Scott and co-driver Peter Revson cinched championship at Spa with 3rd overall and 1st in class.

Castrol Oils, Incorporated-Newark, K~nsas City, Palo Alto and San Fran­~/sco. Also In Canada and throughout tne world.

CASTROL AGAIN HELPS BRING U. S. WORL'D SPORTS CAR CHAMPIONSHIP ...

SKIP SCOTT'S ESSEX WIRE FORD GT-40s AT SEBRING, MONIA AND SPA 1000

Vol. No. 49 Entered as second class mail at Lafayette, Cal ifornia December 10,1966

Mario Staves Off Parnelli, Sails By Debris to Win Bobby Ball Race

Gary Congdon spun the Huffaker-Offy into the wall at Phoenix in the Nov. 20 Bobby Ball Memorial in front of Jim McElreath and Bruce Jacobi. After the track was cleared the green was out for one lap when Greg Weld st ffed the Eisert-Chevy in almost the same spot.

• (John Hearst Jr. photo)

No Dollars, No Pesos for Two Victors of Juarez Pro Formula Go By Sean Mooney

EL PASO, Tex., Nov. 21- Four months after taking part in the Juarez Grand Prix for formula cars in Juarez, M'ex., across the border from here, two drivers have still not been paid their winnings.

Arfons Ready 'To Go Back' By Charles Fox

AKRON, 0., Nov. 21-ArtArfons, who survived a 600mph-plus crash in ·his jet-powered Green ·Monster at Bonneville, Nov. 17, said he'll go back for another try next year.

"It looked like a perfect run," a veteran observer said, "until he was somewhere through the mile. Then something happened."

Arfons described what he felt and saw:

"I ride in the left hand cockpit of the car, to the left of the engine, so I stay on the right side of the black

(Continued on page 9)

In a letter to CP&A, Chuck Gounis, a Redondo Beach, Calif. driver who finished sixth in his F/C Elva-Ford in the July 17 race, said, "My com­plaint is that the race was billed as having a $5,000 purse. I went down there and finished in the money only to have a $250 check bounce. I've travelled 3000 miles to run anSCCA national at Watkins Glen for nothing more than atrophy, but I knew tliat tl.lat was all I could expect. If Juarez had been billed as an amateur race I still would probably have gone, but after this business they have s~en me for the last time."

Second in the 100-mi. event won by Ed Marshall driving Mauricio Gamooa's AleXiS-Foro, was Hank Candler driving a Team Zem Le Grand-Alfa. Candler's check for $600 also bounced, although Mar­shall collected and cashed his $1000 without any trouble.

Meanwhile, south of the border, things remain murky.

OUT OF POCKET Several EI Paso Region SCCA

members who are also members of (CoIitinued on page 14)

By L. Mandel PHOENIX, Ariz., Nov. 20 - Mario

Andretti picked his way through the deb r i s at Phoenix International Raceway to win USAC's 1966 season finale today.

Only seven cars of the 44 which had begun qualifying for the Bobby Ball Memorial were around at the end.

Of the 26 starters Andretti had trouble with just one: Parnelli Jones. But while he was around, Rufus gave Andretti all the repeat USAC cham­pion could handle.

The two hooked up nose to tailfor 47 laps in a race that ended only when Jones blew his engine and climbed the wall at the end of the front chute. He was unhurt.

Andretti won $11,000 finishing the 200-mi. race in 1.54:37.63 before a record crowd of 14,896. Al Unser took the Mecom Lola-Ford into sec­ond, one lap down, and he was fol­lowed by Jim McElreath, Joe Leon­ard and Lloyd Ruby. McElreath's finish in the Brabham-Ford gave him second place in USAC's year-end standings over Gordon Johncockwho bent his car in qualifying and did not start.

EARLY FLIP There were five yellow flags, the

most spectacular for a third-lap ac­cident that saw Ralph Liguori flip his dirt track Offy into the pit wall .when Art Pollard spun out ofthe last turn, Bud Tingelstad tried to avoid him, and was hit by Liguori a third of the way down the straight.

