SCCA Continental Championship Formula A 1968
The first season of 5-litre Formula A was won by Lou Sell in the Smothers Bros' Eagle Mk 5. The Eagle was based on AAR's monocoque 1968 Indianapolis design, and was the dominant car that first season, with Sell and George Wintersteen proving almost unbeatable. Lola had taken a very different approach with their spaceframe Lola T140, based on components left over from a project to build a GT version of the Lola T70, and this proved to be the most effective customer car. Top amateur driver Jerry Hansen took a deserved victory at Road America in his T140.
Other cars that performed well in 1968 were four US-built spaceframe designs, the McKee Mk 8, LeGrand Mk 7A, Vulcan and Spectre HR1. Also seen were Autodynamics Corp's monocoque Caldwell D8, a couple of monocoque Eiserts, the WRE, and Lyle Forsgren's Forsgrini. Some cars were converted from other categories, such as Chuck Trowbridge's ex-F1 Lotus 24 with Shelby Ford engine, and a pair of McLaren M1B Can-Am cars converted to single-seater form.
A total of 29 5-litre cars took part during this first season, plus seven assorted 3-litre cars, and these cars took up 41% of the grids during the season, a very healthy average of 15 cars per race. Formula B cars, the most popular being the Brabham BT21C and Lotus 59B, took up 49% of the grid, and the remaining 10% were 1100cc Formula C cars, led by the Brabham BT21B of Fred Opert with its potent 1.1-litre Cosworth SCC engine.
The races
26 May 1968 > Colorado Grand Prix at Continental Divide
16 Jun 1968 > Grand Prix of Oklahoma at War Bonnet
27 Jul 1968 > Badger 200 at Road America
18 Aug 1968 > Thompson Grand Prix at Thompson Speedway
25 Aug 1968 > Mosport Continental at Mosport Park
02 Sep 1968 > Lime Rock Grand Prix
22 Sep 1968 > Donnybrooke Grand Prix at Brainerd
12 Oct 1968 > Ken Miles Memorial Race at Laguna Seca
1968 SCCA Continental Championship table
| 1 | Lou Sell | Eagle Mk 5 - Chev V8 | 50 pts | 5 wins |
| 2 | George Wintersteen | Eagle Mk 5 - Chev V8 | 39 pts | 2 wins |
| 3 | Bobby Brown | Lola T140 - Chev V8 | 23 pts | |
| 4 | Jerry Hansen | Lola T140 - Chev V8 | 19 pts | 1 win |
| 5 | Brian O'Neil | Lola T140 - Chev V8 | 14 pts | |
| 6 | Henry Candler | Lola T140 - Chev V8 | 11 pts | |
| 7 | Kurt Reinold | McKee Mk 8 - Chev V8 | 8 pts | |
| 8= | John Gunn | Lola T140 - Chev V8 | 5 pts | |
| 8= | Bud Morley | McLaren M1B/FA - Chev V8 | 5 pts | |
| 10 | Mak Kronn | McKee Mk 8 - Chev V8 | 4 pts | |
| 11= | Mike Eyerly | (Formula B) McLaren M4B - Ford twin cam | 3 pts | |
| 11= | Mike Hiss | (Formula B) Brabham - Ford twin cam | 3 pts | |
| 11= | WP Fred Stevenson | (Formula B) Lotus - Ford twin cam | 3 pts | |
| 14= | Dave Ogilvy | (Formula B) Lotus 35 - Ford twin cam | 2 pts | |
| 14= | Jack Eiteljorg | Eisert 68 - Chev V8 | 2 pts | |
| 14= | Steve Durst | Vulcan - Chev V8 | 2 pts | |
| 14= | Stew McMillen | Eisert 65 - Chev V8 | 2 pts | |
| 18= | Joe Alves | (Formula B) Brabham BT21 - Ford twin cam | 1 pt | |
| 18= | Richard Negley | (Formula B) Lotus 41C - Ford twin cam | 1 pt | |
| 18= | David Pabst | Lola T140 - Chev V8 | 1 pt |
The points table is derived from Wolfgang Klopfer's excellent Formula A and Formula 5000 in America p10.