165 replies to this topic

[Allen Brown]

Could anyone help with results from this pair of races held at the famous Rafaela track in early 1971. The Phil Harms ( ) data is below but disagrees with Autoweek on several points. And a number of cars are unidentified - which was unusual for Phil.

Can anyone help with results from other sources? Anything in South American publications?

Thanks

Allen

Rafaela Indy 300 (1)
Rafaela, 01 March 1971
Race 1
1 Al Unser, Johnny Lightning 500 #1 Colt - Ford TC, 53 laps, 0h 54m 46.530s
2 Lloyd Ruby, Gene White Firestone #12 Mongoose 70 - Ford TC, 53 laps, Finished
3 Mike Mosley, G. C. Murphy #4 Watson - Ford TC, 52 laps, Flagged
4 Swede Savage, Onsonite #42 Eagle 70 [801] - Offy TC, 52 laps, Flagged
5 Roger McCluskey, Vanfreight Daffodil #41 Kingfish - Offy TC, 52 laps, Flagged
6 Joe Leonard, Vel's Parnelli Jones #15 Colt - Ford TC, 52 laps, Flagged
7 Johnny Rutherford, Vollstedt Enterprises #17 Vollstedt 66 - Offy TC, 52 laps, Flagged
8 Cale Yarborough, Gene White Firestone #21 Mongoose 70 - Ford TC, 51 laps, Flagged
9 Gordon Johncock, Vollstedt Enterprises #7 Vollstedt 67 - Ford TC, 51 laps, Flagged
10 Bentley Warren, Vatis #94 Finley - Offy TC, 51 laps, Flagged
11 Gary Bettenhausen, Thermo-King #16 Gerhardt - Offy TC, 50 laps, Flagged
12 Carlos Pairetti, Fiecha Coca-Cola #44 Vollstedt 67 - Ford TC, 50 laps, Flagged
13 Dick Simon, TraveLodge Sleeper #10 Lola - Ford TC, 49 laps, Flagged
14 Jim Malloy, MVS #29 Cecil - Ford TC, 48 laps, Flagged
15 Salt Walther, Walther's #77 Morris - Ford TC, 47 laps, Flagged
16 John Mahler, Mahler Eagle 100 #100 Eagle - Chevrolet, 47 laps, Flagged
17 Bill Simpson, Wynn's Kwik Kool #28 Eagle - Offy TC, 46 laps, Flagged
18 Don Brown, Seymour Enterprises #39 Gerhardt - Chevrolet, 46 laps, Flagged
19 Dave Strickland, Navarro #50 Navarro - Rambler TC, 45 laps, Flagged
20 Max Dudley, Dudley Boat and Trailer #61 unknown - Chevrolet, 44 laps, Flagged
21 Tom Bigelow, Midwest Mfg Dura-Pot #34 unknown - Chevrolet, 43 laps, Flagged
22 Rick Muther, Jack Adams Aircraft #54 Eagle - Pratt & Whitney turbine, 40 laps, Engine
23 Larry Cannon, Autotron Photoelectric #47 unknown - Chevrolet, 21 laps, Lost oil pressure
24 Denny Zimmerman, Fiore Racing Enterprises #43 Vollstedt 66 - Offy TC, 21 laps, Magneto
25 Ludwig Heimrath, Heimrath Porsche #55 Eisert - Chevrolet stock block V8, 8 laps, Black flak, oil
26 Dee Jones, Minnesota Serendipity #51 unknown - Ford, 4 laps, Black flak, oil
27 Bobby Unser, Olsonite #2 Eagle 71 - Offy TC, 3 laps, Burned piston

Race 2
1 Al Unser, Johnny Lightning 500 #1 Colt - Ford TC, 53 laps, 1h 01m 26.100s
2 Lloyd Ruby, Gene White Firestone #12 Mongoose 70 - Ford TC, 53 laps, Finished
3 Joe Leonard, Vel's Parnelli Jones #15 Colt - Ford TC, 53 laps, Finished
4 Roger McCluskey, Vanfreight Daffodil #41 Kingfish - Offy TC, 53 laps, Finished
5 Swede Savage, Olsonite #42 Eagle 70 [801] - Offy TC, 53 laps, Finished
6 Dick Simon, TraveLodge Sleeper #10 Lola - Ford TC, 52 laps, Flagged
7 Gary Bettenhausen, Thermo-King #16 Gerhardt - Offy TC, 52 laps, Flagged
8 Cale Yarborough, Gene White Firestone #21 Mongoose 70 - Ford TC, 51 laps, Flagged
9 Carlos Pairetti, Fiecha Coca-Cola #44 Vollstedt 67 - Ford TC, 51 laps, Flagged
10 Gordon Johncock, Vollstedt Enterprises #7 Vollstedt 67 - Ford TC, 51 laps, Flagged
11 Salt Walther, Walther's #77 Morris - Ford TC, 51 laps, Flagged
12 Dee Jones, Minnesota Serendipity #51 unknown - Ford, 49 laps, Flagged
13 Bill Simpson, Wynn's Kwik Kool #28 Eagle - Offy TC, 49 laps, Flagged
14 Don Brown, Seymour Enterprises #39 Gerhardt - Chevrolet, 48 laps, Flagged
15 Dave Strickland, Navarro #50 Navarro - Rambler TC, 48 laps, Flagged
16 John Mahler, Mahler Eagle 100 #100 Eagle - Chevrolet, 46 laps, Flagged
17 Max Dudley, Dudley Boat and Trailer #61 unknown - Chevrolet, 46 laps, Flagged
18 Ludwig Heimrath, Heimrath Porsche #55 Eisert - Chevrolet stock block V8, 44 laps, Flagged
19 Denny Zimmerman, Fiore Racing Enterprises #43 Vollstedt 66 - Offy TC, 33 laps, Brkn intake manifold
20 Johnny Rutherford, Vollstedt Enterprises #17 Vollstedt 66 - Offy TC, 30 laps, Blown engine
21 Jim Malloy, MVS #29 Cecil - Ford TC, 23 laps, Brkn t'charger wheel
22 Tom Bigelow, Midwest Mfg Dura-Pot #34 unknown - Chevrolet, 21 laps, Engine failure
23 Mike Mosley, G. C. Murphy #4 Watson - Ford TC, 9 laps, Broken valve
24 Bentley Warren, Vatis #94 Finley - Offy TC, 9 laps, Wrecked
25 Rick Muther, Jack Adams Aircraft #54 Eagle - Pratt & Whitney turbine, 8 laps, Engine failure
26 Larry Cannon, Autotron Photoelectric #47 unknown - Chevrolet, 2 laps, Spun off track
27 Bobby Unser, Olsonite Eagle #2 Eagle 71 - Offy TC, 0 laps, DNS

Qualifying

1 Lloyd Ruby,
2 Swede Savage,
3 Al Unser,
4 Mike Mosley,
5 Bobby Unser,
6 Joe Leonard,
7 Cale Yarborough,
8 Roger McCluskey,
9 Gary Bettenhausen,
10 Bentley Warren,
11 Gordon Johncock,
12 Dick Simon,
13 Johnny Rutherford,
14 Bill Simpson,
15 Jim Malloy,
16 Denny Zimmerman,
17 Carlos Pairetti,
18 Dee Jones,
19 Don Brown,
20 Dave Strickland,
21 Tom Bigelow,
22 Ludwig Heimrath,
23 Max Dudley,
24 Larry Cannon,
25 Rick Muther,
26 John Mahler,
27 Salt Walther,

[billthekat]

The date was 28 February 1971 and the results match those from the 1972 USAC Yearbox.

