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Central Division SCCA Formula B 1973

After March and Lola had offered such a strong challenge in 1972 to Brabham's dominance of Formula B, the old empire struck back in 1973 winning the top six places in Central Division. Former March customer Chuck Dietrich had bought a new Brabham BT40 and regained the title he had previously won in 1967, 1978 and 1971. Michael Hall, a longstanding Brabham customer and Dan Carmichael, who had previously run a Chevron, also bought BT40s. The surprise package was the O'Connor-Klausler Racing team who had acquired a pair of second-hand Brabham BT38s that had previously been raced in F2 by the Rondel team and would have been well developed and immaculately prepared.

Behind the Brabhams were a shoal of Lola T240s, still popular in Carl Haas's back yard, and a couple of March 722s that scored only a handful of points. Bruce Cambern was March's leading runner in an ex-F2 March 712M previously raced by Carlos Pace. Near the bottom of the table appears one H. T. Mead Jr., better known as Chip Mead, a member of the family that owned publishing giant Mead Corp. Young Chip bought a new Chevron B25, one of very few to be sold in the US.

Final standings

1. Chuck DietrichBrabham [BT40]NEOhio42 pts 
2. Tom KlauslerBrabham [BT38]Chicago33 pts 
3. Mike HallBrabham [BT40]Chicago33 pts 
4. Bill O'ConnorBrabham [BT38]Chicago28 pts 
5. Dan CarmichaelBrabham [BT40]Ohio Valley28 pts 
6. Turner WoodardBrabham [BT35]Indianapolis15 pts 
7. Bruce CambernMarch [712M]Detroit8 pts 
8. "Bud" JacksonLola [T240]Iowa6 pts 
9. Roger SeacristBrabham [BT29]Chicago4 pts 
10. Ed KasprowiczLola [T240]Detroit4 pts 
11. Carmon SolomoneLola [T240]Chicago3 pts 
12. Joe ShepherdChevron [B20]Indianapolis3 pts 
13. Dale LangMarch [722]Land O'Lakes2 pts 
14. Chip MeadChevron [B25]Western Ohio1 pt   
15. Cliff L. PhillipsLola [T242]Chicago1 pt   
16. Thomas SokolyFalconer [March 722]Milwaukee1 pt   

NB In 1973, 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.