Tingelstad's car was a total and scattered itself for 50 yds down the track. But Liguori's hardier car survived with a bent rollbar and minor body damage, though it gave the pit crews a scare when it hurtled toward the wall, wheels first, with flame billowing out from the under­side.

There were no injuries, and Pol­lard straightened out his car, roared down the pit lane, and rejOined the race.

Andretti, starting from the pole, had taken an immediate lead with Parnelli Jones challenging Lloyd Ruby's Eagle for second. Right be­hind were Al Unser in the Lola, Joe Leonard'.s Eagle and Jim McElreath who had won the season opener here in the Spring in his Brabham-Ford.

(Continued on page 10)

LATE NEWS • Overseas tumors have Honda definitely in F/l for 1967. Word from here is 3-liter Honda engines will go into Lolas for John Surtees. • AMC will apply for homologation ofthe 290CID Rogue for the TransAm: car has disc brakes, four-speed box and lots of ,suspension and perform­ance options. • Billy Foster has been signed by Ford for Daytona, Florida 12-Hour and Le Mans in J cars. • A new 3-liter engine is under construction byRepco for Jack Brabham to go into a new F /1 chassis. • McLaren will go with the BRM V12 in F/l. • A deal to be firmed by Thanksgiving or not at all was in the works be­tween SoCal's Dana Chevrolet and Don Yenko. Plan had Stingers and 427 Camaros to be built in two assembly plants, one east, one west. • Roger McCluskey is talking about building a Group 7 car. • Richie Ginther will be number two on the Eagle F/1 team . . • Speculation on the Mobil pullout from racing; they're concentrating on safety in advertising and they won't meet the sky-high prices on the track. Enco's top deal in '66 was said to be $20,000. • The Indy Ford from the Jim Robbins Fuji car is being modified and taken out to 5 liters for Bruce McLaren's sports/ racer at Nassau. • Pikes Peak has changed its dates to mid-June, dropped sports cars in favor of 20 stockers and 20 championship cars. • USAC drivers are dissatisfied with the "no Saturday practice" rule. • BMW will build a BMW Frazer-Nash 2000TI, a fancy version of the 2-liter sedan. • Only 20 entries have been received from Britain for the '67 Monte Carlo Rally. Normal number varies from 70 to 100. Last year's rules hassle is the reason.

12 Hour Returns to Sebring WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Nov.

23 - The Sebring 12-Hour is back in Sebring. And it will be there on a long-term basis.

That was the word from Automo­bile Racing Club of Florida Presi­dent Alec Ulmann whose surprise announcement ended the brief jet set career of Palm Beach Interna­tional Raceways here. The 12-Hour had been moved to this site last September, and an agreement signed at 4:30pm yesterday by lawyers for the track and the club moved it back without an international wheel ever having been turned in anger on the track.

The ACRF gave as reason for the move that unprecedented rains had rais ed the water table to a point where construction of· the necessary additions to PBIR was impoSSible.

But Palm Beach GeneralManager Pete McMahon said it was a matter of not being able to get the financi­ing. "The financing was very diffi­cult to obtain. We were talking about $500,000. We fi r s t encountered

problems securing the land. After we had gotten a quotation on the land, the price was increased.

"We felt that possibly the area here, the community, could have been a little bit more receptive," McMahon went on. "We were very, very close, one of the local banks called us yesterday when they heard the thing might go down the drain. But of course time had run out."

According to Ulmann's statement, ". . . after much deliberation and consultation with the SCCA, it was decided and agreed to apply for a change in venue for the 12-Hours of Florida ••. to run as heretofore on the 5.2-mi. c()urse at Sebring April 1 at 11am to 11pm.

"Completion (of PBm) could never have been accomplished in time for the April 1 date."