There is a picture of the Chevy-powered car that Bigelow drove in 1970 at Indy, but hard to determine parentage.... Ditto for Dee Jones in 1971 at Indy.

Somehow this is all too typical....

[JohnS]

Originally posted by billthekat
Somehow this is all too typical....

Of what, exactly?

[fines]

Allen, you do have my USAC database, don't you? I'm pretty sure I had some of the missing cars identified, e.g. "Minnesota Serendipity" and "Midwest Manufacturing Dura-Pot", and the Dudley car - wasn't that an old Gerhardt, or even Halibrand? The "Autotron", I remember, we discussed already, though I don't think we came to a conclusion - I still believe it's an old ex-Rutherford car of '64 vintage...

[Allen Brown]

Michael

It's your database I'm working from. I guess you've made updates since you sent it to me?

I believe "Midwest Manufacturing Dura-Pot" was Carl Gehlhausen's team but this is too early to be any of the cars I know about him having. The "Minnesota Serendipity" is also familiar but not necessarily the same car they had later in the decade. Dudley did have a Gerhardt later - much later - but was this that same car?

It looks like USAC had to scrape the barrel to fill the boat for this race.

Best regards

Allen

[fines]

Originally posted by Allen Brown
Michael

It's your database I'm working from. I guess you've made updates since you sent it to me?

I don't think so.

I had a look and saw that I hadn't filled in the blanks, but it's obvious that the "Midwest etc." (yes, Gehlhausen) is still the 1970 car, a Huffaker. Same for the "Minnesota Serendipity" (love that name - owner Pat O'Reilly afaik), also a Huffaker, although it had a Chevy in '70. Both these cars should be of '64, ex-Qvale and later Vatis.

Dudley's car is a Gerhardt/Chevy in '70, should be the same in '71. Unsure about its provenance. The "Autotron" (sometimes called "Need-a-Sponsor" ) was also used in '70, in my opinion the old Racing Associates #24 of 1965 (not '64 - sorry, my mistake) used by Rutherford before he signed up with Leader Cards and Watson.

[theunions]

I'd still like to know whatever happened to Carlos Pairetti, and what exactly where the circumstances that led to him not qualifying at Indy later that spring.

[fines]

Carlos Pairetti wasn't entered in the 1971 Indy 500 and didn't show up. Do you mean 1970, perchance?

[billthekat]

Originally posted by fines
The "Autotron" (sometimes called "Need-a-Sponsor" ) was also used in '70, in my opinion the old Racing Associates #24 of 1965 (not '64 - sorry, my mistake) used by Rutherford before he signed up with Leader Cards and Watson.

Halibrand Shrike "65"

[fines]

In 1970 he was entered in the #8 "Canal 9 Buenos Aires Special" (Agajanian-Faas Racers, Inc.), a Gerhardt/Drake-Offenhauser. His car was there on Friday, May 1 and passed the Tech Inspection on Wednesday, May 6 (the 37th car to do so); on the same day teammate Bruce Walkup (assigned to #97 "Wynn's Spit-Fire 97 Special", a 1967 (?) Mongoose/Drake-Offenhauser) took it for a shake-down run.

Carlos Alberto Pairetti made his first acquaintance of the Brickyard on Saturday, May9, completing phases one and two of the rookie test, following that up with phases three and four the next day to become an acknowledged Indianapolis driver (the 10th successful rookie test for the year, 15th including refreshers) with ten laps at a speed of over 150 mph - the same day Al Unser made the first 170+ lap for the year. Pairetti was the 53rd driver to appear on the speedway that month.

He must have practiced regularily over the next few days, but no speeds were issued in the Daily Reports, not fast enough. On Thursday, May 14 he partook in a poll to predict the fastest qualifying lap (173.3 mph), the fastest 4-lap run (172.3 mph) and the slowest qualifying speed (163.8 mph), all pretty much in the middle of the 20 predictions polled. Of the 60 predictions, 59 would prove to be too fast (for pole and fast lap) or too slow (for slow qualifyer)...

On Friday, May 15 the draw for the Qualifying line-up saw his mount slot in 21st out of 50 cars - again, midfield. In the meantime, his other teammate Billy Vukovich (#98 "Wynn's Spit-Fire 98 Special", a new Wolverine/Drake-Offenhauser built by Don Edmunds) spun his car in Turn 2 without wall contact after a suspension failure.

There is no record of activity for Pairetti over the first qualifying weekend, and he certainly didn't make an attempt, but he was back for practice Tuesday, May 19 - no time recorded. On Friday, May 22 he is again credited with practice laps, sharing his car with Vukovich whose original car was put aside. There were six places open on the grid, and a good two dozen cars still on the outside looking in.

While Vukovich jumped ship and teamed up with Jerry O'Connell's new outfit (starting a long partnership), Pairetti never made a qualifying attempt and was finally substituted by Larry Dickson, who had despaired of his Don Gerhardt entry (or vice versa?) - Dickson made the 60th and last qualifying attempt of the month, four desperate laps in 3'47.16", almost ten seconds too slow to make it - "Canal 9 Buenos Aires Special" would stay in garage next Saturday, too.

[fines]

Originally posted by billthekat


Halibrand Shrike "65"

No, not the Halibrand/Ford he qualified at the speedway, but a car built by RA chief mechanic Bob "Rocky" Philipp. It had a Meyer-Drake powerplant and was only used at Phoenix that year, afaik.

[Pablo Vignone]

Allen, I found the qualifying times and the starting grid but only with the first 24 cars.
Unfortunately, I forgot the list in my office at the newspaper, so I will be able tomorrow to post it.
Sorry

[Pablo Vignone]

Pairetti complained that the car was too slow. He even have some talks with Denny Hulme at the hospital trying to found another car, and went to know Dick Simon: he drove one of his cars at Rafaela.
The TV Channel 9 owner, Alejandro Romay, was the one who gave Carlos the money to try the Indy adventure.

[billthekat]

Michael,

Got it, I am a bit slow lately, but the Phillip car is in the Wallen book on page 291. I had forgotten about the car, but the second I saw it....

Unless it was shuffled off under another identity, it seems to be a one race entry that season.

[Gerr]

The Autotron car was discussed at Trackforum a while back....
http://www.trackforu...hlight=autotron

[Allen Brown]

Originally posted by Gerr
The Autotron car was discussed at Trackforum a while back....
http://www.trackforu...hlight=autotron

Hi Gerr

Yes, discussed at length but I'm not sure a conclusion is reached. The Philipp-Chev is a favourite designation (or Blacker-Philipp-Chev) but then that 64 Watson subject comes up and everything fizzles out.

I think I'll go for calling it a Rocky Philipp-built "Philipp-Chev" and add a big health warning.

Most go - something headed "Article" has just popped into my Inbox ;)

Allen

[Allen Brown]

Originally posted by Gerr
The Autotron car was discussed at Trackforum a while back....
http://www.trackforu...hlight=autotron

Hi Gerr

Yes, discussed at length but I'm not sure a conclusion is reached. The Philipp-Chev is a favourite designation (or Blacker-Philipp-Chev) but then that 64 Watson subject comes up and everything fizzles out.

I think I'll go for calling it a Rocky Philipp-built "Philipp-Chev" and add a big health warning.

Is it a 64 car - as was said on Trackforum - or a 65? I express a doubt as I can only see a rear-engined Philipp appearing at Indy in 1965.

