "a fellow named Woodbury from Virginia" which would be the William J. Woodbury Jr (Springfield, Virginia) who raced a Lotus "69" at Mid-Ohio in September 1970, and at least one SCCA National in early 1971. Woodbury retained the car when he stopped racing, and still had it when he died in early 2022. The car was offered for sale in August 2022 on behalf of his widow.
15. Lotus 59 [59-FB-23?] (Don Merriman): Donald G. Merriman (Willowdale, Ontario, Canada) raced a Lotus 59 (or 59C) in Formula B in 1969, appearing in both SCCA and Canadian races. He was second at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières in September, and picked up several other good placings. He returned with the car in 1970, but his last known appearance was at Westwood at the end of May. Merriman told later owner Joe Griffin that he sold the car to Jack (Jackie) Burnett, so this would be the car Burnett drove at Trois-Rivières in August 1971. It was then in Brian Stewart's shop for a while, showing signs of race damage, perhaps from Trois-Rivières, and was then bought by Tommy Meecham (Oshawa, Ontario), who converted the car some time around 1973 to Formula Ford specification, and fitted Lotus 69 bodywork. He raced the car in the Bulova Formula Ford Series in Canada in 1974 and 1975. Meecham later crashed the car at Shannonville, and it was still in rough condition when bought from him by Ron Fellows in 1977. He had the car rebuilt by Wayne Pinney, of ASH Engineering, who designed his own bodywork for the car and named it ASH 001. Fellows and Pinney's customer Randy Packham raced the car from 1978 to 1980, until Packham crashed the car heavily at Shannonville, and Pinney rebuilt it again as the ASH 002. Fellows started to rebuilt it again, but this was not completed and the car hung in the rafters of Derek Harkema's workshoip in Toronto from 1981 to 1986. It is then unknown until John Lindsey acquired it in the 1990s, and he retained it until his death in 2015. Lindsey's widow sold the part-restored car to Joe Griffin in 2018.
16. Cooper T88 [FC-1-68?] (Ronald Stanwicks): One of the very last Coopers built was a Formula C car for faithful US customer Peter Rehl (Easton, CT). This T88 was equipped with a 1-litre BRM engine according to Cooper records, presumably one of the 1965-66 Formula 2 P80 engines, and Rehl scored 51 points in NEDiv Formula C, finishing narrowly second to Bill Rutan's Brabham. However, the car also raced as a Formula B car with a standard Ford twin cam, and Rehl managed to finish fourth in FB as well, qualifying for the Run-Offs and finishing third at Riverside as a FB. Rehl bought a new Formula A Cooper T90 for 1969, and the T88 was sold to Ronald L. Stanwicks (Newington, CT). He raced it in 1969 but his son recalls that it was unreliable and did not fit him well. It was sold to Peter Piers in the early 1970s, who stored it for many years. It was eventually sold and is believed to have gone to Italy.
17. Titan Mk3 (Earl Jones): Earl Jones (Perkin, IL or Hermosa Beach, CA) raced a yellow-and-blue Titan in Formula B through 1969. He raced as #81 at Seattle and Road America in July, which had been Ed Leslie's number in the first four races, suggesting Jones took over Leslie's car when the series moved away from the west coast. The results for the opening round are ambiguous. It is possible that Jones took over Leslie's car for the race, and that Leslie's retirement after zero laps actually undicates that he was a non-starter. Jones then raced as #75 for the six remaining races of the season. In SCCA Nationals, Jones raced a Formula Ford Titan. Nothing more known.
18. Cooper T76 (Don Ward): Don Ward (New Haven, CT) drove a Cooper-BMC in Formula C in 1969 and a Cooper-Ford in 1970. In Sep 1972, he advertised a Cooper T76 rolling chassis and it is presumed that this is the car he had raced in 1969 and 1970.
19. Brabham BT18 (Dave Rines): R. David Rines (St Louis, MO) raced a "F2 Brabham" in Formula B in 1969. Rines raced this car consistently in the 1969 Pro series until engine failure at Thompson in September, after which he entered his Brabham-Climax at Sebring. Rines' advert for the car in October 1969 described it as a BT18 with Vegantune engine. Rines had previously driven a Brabham BT7-Climax in Formula A and we're very keen to locate him to ask about this car.
20. Brabham BT21 ["BT21-9"] (Al Justason): According to a biography of Bill Stone, his 1968 Formula 3 Brabham started out as a crashed BT18 frame bought from Frank Williams. Stone built this car up and entered it as a BT18/21B in European F3 events in the latter half of 1968. Early in 1969, Stone appeared with a Brabham powered by a Ford twin cam engine and said to be a BT21B when he raced it at Silverstone in April. At the Madrid GP, Autosport described it as a BT18 with a 1800cc Ford twin cam engine. It was called a BT21A when Del Bennett drove it at Silverstone in May. This car was then sold to Al Justason (Toronto, Ontario) for Formula B racing in 1969. Photographs of the car in Justason's ownership show that it had BT18 upper bodywork and it is likely that this "BT21" was actually Stone's BT18-based car from 1968. Justason sold the car to dealer Joe Grimaldi as a rolling chassis and its subsequent history is unknown.
21. Brabham BT21A (John Schwengerer): John Schwengerer (Westport, CT) raced a #76 Brabham BT21A in at least one SCCA National in 1968, when he was entered by Robert W. Hansen, and in Pro Formula B events in 1969 when he raced as #46. He did not score points in SCCA Nationals in either season. Schwengerer had previously driven a LeGrant-Alfa in a FB race in 1967, and prior to that he had driven an H Production Sprite. In 1971 a Joe Schwengerer (S. Norwalk, CT, just a few miles from Westport) drove a #46 Formula B Brabham in a National at Bryar, which is presumably the same car. Nothing more known.
22. Brabham [BT21A?] (Fred Opert): Raced by Fred Ashplant (Franklin Lakes, NJ) and first seen at Lime Rock in early July where Racing Magazine called it "his new Brabham FB". Won the SCCA National at Bridgehampton two weeks later and the Pro race at Mont-Tremblant in September. Finished third in the NEDiv FB title. Retained for 1968 but used much less that season. In 1969, Ashplant ordered a Brabham BT29 and sold the BT21A to Pete LoBianco (York, PA). However, the BT21A was in Fred Opert's stock during the summer of 1969 and as the car had last been raced as #47, it seems likely that this was the #47 FB Brabham that Opert raced a couple of times before his BT29 arrived.

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.

1970 US FB results were compiled from Autoweek reports by Jim Thurman; 1971 results were transcribed from Autoweek by Allen Brown and 1972 results were compiled by Chris Townsend from an SCCA results publication.

The US Formula B series did not continue in 1973 but a race was organised in Caracas in March 1973 that fits here probably better than anywhere else, as do the occasional SCCA F/Atlantic and FB races in 1974 and 1975.

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.