Ulmann said improvements due to be made to the Sebring track include e Ii min a ti 0 n of the warehouse straight and VVebster corner, con­struction of earth breastworks to protect spectators, and removal of 9bstacles near the track.

SCCA Governors Zing Air Foil Question Back to Comp Board

CHICAGO, Ill., Nov. 20 - TheSC­CA's board of governors sent the controverSial airfoil ban back to the club's n a ti 0 n a I competitions board for further study, highlighting a quarterly meeting devoted to main­taining the status quo.

New production car rules, first proposed four years ago, were for­malized, a broad-based rally pro­gram adopted, and Dr. Frank Falk­ner and John Bishop namedasSCCA representatives to the ACCUS.

The airfoil ban, recommended by the competitions board, had met with instant OPPOSition from constructors and drivers {CP&A Dec. 3), and the governors referred the matter

for discussion and examination until the February meeting.

(One highly-placed national offi­cer of the club, speaking on his own behaU, told CP&A, "They'll only get

. it sent right back to them this win­ter.")

In other action, the SCCA's top executive body named 1967 ap­pointive officers and adopted com­petition board recommendations for slight changes in F /V.

The board also opened the door to a professional series for formula cars, inviting suggestions to be con­sidered later this year.

(See separate stories on page 2.)

Largest Import Show Opens Doors TRIUMPH IN COMPETITION

Congratulations to these Triumph drivers who qualified for the Road Race of Champions.

Old Number One, the 1925 MG on theBMCD stand at the Imported Car Show. Car has only three forward gears, no reverse, no self-starter and no end of admirers.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 22 - This City's imported automobile show, the largest of its kind in the

'U.S., opened its doors today. With the exception of the mid­

seat Ferrari 365P shown at .Paris by Pininfarina, the "speCialty" cars had little of the impact of last year, and CP&A readers have seen all but one of the "specialty" cars in photos' run in previous editions.

ASA had both coupe and drophead versions of the very pretty I-liter GT; Ghia showed its successor to the Dual-Ghia; Citroen had an ex­traordinary Chapronhardtop;Saab's Sonnett 2 was a standout as was the Frua Mistral Maserati.

But the most impressive car of

the show, specialty cars included, was the 2000GT Toyota, a lovely red coupe combining the best of Jaguar E-type styling and the contemporary Italian approach . .

While the racing films continue, the slot car section was eliminated as was the bar, special-interest groups' objections to the contrary notwi thstanding.

Outstanding display in the small eoncours was Robert A. Davies' 55001b. 1934 Rolls drophead with Carleton Carriage Co. coachwork.

As usual both Rover and VW had "working" displays; Rover's con­fining itself to a panel-less view of the splendid 2000TC with a new Lay-

Southwest Division Gary Bishop DP Bob Eschauzier GP Michael Lowe Roy E. Hopkins

Midwest Division Ray Pickering DP Bert Jones Bill Boemler FP Mel 'Bogus GP

See you at Riverside! Triumph Competition Department

111 Galway Place Teaneck, New Jersey

PAGE 10 COMPETITION, PRESS & AUTOWEEK DEC. 10, 1966

More on:

Mario Wins-(Continued from page 1) ,

Then on the third lap out went the yellow with the three-car tangle and Jones came in for a quick check, going out dead last. Seven laps later the track was cleared, Andretti took another im mediate lead and Jones began carving his way through the field. By lap 20 Jones was in ninth, by lap 25 he was in seventh, he _ moved into fourth on lap 30 and 10 laps later he was in second.

But all the while things were far from peaceful.

Arnie Knepper lost his Gerhardt just past the dogleg on the back chute and spun into the dirt. Yellow flag. Three laps later out came the green and Jim McElreath swooped outside Unser and Ruby into second with Leonard chasing the top four a little high in the second turn and raising a cloud of dust.

Foyt began falling back from his sixth-place poSition with suspension troubles that were to retire the Coyote on the 47th lap and Jerry Grant took to the road course with a rock in his steering.