Most go - something headed "Article" has just popped into my Inbox ;)

Allen

[Pablo Vignone]

Starting Grid
1. (12) Lloyd Ruby, 54s74
2. (42) Swede Savage, 59s81
3. (1) Al Unser, 1m00s7
4. (4) Mike Mosley, 1m00s26
5. (2) Bobby Unser, 1m01s05
6. (15) Joe Leonard, 1m01s09
7. (21) Cale Yarborough, 1m01s26
8. (41) Roger McCluskey, 1m01s38
9. (16) Gary Bettenhausen, 1m01s62
10. (94) Bentley Warren, 1m01s89
11. (7) Gordon Johncock, 1m02s60
12. (10) Dick Simon, 1m03s
13. (17) Johnny Rutherford, 1m03s02
14. (28) Bill Simpson, 1m03s10
15. (29) Jim Malloy, 1m03s41
16. (43) Denny Zimmerman, 1m03s50
17. (44) Carlos Pairetti, 1m03s94
18. (51) Dee Jones, 1m06s38
19. (50) Dave Strickland, 1m08s25
20. (39) Don Brown, 1m08s28
21. (34) Tom Bigelow, 1m09s87
22. (61) Max Dudley, 1m12s22
23. (55) Ludwig Heimrath, 1m12s67
24. (47) Larry Cannon, 1m13s43

Source: "Corsa" magazine

[Allen Brown]

Thanks for these Pablo.

Is Ruby's time really right? Five seconds ahead of the pack seems a lot and trying to translate the speed quoted in "Auto Racing" back to a time suggest something about 59.66s.

Could you check it please?

Thanks

Allen

[Allen Brown]

Hi guys

Thanks to the tremendous help I've had on both TNF and TrackForum (and via email from Russ) I now have the results and report from Autoweek, the report from Auto Racing, two Spanish-language reports and practice times from Corsa.

The cars are proving tricky to identify so I've put together my notes on the outstanding issues:

Al Unser, Johnny Lightning 500 #1 Colt - Ford TC - was this his 1970 Colt or a new 1971 one? I'm guessing a 70.

Mike Mosley, G. C. Murphy #4 Watson - Ford TC - a Watson as late as 1971? Was G.C. Murphy the name of Lindsey Hopkins' team?

Roger McCluskey, Vanfreight Daffodil #41 Kingfish - Offy TC - I'm guessing one of the 1970 King cars. Autoweek calls it a King, rather than a Kingfish - is it true that the name 'Kingfish' only arrived with the 1973 Eagle-copy cars?

Joe Leonard, Vel's Parnelli Jones #15 Colt - Ford TC - like Unser's, would this be one of the two Bignotti-built Lola-copy 1970 Colts?

Bentley Warren, Vatis #94 Finley - Offy TC - I know about the 1973 "Fleagle" but can anyone tell me about the earlier cars? They seem to appear in 1968. Autoweek calls this a Huffaker but Autoweek turns out to be unreliable on car identification.

Gary Bettenhausen, Thermo-King #16 Gerhardt - Offy TC - the works wedge car?

Dick Simon, TraveLodge Sleeper #10 Lola - Ford TC - any idea what type of Lola? A T150/152/153 model? Autoweek calls this (and the Pairetti car) and Eagle but we can be confident that is wrong.

Jim Malloy, MVS #29 Cecil - Ford TC - what's a Cecil? Autoweek calls this a Morris but it looks like they read across the wrong line while transcribing this story off the wire. A Cecil first appears in 1968 and - usually with MVS sponsorship - a single entry continues to the end of 1971. Arnie Knepper is the driver more often that not.

Salt Walther, Walther's #77 Morris - Ford TC - this was in the Walther auction a while ago. Was it a car built by/for the Walther team? Autoweek calls this a Lola for some reason. Gerr tells me it was a tube-frame car and he believes it used a Lola body.

John Mahler, Mahler Eagle 100 #100 Eagle - Chevrolet - another puzzle. Owned apparantly by Mahler, he ran it from the start of 1970 with a Chev engine. I suppose it could even have been a Formula A car.

Bill Simpson, Wynn's Kwik Kool #28 Eagle - Offy TC - Gerr sent me a picture from Indy 1971 and it seems to be a 1966 or 1967 Eagle. Anyone know anything about it? Autoweek calls it a Coyote but I think we can ignore that too.

Don Brown, Seymour Enterprises #39 Gerhardt - Chevrolet - Louis Seymour had entered a Gerhardt-Chev for Karl Busson and then Don Brown in 1970 but what sort of Gerhardt? Autoweek calls it a Cheetah but, again, we can ignore that.

Dave Strickland, Navarro #50 Navarro - Rambler TC - but was this a Navarro chassis? Could it have been somebody else's chassis but Navarro's engine? Autoweek calls it a Watson and Gerr confirms that it was Ward's '64 Watson re-engined. The car was later restored to 64 specification in the late 1980s.

Max Dudley, Dudley Boat and Trailer #61 unknown - Chevrolet - Dudley had driven his appallingly slow Gerhardt-Chev for three seasons before Rafaela and it's probably safe to assume it's the same car here. However, he turns up to the Seattle USAC Road Racing Championship race in Sep 1971 in a Halibrand Shrike (according to Autoweek). The only other time he appears is at Trenton in early 1974 with his Gerhardt-Chev again.

Tom Bigelow, Midwest Mfg Dura-Pot #34 unknown - Chevrolet - the only appearance of the #34 Carl Gehlhausen entry in 1971 was at Rafaela. As fines says, it's reasonable to assume this was their 1970 Huffaker which he says was a '64. Gerr has a bit more on this: he says it was a '66 Huffaker as used by Bob Veith at Indy and always had a Chev engine; later recycled as Tom Sneva's 1973 sprint car and was with Chuck Haines in 1990.

Rick Muther, Jack Adams Aircraft #54 Eagle - Pratt & Whitney turbine - and Eagle turbine in 1971?!? Were they still legal? Jack Adams had entered a turbine car in 1970 but not with an Eagle chassis. This car turned up at Indy in 1971 but was too slow. Anyone read a story about it?

Dee Jones, Minnesota Serendipity #51 unknown - Ford - Pat O'Reilly's "Minnesota Serendipity" team had entered three different cars in 1970, an old Huffaker-Chev at the start of the year, a Watson-Ford at Michigan and Milwaukee, and a Gerhardt-Ford that failed to make the race at Phoenix.

Dee Jones also drove this mystery car at Phoenix a month later and in practice for the Indy 500. The next time the team appeared was at Milwaukee in 1972 with a Watson-Ford. So could this have been the Watson? Fines says it was their 1970 Huffaker-Chev '64. Gerr thinks it was their Watson. To be continued...

Larry Cannon, Autotron Photoelectric #47 (Indy) Philipp 65 - Chevrolet - identified now by fines as a 1965 car built by Racing Associates chief mechanic Bob "Rocky" Philipp.

The mystery #74 car - the "Caves Buick Co." team had done a full season in 1970 with a #74 Gerhardt-Offy which Jim McElreath had driven at the Indy 500. Does anyone have a picture of McElreath's car at the Speedway? Maybe we can compare it with the car in the magazine cover picture above?

Can anyone add anything?

Thanks

Allen

[Pablo Vignone]

Allen:
Sorry, it was my fault.
Indeed, the Ruby time was 59s74.
In a track of 4.624 meters, the average speed was of 278,647 kph, the fastest lap in Argentina motorsport history.

