Central Division SCCA Formula B 1975
Dan Carmichael won at Mid-Ohio in July and scored consistently through the season to take the title in his two-year-old Brabham BT40. Chip Mead was second in his new March 75B, have focused his efforts on the Canadian Pro series, and othr from the Pro series to score points included young Bobby Rahal, Bill Scott and Bill O'Connor in Lola T360s, and Vince Muzzin in a March 75B. Tom Outcault relocated from New Jersey to Cincinatti Region and tied with Mead for second place. Rahal's 18 points came from winning at PBIR in February and Stuttgart in April in preparation for the Pro season.
Not all of CenDiv's Nationals were well supported: the Milwaukee Region event at Blackhawk Farms on 1 June was won by David Ralston, and saw Tom Sokoly, Dean Lundgreen and Bruce Kramer score their only points of the season.
Mystery cars in 1975 include Gary Robinson's Brabham BT21C, Dean Lundgreen's Chevron B18, and Tony Kester's Dulon, the last of which is likely to have been his usual Formula Ford bumped up a class.
Final standings
1. | Dan Carmichael | Brabham BT40 | Ohio Valley | 35 pts |
2. | Chip Mead | March 75B | Western Ohio | 31 pts |
3. | Tom Outcault | March 74B | Cincinnati | 31 pts |
4. | Chuck Dietrich | Brabham BT38 | NEOhio | 24 pts |
5. | Bobby Rahal | Lola T360 | Chicago | 18 pts |
6. | John Elder | Brabham BT40 | Land O'Lakes | 18 pts |
7. | David Ralston | Brabham BT40 | Chicago | 14 pts |
8. | Vince Muzzin | March 75B | Detroit | 12 pts |
9. | Keith Feldott | Chevron B27 | Chicago | 11 pts |
10. | Tom Cooney | March [722] | Indianapolis | 11 pts |
11. | Lloyd Callaway | Chevron B27 | Chicago | 10 pts |
12. | John Kowalski | Brabham BT38 | NEOhio | 9 pts |
13. | Bill Scott | Lola T360 | Blackhawk Valley | 8 pts |
14. | Ed Kasprowicz | Lola T240 | Detroit | 7 pts |
15. | Tom Mangan | Crossle 28F | Golden Triangle | 6 pts |
16. | Bill O'Connor | Lola T360 | Chicago | 6 pts |
17. | Gary Robinson | Brabham BT21C | NE Michigan | 6 pts |
18. | Roger Seacrist | Rondel Motul RJM-1 | Chicago | 5 pts |
19. | Thomas Sokoly | March [71BM] | Milwaukee | 4 pts |
20. | Dean Lundgreen | Chevron [B18] | Chicago | 3 pts |
21. | Bruce Kramer | Elden PH75-B | Blackhawk Valley | 3 pts |
22. | Tony Kester | Dulon | South Bend | 2 pts |
23. | Tom Christ | Chevron [B27] | Milwaukee | 2 pts |
Central Division SCCA Nationals in 1975
18 May 1975 | Grattan Raceway | Northeast Michigan Region |
01 Jun 1975 | Blackhawk Farms | Milwaukee Region |
08 Jun 1975 | Indianapolis Raceway Park | Indiana NW Region |
22 Jun 1975 | Road America | Chicago Region |
13 Jul 1975 | Brainerd | Land O'Lakes Region |
20 Jul 1975 | Mid-Ohio | Fort Wayne Region |
03 Aug 1975 | Grattan Raceway | Western Michigan Region |
17 Aug 1975 | Blackhawk Farms | Blackhawk Valley Region |
31 Aug 1975 | Michigan International Speedway | Detroit Region |
07 Sep 1975 | Nelson Ledges | NEOhio Region |
21 Sep 1975 | Indianapolis Raceway Park | Indianapolis Region |
Central Division SCCA Regionals in 1975
11 May 1975 | Nelson Ledges | NEOhio Region |
11 May 1975 | Blackhawk Farms | Chicago Region |
18 May 1975 | Blackhawk Farms | Blackhawk Valley Region |
25 May 1975 | Brainerd | Land O'Lakes Region |
08 Jun 1975 | Waterford Hills | Detroit Region |
15 Jun 1975 | Blackhawk Farms | Fort Wayne Region |
22 Jun 1975 | Nelson Ledges | NEOhio Region |
29 Jun 1975 | Grattan Raceway | Western Michigan Region |
29 Jun 1975 | Indianapolis Raceway Park | Indianapolis Region |
06 Jul 1975 | Blackhawk Farms | Blackhawk Valley Region |
13 Jul 1975 | Waterford Hills | Northeast Michigan & Saginaw Regions |
20 Jul 1975 | Blackhawk Farms | South Bend Region |
27 Jul 1975 | Indianapolis Raceway Park | Cincinnati Region |
10 Aug 1975 | Blackhawk Farms | Chicago Region |
24 Aug 1975 | Brainerd | Land O'Lakes Region |
07 Sep 1975 | Road America | Chicago Region |
14 Sep 1975 | Blackhawk Farms | Blackhawk Valley Region |
21 Sep 1975 | Grattan Raceway | Western Michigan Region |
28 Sep 1975 | Nelson Ledges | NEOhio Region |
28 Sep 1975 | Brainerd | Land O'Lakes Region |
05 Oct 1975 | Indianapolis Raceway Park | Western Ohio Region |
12 Oct 1975 | Blackhawk Farms | Milwaukee Region |
19 Oct 1975 | Indianapolis Raceway Park | Indiana NW Region |
The Detroit Region National at Michigan International Speedway in August probably did not go ahead, as the SCCA had not approved MIS's road course for club racing, and were unwilling to sanction a third National at Grattan.
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.