It was Andretti by four sec., then McElreath four over Ruby who had a full coat of paint over Al Unser and, all ofa sudden, there was Jones.

For five laps Unser, McElreath, Ruby and Jones ran in each other's coc,kpits - a full lengt h of the front chute behind the flying Andretti but dicing as though Mario didn't exist. Then Jones was by Ruby and Unser by McElreath with Leonard and Foster right behind.

If Mario was alone, his competi­tors all had close company: Jones and Unser were just that close and so were McElreath and Ruby and Foyt and Foster. Thirty-five laps into the 200 lapper and only 16 cars were left, but (to the delight of the crowd) one was first-timer Norm Brown in a dirt track Offy doing a bang-up job and looking both fast and safe.

Then there was a great cheer from the crowd and Jones was by Unser and out after Andretti whose long lead was sure to be cut when the inevitable yellow next came out.

The order was Andretti, Jones, Al Unser, Lloyd Ruby, Jim McElreath, Roger McCluskey, Joe Leonard -and Billy Foster as Foyt retired. But 10 sec. still separated first and second place. McElreath lost the Brabham momentarily, d r 0 p p e d down into the dirt and watched Mc­Cluskey's Eagle fly by, but recov­ered and was only three sec. down as result.

A lap later Peter Revson, driving his first championship race in Joe Lucey's Lola-Offy (the blown Drake Rodger Ward had taken to second place here in the Spring) came in

Lloyd Ruby (outside), in the Eagle-Ford, and Mario Andretti's cham- Memorial. AndreUi won the USAC '66 finale after a fierce duel with pionship Brawner Brabham Hawk-Ford lead the 26-car Phoenix field on Parnelli Jones. You should be able to tell the race wasn't at Trenton. one of three parade laps before the start of the Nov. 20 BobbyBall (John Hearst Jr. photo)

with a holed gearbox and oil all over the deck. He had done well in his debut. Not spectacular but clean, a nice qualifying time and no trouble to anyone on the track.

JONES'CHANCE The chance Jones had been waiting

for came on lap 71. Gary Congdon spun into the wall

between the third and fourth turns, out came the pace car and everyone closed up; mostly Jones on Andretti.

S even laps later the fuss was over, the track went on green and Jones c h a r g e d on Andretti's Brabham ready to pass. Out went the yellow. Greg Weld had put the Eisert-Chevy into the wall not five ft. from Cong­don's chosen spot and there were an­other eight yellow laps in store.

It only delayed matters. Ruby came in for fuel on the yel­

lOW, Bobby Grim came in and both went almost unnoticed. There wasn't a fan in the stands, not a man in the pits who wasn't holding his breath waiting for the green. Jones was go­ing to go and everyone knew it, most of all Andretti.

Even so there wasn't much he could do.

Lap 85 and the track was clear with the _ 12 remaining cars ac­celerating down the front chute to the waving green and there went Par­nelli inSide Mario in the first turn - side by side for just a second and then, by and clear, by the sec­ond turn and into the straight toward the dogleg.

P. J. LEADS The fans blew their minds, An­

dretti parked his Brabham replica on the blue Sperex-painted exhaust pipes of the Shrike and the Fire­stone man, who had both Jones and AndreUi on his tires, turned his back.

"Let me know what happens. I can't weatch."

It made sense. Neither was go­ing to back off, and from the whole atmosphere of the day it was clear