[billthekat]

I am working on this and will let you know what I find in my "stuff" from 1971.

[fines]

Okay, quick and dirty:

Al Unser, Johnny Lightning 500 #1 Colt - Ford TC - almost 100% sure it's a '70 car, I don't think the '71 appeared before Indy

Mike Mosley, G. C. Murphy #4 Watson - Ford TC - GC Murphy was the AJ Watson part of Leader Cards, as opposed to the Jud Philipps part (Rislone) - almost two seperate teams in one - I think the car would be a Watson-modified '68 Eagle

Roger McCluskey, Vanfreight Daffodil #41 Kingfish - Offy TC - I'm not 100% clear on this, but Kingfish was either the name for all "paved surface" cars of Grant King, or perhaps indeed only for the McLaren/Eagle copy - later there would also be a Dragon built by King, I think that was the Coyote/Wildcat copy. Strange guy

Joe Leonard, Vel's Parnelli Jones #15 Colt - Ford TC - probably Al's backup car from '70

Bentley Warren, Vatis #94 Finley - Offy TC - yes, should be one of the 1964 Huffakers!

Gary Bettenhausen, Thermo-King #16 Gerhardt - Offy TC - the works wedge car? Yes.

Dick Simon, TraveLodge Sleeper #10 Lola - Ford TC - should be the same he had at Indy, a T152, perhaps? I'm not very firm on these - Pairetti should be in a Rolla Vollstedt chassis

Jim Malloy, MVS #29 Cecil - Ford TC - Dick Cecil was chief wrench for DVS (later MVS) Inc., I think the car was a '66 Lotus copy that evolved over time, but I'm not sure, could be several cars.

Salt Walther, Walther's #77 Morris - Ford TC - originally a Vel's team car before Parnelli Jones came to the team, built by former driver George Morris in '68

John Mahler, Mahler Eagle 100 #100 Eagle - Chevrolet - agreed, possibly F5000 - a Mk5?

Bill Simpson, Wynn's Kwik Kool #28 Eagle - Offy TC - sorry, no idea, but there once was a Coyote that was a Eagle copy, wasn't there?

Don Brown, Seymour Enterprises #39 Gerhardt - Chevrolet - no idea

Dave Strickland, Navarro #50 Navarro - Rambler TC - yes, the Navarro was a '64 Watson, rebuilt several times - if Gerr says it's ex-Ward, then he's probably right

Max Dudley, Dudley Boat and Trailer #61 unknown - Chevrolet - see above - what kind of engine was in that Halibrand?

Tom Bigelow, Midwest Mfg Dura-Pot #34 unknown - Chevrolet - possible I got that wrong, I thought all Huffakers were from '64, they were certainly of a similar design

Rick Muther, Jack Adams Aircraft #54 Eagle - Pratt & Whitney turbine - oh, somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind... sorry, blank!

Dee Jones, Minnesota Serendipity #51 unknown - Ford - oh yes, you're right, missed those - perhaps F5000 cars???

Larry Cannon, Autotron Photoelectric #47 (Indy) Philipp 65 - Chevrolet - identified now by fines as a 1965 car built by Racing Associates chief mechanic Bob "Rocky" Philipp. tentatively identified, tentatively!

The mystery #74 car - Jim was a non-starter at Indy, Caves Buick ran Gerhardts since '66 there

[fines]

Correction: Jim McElreath DID start at Indy in '70, but in a Foyt-Coyote!

[billthekat]

Dude, Where's My History?

Food for thought from Dr. Michael T. Lynch as we bash our heads against solid, unyielding objects trying to sort this out.... just one of many small opportunities to excel in this particular area of endeavor....


Grant King apparently did operate with any thought given to future historians as he pieced together cars in his shop and then pushed them out the door. "Kingfish" was in use in the early 1970s as was "King" and later "Dragon." Not weird, just focused on the business at hand.

The turbine car was an "eagle" chassis, but something that that Adams team called an "American Eagle." I have been trying to track down the article on the car or the article with the information on the car that I remember. Turbines were still permitted, but with an annulus inlet area of only 11.9 sq. in. not very competitive.

The Mahler car has been a puzzle since the three-digit number was not something I thought was allowed in the Champ Car series by then. However, most likely an Eagle from 1966 to 1968, perhaps even one from the F/A ranks. Hard to say.

There were three Huffakers made for the 1964 event, which were then revised for 1965, and three more made for 1966. Since Bill Finley campaigned a 66 Huffaker, it is perhaps a 66 rather than a 64 Huffaker for Warren. In the scheme of things, the 1964 cars were the Genie Mk. 9 and the 1966 cars the Genie Mk. 12.

Since Rodger Ward drove both of the Watson 64 cars, easy to say it was a "Ward" car. '64/1' was the Trenton car and '64/2' was the car used at Indianapolis.

Any way, time for Michael, Allen, me, plus anyone else interested to pick up the baton and carry it forward for this effort.

[billthekat]

In the August 1971 issue of Car and Driver, of all places, there is a nine page feature entitled "Indy Yearbook 1971." It is a rather nice reference item since it does a complete rundown on each of the 33 cars in the race. This information includes the constructor of each chassis and a history of each chassis at the Speedway. Needless to say, interesting reading when you think about the topic at hand....

[gbl]

This thread comes at the right time since I'm working on 70's USAC myself. Somewhere I have a small picture of the Mahler car, but it'll take some time to find it...
Just a short question on the Vatis car. There was an Eagle sold some time a go and Bill Finley was listed as the car owner, but Vatis is always listed as the team owner, what's the story behind this?

[fines]

Finley was the crew chief (hands-on-man), Vatis the team boss (money-man).

[Allen Brown]

Sorry I'm out of circulation at the moment - just when this is getting really interesting! Thanks Michael and Don for your posts - I haven't had a chance to digest them yet.

I'll be back on Tuesday but please keep it coming.

Hey Don - what does C&D say about Mosley's "Watson"? Sport Auto's equally surprising "Les voitures en course" (July 1971 pp37-38) says Mosley and Snider (both G. C. Murphy/Watson/Leader Cards) were in 68 Eagles; Rutherford (Patrick Petroleum) and Warren (Classic Wax) in '66s.

Allen

[billthekat]

Here is the entire selection (except for the picture) of what C/D has for Mr. Mosley that year:

Car No. 4 Driver: Mike Mosley (G.C. Murphy Spl.)
Qual. Speed: 169.579 Day: 2 Start: 19th Finish: 13th
Entrant: Leader Cards, Inc. Chief Mechanic: A.J. Watson
Engine: Ford Turbo Plugs: Autolite Tires: Goodyear
Front size: 4.75-12.50-15 (20) Rear size: 6.25-17.00-15 (20)
Chassis: 1968 Eagle Design based on: Monocoque principle
Engineering features: Modified body with open wedge shape
Driver's previous finishes: 8th '68; 13th '69; 21st '70
History of the car (Year, driver, qual. speed, start, finish, etc.) : This car was used after the 1968 Indianapolis 500 to replace the car Bobby Unser won with at Indianapolis. It had never been entered at Indianapolis until 1971.
Money won: $20,345 Laps completed: 159 (wrecked in turn 4)


Compare that with what is in the Hungness section on 1971 for the # 4 car:

# 4 Mike Mosley, G.C. Murphy Spl. Started 19th, fin. 13th. '68 Eagle-Watson/ Ford. Not entered in 500 but driven on Champ Trail by B. Unser in '68 thru '70. Colors: white, blue & orange.

