Central Division SCCA Formula B 1972
Formula B continued to thrive in Central Division with 17 drivers scoring points. Michael Hall retained his mid-1971 Brabham BT35 and won the championship. Despite Brabham's record of success in CenDiv, the 1972 monocoque Brabham BT38 attracted no buyers, leaving the market wide open for challengers March, Chevron and Lola. Reigning champion Chuck Dietrich led the March invasion with his brand new March 722 and other new cars in CenDiv included the T242 of Jim Harrell, who had moved up to FB after winning the Formula Ford title at the 1971 Runoffs, and the Chevron B20 of Dan Carmichael.
Turner Woodard was presumably in the same BT35 he drove in 1973. Amongst the unknown cars, F5000 refugee James Dunkel had a Chevron which may have been hired, ex-FV driver Richard Neely (Highland, IN) had a Brabham, and Bill Givens (Homewood, IL) had a Crosslé.
Final standings
| 1. | Mike Hall | Brabham [BT35] | Chicago | 48 pts |
| 2. | Chuck Dietrich | March [722] | NEOhio | 42 pts |
| 3. | Jim Harrell | Lola [T242] | Detroit | 41 pts |
| 4. | Dan Carmichael | Chevron [B20] | Ohio Valley | 25 pts |
| 5. | "Bud" Jackson | Lola [T240] | Iowa | 16 pts |
| 6. | Turner Woodard | Brabham [BT35?] | Indianapolis | 15 pts |
| 7. | Bill O'Connor | Chevron [B15B] | Chicago | 13 pts |
| 8. | James Dunkel | Chevron [B18] | Blackhawk Valley | 5 pts |
| 9. | Geoffrey Freeman | March [71BM] | Western Ohio | 5 pts |
| 10. | Syd Demovsky | Lola [T240] | Chicago | 4 pts |
| 11. | Richard Neely | Brabham | NEOhio | 4 pts |
| 12. | William Kautz | March [722] | Chicago | 3 pts |
| 13. | Carl Liebich | Chevron [B18] | Milwaukee | 3 pts |
| 14. | Roger Seacrist | Brabham [BT29] | Chicago | 2 pts |
| 15. | Joe Shepherd | Lola [T240] | Indianapolis | 2 pts |
| 16. | Quin Calhoun | Lola [T240] | Chicago | 1 pt |
| 17. | Bill Givens | Crosslé | Ohio Valley | 1 pt |
NB In 1972, SCCA tables did not show where points were earned out of home divisions.
Central Division sources
Most of our knowledge of CenDiv racing comes from the SCCA's Sports Car magazine and from Competition Press & Autoweek. We are very keen to acquire, borrow or receive copies of 1960s, 1970s and 1980s SCCA regional publications from this Division. There were many such newsletters in this Division, including:
- Auto-Graph (Indiana Northwest Region)
- Backfire (Western Michigan Region)
- Blower (Northeast Ohio Region)
- Class Q and later CinChronizer (Cincinnati Region)
- Clutch Chatter (Indianapolis Region)
- Clutch Chatter (Northwestern Ohio Region)
- Crashbox (Golden Triangle Region)
- Down Shift (Central Illinois Region)
- Downshift (Kentucky Region)
- The Drift (Milwaukee Region)
- Drifting (Des Moines Valley Region)
- The Fifth Wheel (Northeastern Michigan Region)
- The Four Wheel Drift (Fort Wayne Region)
- Iowa Regional News (Iowa Region)
- Newsletter (Central Kentucky Region)
- Ohio Valley Regional News and Observers Stand (Ohio Valley Region)
- Open Exhaust (Detroit Region)
- Piston Patter (Chicago Region)
- Pit Board (South Bend Region)
- The Pit Stop (Southern Indiana Region)
- The Racket (Tennessee Valley Region)
- Recaps (Eastern Tennessee Region)
- Rev Record (Western Ohio Region)
- S.I.R. SCCA Newsletter (Southern Indiana Region)
- Smoke Signals (Blackhawk Valley Region)
- The Tonneau (Land O'Lakes Region)
Also relevant are some non-SCCA publications, notably that of the Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs (MCSCC), based in the Chicago area:
- Klaxon (Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs)
We are also keen to get scans of entry lists from SCCA Nationals in this Division.