Starting Grid M. Andretti Brabham-Ford 29.47

P. Jones Shrike-Offy 30.12

J. Leonard Eagle-Ford 30.43

A. J. Foyt Coyote-Ford 30.57

A. Knepper Gerhardt-Ford 30.67

B. Unser Gerhardt-Ford 30.95

Bud Tingelstad Gerhardt-Offy 31.18

N. Brown Offy dirt car 31.37

R. Liguori Offy dirt car 31.50

P. Revson Lola-Offy 3J.58

B. Jacobi Watson-Offy 31.60

G. Bettenhausen Halibrand-Offy 31.76

L. Ruby Eagle-Ford 29.82

A. Unser Lola-Ford 30.13

J. McElreath Brabham-Ford 30.55

R. McCluskey Eagle-Ford 30.57

B. Foster Vollstedt-Ford 30.79

A. Pollard Gerhardt-Offy 30.99

J. Grant Eagle-Ford 31.26

Wally Dallenbach Huffaker-Offy 31.44

Mel Kenyon Gerhardt-Offy 31.53

G. Congdon Huffaker-Offy 31.54

G. Weld Eisert-Chevy 31.60

B. Grim Gerhardt-Offy 31.74

A. Smith Watson-Offy 31.80

,

it was going to be only a matter of time until something wild happened.

As they went through traffic it looked as though Jones was gOing to do it. He had the advantage of

MARIO ANDRETTI being first through, but when a car wouldn't give way (Bobby Unser), he shouldered it aside. Andretti got caught - preferring the safer pas­sage, but found himself up high in three and almost into the wall trying. At one point Jones had almost two sec. with two cars in between, and at the halfway mark it was Jones, An­dretti, Al Unser, McElr~ath, - Mc­Cluskey, Leonard, Ruby and Bobby Unser. Nobody was giving way for Andretti, and he was having his troubles staying tight on Jones.

Twelve laps later Andretti got by Bobby Unser and began to narrow

the gap. As the sun went behind the clouds and the sagebrush and rock landscape became more and more occupied with car corpses, Mario moved closer and closer. Finally, on lap 131, he was right behind Jones and by him in the third turn the next time around. Down the front chute they went and Parnelli blew in a brief ball of flame. He had been without brakes for 10 laps, and when he pulled the ~ar out of gear, "It was like stepping on the accelera­tor." The car shot into the wall, climbed it with all four wheels grab­bing crablike for ahold, and bounced back down into the middle.

Unnoticed in the few laps pre­vious Al Smith blew his engine; Billy Foster was in with the rear end gone and Roger McCluskey was out after a fine race with a blown engine.

Nine cars were left, soon to be eight when Norm Brown spun the dirt car after a first-rate ride, and by the three-quarter mark there were two Brabhams, one Lola, two Eagles, two Gerhardts and a Watson left circulating.

For 50 laps. Relieved only by An­dretti's inexorable lapping of sec­ond-place man Al Unser who, unlikE' his brother, let Mario by easily.

The sun came out to shine in the eyes of the drivers at the end of the front chute briefly - Leonard dove into the pits four laps from the end for fuel, Bobby Grim came in for a right rear tire, and the flag fell. BOBBY BALL MEMORIAL, 200-MI. USAC CHAMPIONSHIP CAR RACE, PHOENIX IN­TERNATIONAL RACEWAY, PHOENIX, ARIZ., NOV. 20.

FINISHERS: 1 - Mario Andretti, Brawner Brabham Hawk-Ford, 200 laps, 1.54:37.63; 2 - Al Unser, Lola-Ford; 3 -JimMcElreath, Brabham-Ford; 4 - Joe Leonard, Eagle­Ford; 5 - Lloyd Ruby, Eagle-Ford; 6-Bobby Unser, Gerhardt-Ford; 7 - Bobby Grim, Gerhardt-Offy.

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PAGE 12 DEC. 10, 1966

Johncock, McElreath Clash Fails; Johncock Crashes Car

PHOENIX, Ariz., Nov. 20 - The Bobby Ball Memorial was billed as a showdown between Gordon Johncock

_ and Jim McElreath for second place in the USAC standings.

And it was billed as a race with the largest entry of any on the Championship Trail with the excep­tion of the Speedway.

Johncock, second man out in quali­fying, spun his Gerhardt-Ford into the wall past the dogleg demolishing the front suspension, the radiator and three feet of nose section. That ended that and all McElreath had to do was finish.

