SCCA Continental Championship for Formula B/C Race

Sebring International Raceway, 25 Oct 1970

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Crosslé 18F [18F.70.02] (Brian Nelson): New for Brian Nelson to use in a libre race at Kirkistown on 22 August 1970 in Formula B specification with a Ford twin cam. Sent to the US where it was raced by US Crosslé agent Roger Barr in the Formula B races at Mosport Park and Mid-Ohio in September. Nelson then drove the car in a high-profile FB race at Sebring in October and won. The car was returned to Ireland and converted to F2 specification for Nelson to race in the Mallory Park F2 in March 1971, where Autosport described it as "the 1970 Formula B car which won at Sebring, hastily modified to F2 and virtually untested in this form". Nelson drove the car in this form in Irish libre racing through the 1971 season. In October, the car was fitted with an 1800cc Cosworth FVC engine for the Dublin Trophy libre race at Mondello, and it was then sold in this form to John Campbell Graham in Scotland for libre racing in Scotland and England in 1972. In April 1972, Campbell Graham crashed the car heavily into the bank at Cadwell Park and the next time he was seen, his car was said to be the 19F, so he had presumably exchanged the crashed 18F for the 19F. The subsequent history of the 18F is unknown, but it has never resurfaced so its life may have ended at Cadwell. However, in June 1974 Ecurie Santos Racing (Edgeware, Middlesex) advertised a Crossle 19F which was described as "ex-Works, ex-Tommy Reid, ex-Brian Nelson Irish Libre Championships car". Reid did not drive either an 18F or a 19F, but Nelson had driven both 18Fs, so this could be the ex-Campbell Graham 18F or it could be the 19F that Campbell Graham is thought to have bought to replace the 18F, but somehow with the Nelson history sticking to it. This could then be the "completely rebuilt" 19F advertised by Peter Vernon-Kell in London nine months later.
2. Chevron B17b (Mike Eyerly): Mike Eyerly (Salem, OR) raced a Chevron B17b for Fred Opert Racing in 1970, winning the first six races of the Continental Formula B Championship. Despite competition from Alan Lader, he won a total of eight rounds of the series and easily retained his title. The car was then sold to Phil Cole, who raced it in an Arizona Region SCCA Regional at Phoenix in December 1970, but then nothing was seen of it until Chuck McCain (Tuscon, AZ) raced it in the Formula B class at an Arizona Sports Racing Association race in October 1973, instead of his usual Brabham. McCain advertised the car in March 1974, but evidently never sold it, as it was ultimately bought from his family by Lee Chapman in 2013. It was fully restored and raced by new owner Jim Victor (Davenport, Iowa) at Road America in 2015, originally in white bodywork, but later restored very precisely to Eyerly's livery . A week after racing the Chevron at Road America in July 2018, Victor sadly died following an accident while driving another car at the same track.
3. Brabham BT29 [5] (Nick Craw): Nick Craw (Washington,DC) bought one of the first Brabham BT29s from local Brabham dealer Fred Opert, a car identified by Ted Walker of the Brabham Register as chassis BT29-5. Craw raced in SCCA events from August 1969 onwards, finishing second in the SEDiv FB championship by a single point, and in two Pro races. He continued with a BT29 in 1970 in Pro racing as part of Fred Opert Racing and to the best of his and Opert's recollection, used the same car. He bought a Brabham BT35 for 1971 but before this arrived in the US, he raced the BT29 once more, winning a National at Summit Point in April 1971. The car appeared in Fred Opert's stock list on 1 May, and on the reverse of one of this list, as sent by Opert's secretary Jeannie to Brabham historian Denis Lupton in 1971, a handwritten comment gives Craw's car as "BT29-5". A column by Craw in June 1972 said the car was sold to Jiro Yoneyama, a Japanese driver who raced a Brabham BT29 in US Formula B as part of Fred Opert's team. His car was white and ran as #76. The Road America entry list noted it was using a Hart engine. He was not seen after Road America in August 1971, and the BT29 was then sold to Gary Gove (Tacoma, WA) who raced it in SCCA Regional and ICSCC events in 1971 and 1972, It was reportedly crashed in 1972 and its later history is presently unresolved.
4. Brabham BT29 (Matt Spitzley): Matt Spitzley (then from Aspen, CO), had a Brabham BT29 for 1970 entered by his Spitzford Racing team (Detroit, Michigan). For 1971 the car was sold to Mike Rand (Riverside, CT/Greenwich, CT) who raced it in NEDiv FB, finishing third overall. It then went to Peter Regna in New Jersey for 1972, after which Regna recalls selling it to Ken Duclos. Duclos, however, does not remember buying it.