As for the Eagles in C/D....
No. 2, 71 Eagle (B. Unser)
No. 42, 70 Eagle (Hulme)
No. 95, 66 Eagle (Warren)
No. 4, 68 Eagle (Mosley)
No. 80, 68 Eagle (Snider)
No. 18, 67 Eagle (Rutherford)

[gbl]

Originally posted by fines
Finley was the crew chief (hands-on-man), Vatis the team boss (money-man).

That's the way I understand it, too. But what happend after Vatis stopped his team 1976 or 77. Did Finley have his own team up to 1980? Here's a quote from www.hemmings.com:

"1972 Eagle Indy Car Serial #72-28. Last 1972 built. Driven by Lloyd Ruby for Commander Motor Homes. Crew Chief was Mike Devin. Tub just rebuilt, has Weismann transaxle, needs restoration. Less engine. History at Indy 500: Year 1973, Driver Lloyd Ruby, Owner/Sponsor Mike Slater/Commander Motor Homes, Year 1974, Driver Lloyd Ruby, Owner/Sponsor Unlimited Racing, Year 1975 Driver Johnny Parsons, Owner/Sponsor Bill Finley/Ayrway, Year 1976 Driver Steve Krisiloff, Owner/Sponsor Bill Finley/Citicorp, Year 1977 Driver Steve Krisiloff, Owner/Sponsor Bill Finley/WFMS92, Year 1978 Driver Bill Vukovich, Owner/Sponsor Bill Finley/McCord Auto, Year 1979 Driver John Mahler, Owner/Sponsor Bill Finley/Sport, Year 1980 Driver John Mahler, Owner/Sponsor Bill Finley/Parts Washer Service."

[fines]

Hm, not sure, always thought that Mahler owned the car himself, but maybe it was in fact Finley.

About the Watson-Eagle, that was certainly a '68 model, but I doubt Bobby U. had much of a race record in it, he mostly ran a '67 Eagle on the miles!

[billthekat]

Something I found in my notes for PJ Colt 70 chassis '01'....

The Al Unser
"Johnny Lightning Special"

1968-70 Lola-Colt Single Seat Racing Car
Chassis No.SL-150-2

[Jim Thurman]

Originally posted by fines

Roger McCluskey, Vanfreight Daffodil #41 Kingfish - Offy TC - I'm not 100% clear on this, but Kingfish was either the name for all "paved surface" cars of Grant King, or perhaps indeed only for the McLaren/Eagle copy - later there would also be a Dragon built by King, I think that was the Coyote/Wildcat copy. Strange guy

Max Dudley, Dudley Boat and Trailer #61 unknown - Chevrolet - see above - what kind of engine was in that Halibrand?

The mystery #74 car - Jim was a non-starter at Indy, Caves Buick ran Gerhardts since '66 there

I can add a couple of tidbits here...

Vantreight Daffodil. The Vantreight family were involved in Super Modified racing in British Columbia, Canada - where Grant King hailed from, and grew daffodils. Sponsored the annual 'Daffodil Cup' Super Modified race. I wasn't aware of, or recalled, them sponsoring a Champ Car.

Max Dudley - definitely remember him having a Gerhardt. I think I have an item in the regional racing paper on his purchasing the car (!). Of course, the problem is finding it : Dudley was also a Super Modified driver in the Pacific Northwest, and in addition to his Champ Car starts, made at least a few Trans-Am starts.

The Caves family were involved in racing for years. Myron fielded the Champ Car and his son, Terry, started racing Sprint Cars and Midgets in the early 70's. I think that's about the time the Caves entry stopped showing up on the Champ circuit. Terry Caves primarily ran with CRA, and after retiring in the 80's fielded his own Midget team. They were from Fresno, California. I would think a Google might turn up a contact where you might be able to get direct info.

My info on Vantreight and Dudley comes from a lengthy subscription to the West Coast regional short track racing paper based in Vancouver, Washington that covered the Pacific Northwest scene extensively.

[Allen Brown]

Hi guys

Thanks for this huge amount of information for me to digest. Let's see what I've learnt.

Al Unser, Johnny Lightning 500 #1 Colt - Ford TC - probably a 1970 but not certain yet

Mike Mosley, G. C. Murphy #4 Watson - Ford TC - Changed to Eagle 68

Roger McCluskey, Vanfreight Daffodil #41 Kingfish - Offy TC - Changed to Vantreight Daffodil.

Joe Leonard, Vel's Parnelli Jones #15 Colt - Ford TC - probably the other 1970 car (as Unser's short track car was the Colt-Lola T150 which went to Agajanian prior to the 1971 Indy)

Bentley Warren, Vatis #94 Finley - Offy TC - a 1964 Huffaker! Tassi Vatis (with Finley) started running Huffakers in 1966 and as Car and Driver (June 1966 Indy preview) makes no mention of Vasis getting any of the new monocoque 66 cars, his must have been the original space-frame 1964 cars. They were the #53 and #54 Valvoline cars up to the end of 1967 then Harms generally calls Dallenbach's #54 Valvoline car a Finley in 1968. Sam Sessions takes over the seat in 1969 and Bently Warren in 1970. So, if these are really still the same 1964 Huffakers, Finley is quite a development engineer! Don Capps has said "Bill Finley campaigned a 66 Huffaker" so maybe he bought 66 Huffakers after he had 64 Huffakers? I've left this as a 'Finley' until we've dug a bit deeper into this one.

Gary Bettenhausen, Thermo-King #16 Gerhardt - Offy TC - Sport Auto says GB's 1971 Indy 500 car was a Gerhardt 70 so I agree with fines and I'll make this a Gerhardt 70 too. Presumably the car Rutherford drove after Indy 1972 before the team's replacement Eagle 72 was ready.

Dick Simon, TraveLodge Sleeper #10 Lola - Ford TC - Still don't know about this one. The original 1969 Penske T152 maybe (Penske had their 1970 T153 at Indy 1971 for Hobbs)? Did anyone else have a Lola T150-series except Bignotti and Penske?

Jim Malloy, MVS #29 Cecil - Ford TC - Stacks of material on this. This 1971 car looks like it was the 1969 copy of the 1969 Morris that MVS bought but it occurs to me that it could be the 1969 Morris itself. Not the original 1966 Cecil as this was replaced in 1969.

Salt Walther, Walther's #77 Morris - Ford TC - The Vel's team had a 1969 Morris but as the #9 car was sold at their auction many years later, it can't be the one that went to Walther. This one's still a bit of a puzzle. Definitely a Morris but was it one of the 1969 pair or a later 1970 car?

John Mahler, Mahler Eagle 100 #100 Eagle - Chevrolet - Another puzzle; all the 1968/69 Formula A cars appear to be still in use in 1970 (when Mahler first raced this car) but it could be that 1968 Eagle that Penske and Donohue raced with a Chev stock block?

Bill Simpson, Wynn's Kwik Kool #28 Eagle - Offy TC - Another outstanding puzzle. Simpson mentions that the car belonged to him in the Berger/Bortstein book 'The Boys of Indy' (p57) and a photo supplied by Gerr shows a 1966 or 1967 Eagle. But that's all I have.

Don Brown, Seymour Enterprises #39 Gerhardt - Chevrolet - like Dudley's, a Gerhardt of unknown year and unknown provenance.

