Seattle Grand Prix

Seattle, 23 May 1971

All cars are 5-litre F5000 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Lola T192 [HU19] (Brett Lunger): New to Roger Penske for Mark Donohue to drive in the 1970 US series, starting at Mosport 13 Sep 1970. To Competition Research & Development (Pomona, CA) for Brett Lunger US 1971, then to Larry McNeil US 1972, US 1973 and then in SCCA Nationals from 1974 to 1978. Via Alan Marvin to Gordon Close (Hinsdale, IL) 1979, and used it for 1979 SCCA drivers school and Regionals. To former racer Don O'Sullivan (Perth, Western Australia) in 1983 but not run by him and sold to Bob Harborow (Camberwell, Victoria, Australia) in 1989. Restored and used in historic racing in Australia, including VHRR Historic Sandown and Phillip Island Classic 1999-2013, and the Australian GP support races in 2009 and 2010. Reappeared in October 2015, when run by Kieran Patel (Victoria, Australia) at the Baskerville Historics. More information about Lola T192 HU19
2. McLaren M10A [300-05-2] (Jon Milledge): See full history: McLaren M10A 300-05.
3. Eisert 69 (Ken Hamilton): Dennis Ott (Montclair, CA/Upland, CA) raced a Eisert in Formula A in 1970. He later advertised the car as a 1970 model, but it looked much like a 1969 model, and may actually have been second hand. At 6'2" and 185 lbs, Ott was large for a racing driver at the time. He came up through modified racing in his home state of Nebraska, then California Racing Association sprint cars in 1967, and then FA in 1970 at the age of 24. He advertised the Eisert in November 1970, describing it as a "1970 wedge style Eisert USAC or F/A" that had been "road raced nine times". For 1971, he acquired a McLaren M10B, and the Eisert was sold to 29-year-old CAMRA driver Ken Hamilton (Boise, ID), who completed the SCCA drivers school at Seattle International raceway in April 1971 and drove the Eisert in SCCA Regional and National races that season, as well as the USAC road-racing event at Seattle in August. In 1971 he was considering having Eisert convert the car to use in the 1972 Indy 500, but nothing came of this. He was entered for the Laguna Seca and Edmonton Pro F5000 races in early 1972, but there is no record of his participation in either event. He focused on CAMRA and MRAO racing in 1972, driving for Art Sugai, and had a very successful season. The subsequent history of the Eisert is unknown.
4. Lola T142 [SL142/41] (Lew Florence): See full history: Lola T142 SL142/41.
5. Lotus 69/49B [69.F2.5] (Pete Lovely): New to Jochen Rindt Racing Ltd, managed by Bernie Ecclestone, for John Mikes and Graham Hill to race in F2 in 1970. According to Richard Spelberg's research, this car was Hill's previous Lotus 59B chassis 59-F2-20 converted to Lotus 69 specification for 1970. Also driven by Eugenio Baturone at Montjuich Park. Retained by Ecclestone for Hill to race in the first few F2 races of 1971, then sold to Pete Lovely and fitted with the rear end of his Lotus 49B for suitable races at his home track in Seattle, and for the 1971 US GP. After Lovely died in 2011, the car was sold by his daughter to Peter Gleeson (Seattle, WA), a BMW collector originally from England.
6. LeGrand Mk 11 (Jim Paul): Raced by Rex Ramsey in late 1969, winning at Trois-Rivières in September, but well off the pace in the L&M series. Jim Paul raced the car in 1970, with a best result of eighth in the Pro race at Laguna Seca, and appeared a few times in 1971 and early 1972. To Keith Saunders (Albuquerque, NM) for SCCA racing later in 1972, then to Bill Swope (Albuquerque, NM) for 1973. Swope advertised it late 1975, and it seems likely that this was the LeGrand used by JB Walton in SCCA Regionals in Utah Region in 1978. The next time it was seen was when Harold Janke owned it in Nebraska in the late 1990s. To Kirk Severson and racing in historic events by 2001. To Marty Fidrich (Elisabeth, CO) by 2007.
7. Lola T142 (Don Inferrera): See full history: Lola T142 'the Dave Heinz car'.
8. Eisert 65/68 (Bill Tempero): New for Skip Hudson to drive at the 1965 Indy 500 as J Frank Harrison's #96 Harrison Special. The new car got on track on 13 May, at which point the older 1964 car was renumbered from 96 to 93. Hudson was a successful sports car racer, but was unable to pass his rookie test when an engine blew, so Al Unser took over the drive but he made no attempt to qualify the car. Unser then drove the car through the 1965 USAC season, but only once finished inside the top 10. The 1965 car was retained for the opening races of the 1966 season, driven by Unser at Phoenix and by Billy Foster at Trenton. It then became the team's #93 entry, and was only seen again at Fuji, where Jerry Grant finished tenth. Greg Weld failed to qualify the car for the 1967 Indy 500, after which it was sold to Don Wilcox, who raced it at Pikes Peak and made an unsuccessfiul attempt to qualify at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July. The old car was ideal for the SCCA's new Formula A, so was sold to Stew McMillen (Libertyville, IL) who raced it in SCCA Nationals, winning twice, and in Pro races. At the end of 1968 he took it out to New Zealand, racing it at Baypark Raceway in December, before it was leased to Dennis Marwood for the 1969/70 season. It returned to the US later in 1970 and was acquired by Bill Tempero (Fort Collins, CO), who fitted it with wedge-style bodywork and raced it in Pro races and SCCA Nationals in 1971, then in Midwest Division Formula A in 1972. It was later converted for street use by brothers Wayne and Steve Huntley in Nebraska and was also used as a show car by Fred Bosselman in the late 1970s or early 1980s, probably at his Bosselman Truck Plaza in Grand Island, Nebraska. In the early 1990s it was acquired by Bill Wiswedel (Holland, MI) who has restored it to 1965 colours but still with the later, squarer bodywork.
9. McLaren M18 [500-06] (Evan Noyes): See full history: McLaren M18 500-06.

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.

1968 US information has been taken from SCCA results sheets with additional information from Autoweek race reports and from some entry lists. Thanks to David McKinney and Wolfgang Klopfer for providing these. Identifying the classes and model of some entries has proved very difficult so all new information would be welcomed.

1969-1971 US information has been collated by Chris Townsend using Autoweek reports. All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome.

1972-1976 US information was originally collated by Wolfgang Klopfer, converted to database format by Dawn Harrison and checked by Jim Thurman and Don Capps. Wolfgang's main sources are Autoweek and individual SCCA results bulletins but Autosport, Autocourse and Road Racing Annual have also been consulted.

US SCCA Runoffs, Nationals and Regionals results were collated by Wolfgang Klopfer from Autoweek reports. These reports were usually very brief so the information on the majority of races is limited just to the identity of the FA class winner.

Some race programs have also been used for entry lists and other information. My thanks to Richard Coe for the generous contributions from his collection.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen if you can add anything.