5. Chevron B15b [FB-69-5?] (Hugh Kleinpeter): Just as many other SCCA FB drivers were acquiring Brabham BT29s, Hugh Kleinpeter invested in a Chevron B15b to replace the Beach T11 with which he'd won the SEDiv FB title. He retained his title in 1969 and retained the Chevron for 1970, winning his third successive title. After the 1970 season, the car was sold to Dave Yoder (Plantation, FL) and it was raced by Yoder and by Frank Marrs (Plantation, FL) in local SCCA events and occasional nearby Pro events over the next four seasons. Yoder scored nine points in Southeast Division FB in 1972, and ten points in 1974, qualifying for the Runoffs that year. It was then sold to Bill Anspach, who used it for spares for his Formula C Chevron B17. It was later sold to Barry Geng (Burlington, Iowa), to replace the B17b that Geng had wrecked at Road Atlanta. It ended up with someone who was going to break it up for a 3-wheeler project, but was rescued by Wayne LaFrenz (Iowa), who has owned it since the early 1980s. It arrived complete with a 1100cc HRE-built Ford twin cam engine and Hewland FT200 gearbox.
6. Brabham BT29 (John Girdler): Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) bought one of the first Brabham BT29s to arrive in the US and debuted it in the Pro race at Lime Rock 1 Sep 1969, winning comfortably. He raced it three more times that season but then decided to join Gene Mason's works-assisted Tecno FB team for 1970. The BT29 was advertised and, based on the identical, orange, yellow and white livery, was sold to John G. Girdler (Southampton, NY) who raced it in a handful of Pro events and probably also in SCCA events during 1970. Girdler upgraded to a new March for 1971 so the Brabham may have been traded to Joe Grimaldi. Subsequent history unknown.
7. Palliser-Winkelmann WDB3 (Hugh PK Dibley): New in Formula B specification for Hugh Dibley to race in the BOC Libre round at Castle Combe at the end of August. Raced twice more in libre by Dibley, then taken to the US for the Sebring Pro FB race at the end of October. The carwas then sold to Dr Ray Mummery (Coral Gables, FL) and used in SCCA Southeast Division Formula B in 1971.
8. Brabham BT29 [12] (Dale Lang): Dale Lang (Wilton, CT) drove a crimson Brabham BT29 during the latter half of the 1970 season but the early chassis number suggest that the car have seen service before Lang's first observed race at Road America 18 Jul 1970. Fred Harris also drove Lang's car on at least one occasion. The car passed to east coast wheeler dealer Joe Grimaldi (Glenrock, NJ), presumably in trade for the new March 712M that Lang bought, and then on to Charlie J. Derbes III (Metairie, LA) who raced BT29-12 in two Nationals, at Summit Point 18 Apr 1971 and at Savannah 16-17 May 1971, but crashed heavily at the latter race. Charlie has retained the car but it remains unrebuilt to 2012.
9. Lotus 59 [59-FB-12] (Bob Hebert): 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.
10. Brabham BT29 [38] (Randy Lewis): John Ranson Lewis III, who raced as Randy Lewis (Sunnyvale, CA), had a blue Brabham BT29 for 1970 which was entered as #7. He raced the car through the full Pro season, finishing fourth at Sears Point in June and at Road America in August, end ending the season in eighth place in the championship. He did not compete in SCCA Nationals. The car was sold to Bunny Ribbs (San Jose, CA) for Mike Eyerly to drive in FB in 1971 (#63) and 1972 (#80). Jon Milledge also drove Ribbs car at Brainerd in Sep 1972. Ribbs, father of future Trans-Am star Willy T. Ribbs, advertised the car at the end of 1972. This is presumably the blue #80 Brabham BT29 raced by Lee Midgley at Road America in August 1973 and driven by Archie Snider at Trois-Rivières a week later. Subsequent history unknown.
11. Brabham BT29 (Evan Noyes): Evan L. Noyes Jr . (Cedarville, MI) entered a yellow Brabham BT29 for Sebring 28 Dec 1969 but did not arrive, implying his car was not quite ready on time. His first known race is at Green Valley Raceway on 22 Feb 1970, a SWDiv National and he ran the canary yellow BT29 in both the 1970 Pro season, where he was a member of the Fred Opert Racing team, and in Nationals where he finished second in CenDiv to Michael Hall. He finished second to Skip Barber's Tecno at the Run-Offs. This is not the same car that Noyes then took to the Tasman series in January 1971 as his well-used US car was on Fred Opert's stock list on 1 May 1971 with a comment that it had not raced since the Run-Offs.
12. Chevron B15b [FB-69-4?] (Jim Grob): Jim Grob (Ft Lauderdale, FL but later Pompano Beach, CA) raced a Chevron B15b in Pro racing in 1969 and also scored 24 points in Northeast Division FB, representing Northern New Jersey Region. He retained the car for 1970 and again for 1971, then mainly focusing his efforts on SCCA Divisional racing in Southeast Division. He finished second to Hugh Kleinpeter's sister car in 1970 but then won the Division in 1971. He changed to a new Chevron B20 for 1972.
13. Chevron B15b (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.
14. March 705 [3] (Bill Gubelmann): New for Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) and used in the later races of the 1970 SCCA Formula B championship. Unknown in 1971 but reappeared in 1972 with Gerald Lieberg (Milford, CT), who drove it in the North Atlantic Road Racing Championship Regional series in NEDiv. Lieberg advertised the car in Competition Press & Autoweek in December 1972 and January 1973 as "ex-Gubelmann".