Dave Strickland, Navarro #50 Navarro - Rambler TC - One of the 1964 Watsons with a Navarro-built AMC Rambler 6-cyl turbo engine.

Max Dudley, Dudley Boat and Trailer #61 unknown - Chevrolet - A Gerhardt of some sort.

Tom Bigelow, Midwest Mfg Dura-Pot #34 unknown - Chevrolet - An ex-Veith 1966 Huffaker which originally had a 302ci Chevy engine.

Rick Muther, Jack Adams Aircraft #54 Eagle - Pratt & Whitney turbine - Changed to 'Bryant' instead of Eagle as this is the same car as the #72 Jack Adams Special in the 1969 Indy 500. As Bob has pointed out, not an AAR car at all.

Dee Jones, Minnesota Serendipity #51 unknown - Ford - this is looking more likely to be the Pat O'Reilly team's Watson-Ford than anything else. Gerr has provided the photo below which was taken at Indy in 1971. He reckons it looks like a 1965 or 1966 Watson.

Larry Cannon, Autotron Photoelectric #47 Philipp 65 - Chevrolet - 'tentatively identified' as a Philipp 65 but it's good enough for me!

Juan Carlos Salatino, #74 Unknown - Probably the Caves Buick car so probably a Gerhardt. So our third mystery Gerhardt.

Has anyone got anything else to add to the picture? If not, we've off to the Phoenix 150.

Again - many thanks to all.

Allen

(click for a larger image)

[Allen Brown]

Originally posted by billthekat
There were three Huffakers made for the 1964 event, which were then revised for 1965, and three more made for 1966. Since Bill Finley campaigned a 66 Huffaker, it is perhaps a 66 rather than a 64 Huffaker for Warren. In the scheme of things, the 1964 cars were the Genie Mk. 9 and the 1966 cars the Genie Mk. 12.

Hi Don

What's your source for Finley having a 66 Huffaker rather than a 64 Huffaker? The first Vatis entry of a Huffaker was very early 1966 and it appears to be too early to be a 66 car.

Originally posted by billthekat
Something I found in my notes for PJ Colt 70 chassis '01'....

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Al Unser
"Johnny Lightning Special"

1968-70 Lola-Colt Single Seat Racing Car
Chassis No.SL-150-2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I found a web page talking about SL-150-2 and it said the car was Al Unser's 1968 Lola, then his 1969 modified Lola then his short track car in 1970. As I read the article, it was a backup to his 1970 Colt. Are you sure it actually was a 1970 Colt?

Thanks

Allen

[billthekat]

Allen,

I think the short track "P.J. Colt 70 ('01')" used in 1970 by Unser was 'SL-150-2' much modified and updated. The PJ Colt 70 ('02') was most likely an actual PJ Colt. I think.

The Huffaker info was from Joe Scalzo article in VM July/August 1999. I think that thinking it was too early for it to be a "66" or a Genie Mk 12 may not be necessarily correct; however, after further review that might change.

My day job is really interferring with this effort....

[fines]

Originally posted by Allen Brown
Jim Malloy, MVS #29 Cecil - Ford TC - Stacks of material on this. This 1971 car looks like it was the 1969 copy of the 1969 Morris that MVS bought but it occurs to me that it could be the 1969 Morris itself. Not the original 1966 Cecil as this was replaced in 1969.

Bell ringing! I wanted to post something about a Morris/Cecil connection earlier, but couldn't find my notes about it, so I kept shut. But if you've found something about this, I can easily agree. Definitely rings a bell!

About the Vatis-Huffakers, my understanding has always been that these were two of the original cars - I seem to recall there were three to choose from. But this is still a bit hazy atm...

The Lolas are a minefield! Ditto for PJ Colts. I once tried to untangle these mysteries, but got utterly confused! There are many sales records of Lola cars for other formulae in circulation, why can't we find something about the Indycars??? I can't even seem to find definite production numbers...

[Allen Brown]

Hi Michael

Originally posted by fines
Bell ringing! I wanted to post something about a Morris/Cecil connection earlier, but couldn't find my notes about it, so I kept shut. But if you've found something about this, I can easily agree. Definitely rings a bell!

'lululj' posted about the Morris/Cecil connection here on Trackforum where there's a parallel thread running.

Originally posted by fines
About the Vatis-Huffakers, my understanding has always been that these were two of the original cars - I seem to recall there were three to choose from. But this is still a bit hazy atm...

I just took a look at Autosport for 1968 and 1969, not expecting much, and there's a couple of good articles on the 1969 cars (23 May 1969 pp8-9 and 30 May 1969 p26,27,29). The first one shows a picture of Sammy Sessions' #11 Valvoline Wedge and mentions that "two of these Bill Finley-designed cars are entered" for Sessions and Posey. Could these be new cars? Or the old tube frame Huffakers rebuilt?

Originally posted by fines
The Lolas are a minefield! Ditto for PJ Colts. I once tried to untangle these mysteries, but got utterly confused! There are many sales records of Lola cars for other formulae in circulation, why can't we find something about the Indycars??? I can't even seem to find definite production numbers...

An article on Lola's 1000 cars says six, IIRC. I really need to find that article again.

Let's see what I know so far:

1968 (T150) - two: Al Unser's #24 race car and his #5 car which was pranged in practice (22 May).

1969 (T152s) - three apparantly new cars: the #1 Bardahl Spl for Bobby Unser and two for Donohue (#65 Chev and #66 Offy TC - both are T152s according to Autosport 23 May); and two other possibly upgraded 1968 cars from Parnelli: the #3 'Parnelli' (Autosport says a T152) that Al Unser would have driven if he hadn't fallen off his bike and the #24 Lola (8W calls it a T150) that Tinglestad drove. The Bobby Unser car is wrecked at Milwaukee days later and not seen again.

1970 (T153? T154?) - one more car for Penske? Or a T152 rebuilt?

Later on, T150/2 becomes a Colt-Lola while another ex-Parnelli Lola goes to Hurtubise for 1973. One of the Penske cars is at Indy 1971 for Hobbs. Dick Simon may have an older ex-Penske Lola or maybe an unraced one. Retzloff/Parnelli had two or three, Bardahl one and Penske two: which suggests five or six.

Colts are harder: two copies of the modified 1969 car were built for 1970 with the Colt-Lola kept as a backup. Two more presumably built for 1971 with the Colt-Lola going to Agajanian, one 1970 Colt going to the Fejers and the remaining 1970 Colt presumably being the backup. I guess Parnelli still has most of these cars in his museum.

Allen

[gbl]

OK, here's the Mahler car, please identify the chassis


http://paintedover.c...john_mahler.jpg


I also have an 1973' ad from Dick Simon, that says he had a 1968 Lola in 1970 and 1971, so it should be a T150, right?

[Allen Brown]

Originally posted by gbl
OK, here's the Mahler car, please identify the chassis


http://paintedover.c...john_mahler.jpg


I also have an 1973' ad from Dick Simon, that says he had a 1968 Lola in 1970 and 1971, so it should be a T150, right?

Thanks gbl.

It's a bit hard to tell as the picture is small but I think I can see the two-tube front upper wishbones of the 1968 Eagle (Ludvigsen p26) that were also used on the Formula A car (Ludvigsen p52). The earlier cars were very different. The fuel thingies (please excuse the technical terms!) are the same as the 1968 Eagle (see Bobby Unser's car on p28). The A-frame-style roll hoop also matches Unser's car. It's far too rounded to be a 1969 Eagle.