Then, by the time qualifying start­ed, at least four cars had destroyed themselves in p r act ice and one more, the AIStein Porsche-Porsche couldn't get within five sec. of the bubble man.

Still, Andretti (fourth out) broke his own Phoenix I-mi. mark of 29--49 with a 29.47, and he did it on a slow track. Nobody really thought the pole would go to anyone else - it's been almost exclusive Andretti territory all year - and it was only a question of who would be next to him.

RUBY SECOND That matter was settled early, too.

It was Lloyd Ruby with a 29.82 in his Eagle-Ford with Al Unser's Me­com Lola-Ford right behind.

If there was a surprise in store, Parnelli Jones provided it.

Driving in place of the late Dick Atkins, Jones took the REV 500 Shrike-Offy around late in 30.12 to end up behind Andretti and send the crowd into prolonged applause. It was a virtuoso display by a man it has become fashion to downgrade. Jones ' qualifying time and his duel in the r ace with Andretti was a prop­er reminder that he is one of USAC 's very few superstars. One of this country ' s very few- superstars in fact.

Foyt disappointed again with a 30.57 putting him in the fourth row. His year ended as it began - with

trouble. He and Andretti spun here in the opener and DNFd. This fall he watched Andretti win as he, four times national champ, stood in the pits, the victim of a broken upright.

NO ROADSTERS No roadsters qualified (three had

run in the Jimmy Bryan and finished third and fourth) but three dirt track

Crew Chiefs Decide

To 'Cool It' Saturday PHOENIX, Ariz., Nov. 19 -Sat­

urday was very, very quiet at Phoe­nix International Speedway before the Bobby Ball Memorial USAC windup here.

USAC crew chiefs had decided that Saturday was no day for practicing - what with the possibility of car breakage and a consequent late night getting ready. .

So Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Unser Sr. sat alone in the paddock with their miniature poodle, watching the water truck circulate and the men put up the chairs in the stands.

It was a good day for getting race credentials. Nobody around at all. Except the motors ports writers who hadn't gotten the word.

cars did. But only funn y cars fin­ished the race. Dirt trackers Norm Brown spun, Carl Williams was in and out with mechanical trouble, and Ralph Liguori flipped on the third lap.

W hen qualifying was over, A l Smith was the bubble man with 31.80 - slow but not as slow as the likes of Jim Hurtubise (32.02) and Bob . Tattersall (32.90).

Peter Revson, making his first championship start and dr i ving the eX-Mecom blown Lola-Offy, turned a 31.58, good butfar from sensational. Revson retired in the race with a holed gearbox.

SCONA

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Flameproof cotton SCONA coveralls come in North American racing blue with white stripes and white with red stripes. Jacket sizes are Small, Medium, Large, X-Large. Waist sizes for the pants are (28-30) Small, (31-33) Medium, (34-36) Large and (37-39) X-Large with pants lengths of 28-32. Only $24.95 postage _ paid.

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Once ParneHi Jones got close to MariO Andretti it was only a matter of time and two yellow flags until he went by, setting the stage for a wild battle at Phoenix. (John Hearst Jr. photo)

Parnelli Jones had an eaSier time than the champion through traffic when he was ahead of Mario Andretti, here going outside Art Pollard. But he blew the engine and ended up in the wall at Phoenix.

Pilhatsch Wins VI EN N A, oct. 26 - Dr. Arnulf

Pilhatsch drove a works-prepared BMW 1800TI to victory in the non­championship lOOO-Minute RaIl y which ended here today.

This was the third consecutive time that Pilhatsch has won the event, considered one of the tough­est rallies not on the European Championspip circuit.

Second was the team of N. Boch­nicek and David Austria in a Citroen DS 21 and third Dr. Fisher Marko, MGB.

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(John Hearst Jr. photo)

Arnie Knepper driving for George Snider spun the Gerhardt-Ford into the dust and sand at Phoenix and out of the race. (John Hearst Photo)

A somewhat apprehensive Revson made a fine debut.

(John Hearst Jr. photo)