15. Brabham BT29 (Sandy Shepard): Sandy Shepard (Denton, TX) raced a new black #59 Brabham BT29 from the start of the 1970 season. With support from his father's KDNT Radio Station, Shepard competed in every round, finishing second in his 'home' race at Dallas. He also raced the car in the Polar Prix SCCA National in February 1971 before it to Fred Opert who had it lined up for a Mexican customer.
16. Chevron B15b [FB-69-8?] (Doug Brenner): A new Chevron B15B was prepared for Reine Wisell to race - and win - at Sebring 28 Dec 1969. Doug Brenner bought this car for 1970 and raced in the Pro series and then sold it to Byron Hatten (Altadena, CA) for 1971. Hatten continued to race it into 1972 but crashed heavily at Riverside in Feb 1972, the first event of the season, badly damaging the Chevron. Art Brisbane (Covina, CA) bought the damaged car, and also bought the ex-Syd Demovsky damaged B15b frame from Wayne Mitchell. Frank Monise cut the two frames in half and "beautifully attached the good parts together". Brisbane used the rebuilt car in Cal Club Formula C from 1974 until 1978 at least. Subsequent history unknown.
17. Brabham BT29 [10] (Jack Dartigalongue): Bill Bowman (Palm Beach, FL) moved from sedan racing to FB for 1969 and bought one of the first Brabham BT29s to arrive in the US. The 43-year-old veteran first raced it at Daytona on 2 Aug 1969 and competed in 10 races in SEDiv but suffered significant reliability problems with the Vegantune engine and only finished third in the Division. He raced the blue-and-orange #79 car at the Run-Offs and also appeared at the Sebring Pro race in December. Bowman then injured his lower back and was unable to continue racing the car. He sold it in the summer of 1970 to Jack Dartigalongue (Jacksonville, FL) who raced it in SCCA Regional and National events for several seasons. In 1973, he sold it to Lyle Heck (Reading, PA) who raced it until October 1975 when it went to Denny Anderson who discarded the chassis and used the corners to build a CSR racer, the Firand. Anderson later sold the Firand in 2000 to Frank Stark (Mechanicburg, PA) who sold it to Bruce Domeck (Louisville, KY) in 2002. Domeck acquired a repaired original BT29 frame with the intention of restoring it as a BT29 but sold the package to David Irwin (Evergreen, CO) and Eric Stange (Evergreen, CO) instead. Irwin was restoring the car in 2010 when he was able to trace the original frame which Anderson had thrown away. He purchased this frame and then cut it into pieces so it could not be used to build a separate car. Irwin bought out Stange's share in the car in 2011, and in 2013 sold the complete car to Larry Wilson in Florida.
18. Brabham BT21C (Bruce Jensen): Bruce Jensen (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada) raced a yellow #41 Brabham BT21C in Canadian and US Formula B events during 1970. He bought the car from Brabham dealer Fred Opert and it was yellow with a black stripe. It came with a Vegantune but that blew up and was replaced by a BRM twin cam. Jensen bought a Chevron B17 for 1971 and the Brabham is believed to have gone back to Fred Opert in that trade.
19. Chevron B14 (Jim Trueman): In July 1970, a young Jim Trueman (Amlin, OH) raced a #48 Formula B Chevron in the SCCA National at Mid-Ohio. Two months later, Trueman raced a blue and silver Chevron in the Mid-Ohio 'Pro' Formula B race. Trueman would later found the Red Roof Inn motel chain and use his ensuing wealth to form the Truesports racing team and win the Indy 500 in 1986. After the 1970 season, he sold the Chevron to one-time F1 driver Tom Jones (Euclid, OH) who understood it to be a B14 and entered it as such. He raced it in 1971 and 1972 and then traded it to Ed Zink for the remains of the McLaren M22 that Zink's nephew Harry Ingle had crashed at Road America. The later history of the Chevron is unknown.
20. Chevron B17b (Fred Opert): Fred Opert ran a team five-car team in 1970 which included a Chevron B17b for himself and a sister car for Mike Eyerly. Opert's personal car was sold to Tom Outcault (Cranford, NJ) for 1971 who used it in NEDiv events and also in the Pro race at Road America in Aug 1971. Outcault sold it via Fred Opert to Carmelo Crisafuli (Great Neck, Long Island, NY), and it was registered by the SCCA at Watkins Glen in September 1972. He raced it in SCCA Regionals including two New York Region rounds of the North Atlantic Road Racing Championship in 1974. RJ Nelkin (Roslyn, NY) bought the car for 1975, and raced it in SCCA and EMRA events that season. It was sold in 1976 via Fred Opert to Roy Aber (Penn Hills, PA) who recalls racing the car until 1981. He sold it to JC Gongaware (Youngwood, PA), and did not hear of it again. The car was next seen about 1986 when Lee Chapman (New Milford, CT) of Auto Restorations had the car, having bought it from Jim Wisheart in Pennsylvania. It went from Chapman to Fred Gunther (Trumbull, CT), then to Peter McLaughlin (Hannover, NH), and then to Travis Engen (Weston, CT) in 1994 or 1995.
21. Lotus 59 [59-FB-9] (William Woodbury): 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.

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.