Yes, a 1968 Lola would be a T150 but I thought there were only two and I thought I'd figured out that one of them had gone to Hurtubise and one had become the Colt-Lola. However, I suppose it's possible for one of the T150s to have left Vel's Parnelli at the end of 1969, been used by Simon for three seasons (he last raced it Trenton Sep 1972) and then go to Hurtubise for 1973. I guess Chuck Haines is the man to ask as he owns it today.

Does anyone have the 1972 Indy Yearbook? Simon's Lola qualified 23rd and finished 13th. Does the yearbook give the previous history of the car?

Thanks

Allen

[Allen Brown]

Hello all

In case you're thinking we've discussed one race too long, let's move along to Phoenix and Trenton.

Phoenix 150
Phoenix, 28 March 1971
1 Al Unser, Johnny Lightning 500 #1 Colt - Ford TC, 150 laps, 1h 20m 40.220s
2 Bobby Unser, The Available Eagle #2 Eagle 71 - Offy TC, 150 laps, Flagged
3 Swede Savage, Olsonite #42 Eagle 70 [801] - Offy TC, 150 laps, Finished
4 Joe Leonard, Johnny Lightning 500 #15 Colt - Ford TC, 150 laps, Finished
5 Lloyd Ruby, Gene White Firestone #12 Mongoose 70 - Ford TC, 149 laps, Flagged
6 Mark Donohue, Sunoco #68 Lola T153 - Offy TC, 149 laps, Flagged
7 Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Sprite [Hopkins] #22 Kuzma - Offy TC, 149 laps, Flagged
8 Gordon Johncock, Jewett Cameron Lumber #7 Vollstedt 67 - Ford TC, 148 laps, Flagged
9 Mario Andretti, STP Oil Treatment #5 McNamara 501 - Ford TC, 147 laps, Flagged
10 Mike Mosley, G. C. Murphy #4 Eagle 68 - Ford TC, 147 laps, Flagged
11 Jim Malloy, MVS #29 Cecil 69 - Ford TC, 146 laps, Flagged
12 Dick Simon, TraveLodge Sleeper #10 Lola - Ford TC, 146 laps, Flagged
13 Cale Yarborough, Gene White Firestone #21 Mongoose 70 - Ford TC, 144 laps, Flagged
14 Bob Harkey, Joe Hunt Magneto #99 Gerhardt - Offy TC, 139 laps, Flagged
15 Dee Jones, Minnesota Serendipity #51 unknown - Ford V8, 137 laps, Engine
16 Bentley Warren, Classic Car Wax #94 Finley - Offy TC, 135 laps, Flagged
17 AJ Foyt, ITT-Thompson #9 Coyote 71 - Ford TC, 93 laps, Overheated
18 George Snider, Walther's #77 Morris - Ford TC, 88 laps, Flagged
19 Denny Zimmerman, Fiore Racing Enterprises #43 Vollstedt 66 - Offy TC, 85 laps, Water pump
20 Gary Bettenhausen, Thermo-King #16 Gerhardt 70 - Offy TC, 49 laps, Pit fire
21 Johnny Rutherford, Michner Petroleum #18 Eagle 66 - Offy TC, 37 laps, Wrecked
22 Roger McCluskey, Sprite [Hopkins] #6 Kuzma - Ford TC, 30 laps, Engine
23 Bill Simpson, Wynn's Kwik Kool #28 Eagle - Offy TC, 19 laps, Injector
24 Art Pollard, Gilmore Racing #8 Scorpion 70 - Ford TC, 9 laps, Wrecked

Qualifying

1 Bobby Unser
2 Johnny Rutherford
3 Al Unser
4 Gary Bettenhausen
5 AJ Foyt
6 Swede Savage
7 Mike Mosley
8 Mario Andretti
9 Mark Donohue
10 Art Pollard
11 Joe Leonard
12 Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
13 Cale Yarborough
14 Roger McCluskey
15 Jim Malloy
16 Lloyd Ruby
17 Gordon Johncock
18 Denny Zimmerman
19 Dee Jones
20 George Snider
21 Bill Simpson
22 Bob Harkey
23 Bentley Warren
24 Dick Simon

Notes on the cars we haven't seen before

Andretti – #5 McNamara – is this one of the 1970 500s or a new 1971 501?

Dallenbach – #22 Kuzma – at Indy, Sport Auto says the team has three Kuzmas, a 70 for McCluskey and two 71s for Dallenbach and Kenyon. According to Phil Harms, the first 1970 Kuzma had appeared at Michigan (4 July) for Kenyon (#6) and then a pair had appeared at Trenton (3 Oct) for Kenyon (#6) and Dallenbach (#22). Does anyone know when the 71 cars appeared?

Donohue – #68 Lola T153 – as discussed at length already

Foyt – #9 Coyote – Phil records this as a Coyote 71.

Harkey – #99 Gerhardt – the Joe Hunt Magneto car. It later qualified for the Indy 500 so can anyone quote its history from the Hungness yearbook (I only have the 1973 to 1978 ones). I have a picture of it at Indy and I’d never have guessed it was a Gerhardt!

McCluskey – #6 Kuzma – see the Dallenbach/Kuzma entry above.

Pollard – #8 Scorpion – see race-cars.com. This car was said there to be the first of five built. A 1970 car.

Rutherford – #18 Eagle 66 or 67 – Rutherford had been driving “Geraldine” for Patrick Racing at least since July 1968 and it may even be the Eagle he drove in 1967 and early 1968. Rutherford appeared at the Indy 500 in 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970 in Eagles so the yearbooks should help sort this one out.

Snider – #77 Morris - as driven by Walther in Argentina.

Trenton 200
Trenton, 26 April 1971
1 Mike Mosley, G. C. Murphy #4 Eagle 68 - Ford TC, 134 laps, 1h 30m 58.570s
2 Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Sprite [Hopkins] #22 Kuzma - Offy TC, 131 laps, Flagged
3 LeeRoy Yarbrough, Olsonite #42 Eagle 70 - Offy TC, 130 laps, Flagged
4 Bobby Unser, Olsonite #2 Eagle 71 - Offy TC, 129 laps, Turbocharger
5 Cale Yarborough, Gene White Firestone #21 Mongoose 70 - Ford TC, 128 laps, Flagged
6 Art Pollard, Gilmore Racing #8 Scorpion 70 - Ford TC, 128 laps, Flagged
7 Dick Simon, TraveLodge Sleeper #10 Vollstedt 67 - Ford TC, 126 laps, Flagged
8 Bruce Walkup, Agajanian-Faas #98 Wolverine 70 - Offy TC, 125 laps, Flagged
9 Al Loquasto, Indy-On-A-Shoestring #26 Gerhardt - Offy TC, 118 laps, Flagged
10 Ludwig Heimrath, Heimrath Porsche #55 Eisert - Chevrolet stock block V8, 116 laps, Flagged
11 Steve Krisiloff, STP Gas Treatment #20 Hawk - Ford TC, 113 laps, Wrecked
12 Jerry Karl, Winters Transmission #102 Gerhardt - Chevrolet, 110 laps, Flagged
13 Lloyd Ruby, Gene White Firestone #12 Mongoose 70 - Ford TC, 106 laps, Wrecked
14 Don Brown, Seymour Enterprises #39 Gerhardt - Chevrolet, 101 laps, Wrecked
15 Gordon Johncock, Johncock Timberjack #7 Vollstedt 67 - Ford TC, 60 laps, Clutch failure
16 Gary Bettenhausen, Thermo-King #16 Gerhardt 70 - Offy TC, 41 laps, Clutch failure
17 Johnny Rutherford, Michner Petroleum #18 Eagle 66 - Offy TC, 36 laps, Broken exhaust
18 Mario Andretti, STP Oil Treatment #5 McNamara 501 - Ford TC, 35 laps, T'charger bearing
19 Mark Donohue, Sunoco #68 Lola T153 - Offy TC, 33 laps, Clutch
20 Arnie Knepper, CHEK #90 Eagle - Chevrolet, 33 laps, Oil leak
21 Al Unser, Johnny Lightning 500 #1 Colt - Ford TC, 32 laps, Burned piston
22 Roger McCluskey, Sprite [Hopkins] #6 Kuzma - Ford TC, 23 laps, Wrecked
23 John Mahler, Mahler Eagle 100 #100 Eagle - Chevrolet, 14 laps, Oil leak
24 Joe Leonard, Samsonite #15 Colt - Ford TC, 12 laps, Turbocharger fire
25 Billy Vukovich, Sugaripe Prune #32 Mongoose - Offy TC, 2 laps, Clutch
26 Bentley Warren, Classic Wax #94 Finley - Offy TC, 1 laps, Oil leak

Qualifying
1 Bobby Unser
2 Al Unser
3 Mario Andretti
4 Mike Mosley
5 Gary Bettenhausen
6 Lloyd Ruby
7 Mark Donohue
8 Joe Leonard
9 Roger McCluskey
10 Johnny Rutherford
11 Steve Krisiloff
12 Billy Vukovich
13 Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
14 Gordon Johncock
15 LeeRoy Yarbrough
16 Bentley Warren
17 Dick Simon
18 Art Pollard
19 John Mahler
20 Bruce Walkup
21 Cale Yarborough
22 Don Brown
23 Jerry Karl
24 Arnie Knepper
25 Al Loquasto
26 Ludwig Heimrath

Notes on the cars we haven't seen before

Karl – #102 Gerhardt – entered by Winters Transmission, this may be the same as the #52 Trackstar Helmet Gerhardt Karl drove in 1970.

Knepper – #90 Eagle – the CHEK Racing car. Another total mystery.

Krisiloff – #20 Hawk – could this be the #20 STP Hawk that McElreath had driven at the 1970 Indy 500 – if so, then this is the 1969 Indy 500 winning Hark III. Does its wreck explain why STP were so short of cars at the 1971 Indy?

Loquasto – #26 Gerhardt – Al’s “Indy-On-A-Shoestring” Gerhardt. Another mystery Gerhardt.

Simon – #10 Vollstedt – this one’s covered in the Vollstedt book: a 67 car that Simon bought from Rolla in 1970.

Vukovich – #32 Mongoose – Sugaripe Prune had a Mongoose?! OK, that’s another puzzle!

Walkup – #98 Wolverine – Don Edmunds built one of these for Agajanian-Faas in 1970 but it did not fare well. This was the last time it was seen.

Yarbrough – #42 Eagle – as raced by Savage in Argentina and at Phoenix.

All contributions most welcome.

Thanks

Allen

[gbl]

He he, I like your information, since I can use it for my database You have to be careful with the Foyt car. Phil Harmes puts him in a 71 Coyote for all 1971 races but I have pictures from Milwaukee and Michigan where he's in an older chassis - don't know about the other races though. Do you know who owned the Pollard car? I think in 1970 Jim Hayhoe ran the car (the same Jim Hayhoe that gave Jimmy Vasser a ride in 1992?) and this could be the same team.

[Allen Brown]

Originally posted by gbl
He he, I like your information, since I can use it for my database

That's what collaborative research is all about!

Originally posted by gbl
You have to be careful with the Foyt car. Phil Harmes puts him in a 71 Coyote for all 1971 races but I have pictures from Milwaukee and Michigan where he's in an older chassis - don't know about the other races though.

Probably Foyt's habit of using a different, typically older, for short tracks. A lot of teams seem to have done this which makes extrapolation so dangerous.

Originally posted by gbl
Do you know who owned the Pollard car? I think in 1970 Jim Hayhoe ran the car (the same Jim Hayhoe that gave Jimmy Vasser a ride in 1992?) and this could be the same team.

I think the cars were originally commissioned by Hayhoe but they seem to ended up back in Brawner's hands.

Allen

[fines]

Clint Brawner was chief wrench for Hayhoe after Dean Van Lines - to be more precise, after Mario Andretti ran the Dean team for one more year and then signed for Granatelli.

Hey, Allen, are you going to do the whole series? I haven't even got hold of the '70s Wallen book yet!

[Allen Brown]

Hi Michael

I think it would be more accurate to describe Hayhoe as the moneyman for Brawner's operation. Brawner ended up having to use his own money and it almost ruined him. The very excellent Gerry Measures sent me the relevant pages from the Brawner biography.

I don't have the 70s Wallen book either but my library is growing by the day. I intend to do all the way up to the end of 1978 but I'm not in a hurry. Rafaela isn't finished yet!

Allen

[gbl]

I'm trying to reveal all the team owners behind the cars (that is a helluva work ), maybe you two can tell me all the cars where Hayhoe and Brawner were involved and who was the owner in each case.

[Allen Brown]

It's a fun job, identifying all the owners. If you ever detangle Watson, Wilke, Philips, Agajanian, Bardahl, Rislone, Leader Cards and Lodestar, please let me know!

Gerry has kindly sent me a stack of stuff on the aptly-named Scorpions and, as far as I can make out, Hayhoe commissioned Brawner to build the first Scorpion in 1970 but then announced that the money had run out and left Brawner in the lurch. Brawner then became his own car owner on the very difficult Scorpion chassis and it was probably only that 2nd place at Ontario that kept him in business. Then, at the end of 1970, McCluskey quit to join Hopkins and McGee quit to go back to Andretti and Granatelli. Brawner gained Gilmore as sponsor in 1971 and the highly talented Art Pollard as driver but the "owner", if that concept means much in this regard, was still Brawner.

Gilmore also left the increasingly unfortunate Brawner early in 1972 and Lloyd Meeks stepped in as "owner" for 1972. There was some sort of litigation after that - I don't really know the details - but the two surviving monocoques, one complete and one crashed, were offered for sale in 1975.

Did somebody say "can of worms" a while ago?

BTW - thanks to the wonderful Doug Nye, I now have the details I need from the 1969-72 Hungness Yearbook. All Autoweek, C&D, R&T etc information still eagerly required!!

Allen

[billthekat]

Allen,

Believe it or not, about 95%+ of my Championship Trail data is still on paper (and a bit unwieldy to say the least) so I am currently laboring away at finally putting it in digital form at long last, which should help a little bit in cross-referencing and simply having the material at hand. I do have all the Clymer & Hungness yearbooks (the 1909-1941 book and then from 1946-1997) and the Wallen books (Board Tracks, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s) and a number of other annuals and other books (not that there are all that many...) and other odds and ends in my file cabinet (such as AAA & USAC yearbook material).

No clue as to what happened to the CP/Autoweek NCT material I copied at the IMRRC along with some other stuff.

I will help out as I can with the project.

PS: I also have the Gordon White books, the Ludvigsen Indy books, and all sorts of oddities on the shelves here.

[theunions]

Originally posted by gbl
I think in 1970 Jim Hayhoe ran the car (the same Jim Hayhoe that gave Jimmy Vasser a ride in 1992?)

One and the same.