A Lola T70 Mark 3 with an interesting history

As he wandered through the garages at the CSRG Charity Challenge at Sonoma Raceway the first weekend of October 2019 , the author found this Lola T70 Can-Am car that competed in the famous Group 7 Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Canadian-American Challenge Series in 1967 and 1968 owned by a famous mechanic, sponsor and with a pair of well-known drivers.

This car, chassis number SL73/127 was originally sold to famed racing mechanic George Bignotti sometime during the middle of the 1967 season.  Bignotti at the time was employed by Texas oil man and racer John Mecom, who was the Lola Cars importer for the United States. In 1967, Bignotti had already amassed three Indianapolis 500-mile victories – two with AJ Foyt in 1961 and 1964, and a third in 1966 with rookie driver Graham Hill in a career that would eventually total seven Indy ‘500’ wins.  

While the Ford Motor Company was very successful in Indianapolis-type car racing with Indianapolis 500-mile race wins in 1965, 1966, and 1967, as well as United States Auto Club (USAC) national championships those years, along with victories at LeMans in endurance racing in 1966 and 1967, Ford struggled for success in Can-Am racing.

Despite well-funded efforts with Dan Gurney’s All-American Racing team, Shelby American, and Holman & Moody, as well as its own G7A program with the unique three-valves per cylinder Calliope V-8 engine, Ford had been unable to break the McLaren/Chevrolet stranglehold in the Can-Am series. The 1967 Bignotti effort was another innovative Ford effort that used the proven-at-Indianapolis Ford double overhead camshaft DOHC "four cam" V-8 engine bored out to 305 cubic inches of displacement.  

The Bignotti Lola T70 with race number #98 was initially entered for the third round of the1967 SCCA Can-Am series, the ‘Player’s 200’ at Mosport Park in Canada in late September for driver Al Unser, but the car did not appear as the engine was not yet ready. The car appeared finished in metallic blue at the series’ fourth round in mid-October at Laguna Seca Raceway carrying race number 21 for driver ‘Parnelli’ Jones with sponsorship from American Rubber and Plastics Corporation.

American’s owner John Chalik Junior from LaPorte Indiana had raced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1961 through 1964, with his first year the most successful. Veteran Hoosier midget car racer Gene Hartley started the 1961 ‘500’ in fifteenth place in a Floyd Trevis built machine and finished eleventh, two laps behind winner AJ Foyt. 

In 1962, Chalik expanded his efforts to two cars, a new Quinn Epperly-built laydown for driver Paul Goldsmith and the previous years’ Trevis built chassis was assigned to Eddie Johnson. Both entries made the starting field, but both cars retired early in the race within laps of each other with magneto failure.      

For 1963, Chalik contracted with famed car builder Frank Kurtis to build the final Kurtis Kraft chassis built for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the KK500L roadster, which incorporated three innovations – first, a roll cage around the cockpit to reassure the driver, NASCAR stock car star Robert “Junior” Johnson, second, fully independent suspension on all four corners and finally, the car’s Offenhauser engine used a battery and distributor ignition system, as Chalik now mistrusted the common magneto ignition system after the team’s Indianapolis 1962 debacle. Chalik remained a two-car team owner, as he also entered the Epperly laydown roadster for New Mexico rookie driver Bobby Unser.

Johnson was never comfortable in the Kurtis-Kraft and stepped out of the car before his completed his rookie test and was replaced by Colby Scroggin. The battery system in the KK500L did not allow the Offenhauser engine to develop full power, and Scroggin could not generate enough speed to qualify for the 33-car starting field. Unser successfully completed his rookie test, then spun and afterwards, Chalik asked Unser to buy his own tires. After Unser landed a Novi ride and left the team, Chalik replaced Unser with Bob Harkey, who crashed in practice and the seriously damaged car could not be repaired in time.

In 1964, the repaired Epperly was entered for journeyman driver Chuck Rodee, but early in the month, Rodee ran over some debris and crashed. Later in the month, the engine blew during practice and car owner Chalik elected not to repair the damage. 

Chalik’s Indianapolis efforts ended with a whimper, and most historians assumed that was the end of Chalik’s involvement in racing. While it is unclear on how (or why) John Chalik Jr.  became involved in the Bignotti Can-Am effort it is without question as the American Rubber and Plastic Corporation sponsorship was (and still is) emblazoned on the Lola’s front fenders.  

At the 1967 Laguna Seca Can-Am race, Parnelli Jones qualified the metallic blue #21 fourth for the ‘Monterey Grand Prix’ behind pole sitter Bruce McLaren, a Weslake Ford-powered Lola T70 Mark 3 driven by Dan Gurney, and Denny Hulme.   On race day, October 15, Jones dropped out after 14 of the 106 scheduled laps with fuel vaporization issues. 

Two weeks later, at Riverside International Raceway, Jones qualified sixth for the ‘Los Angeles Times Grand Prix’ and finished in fourth place, one lap behind winner Bruce McLaren.

At the 1967 Can-Am season finale, held in early November at the Stardust International Raceway outside Las Vegas Nevada, Jones qualified fourth only ½ second behind pole-sitter Bruce McLaren. In the October 12^th ‘Stardust Grand Prix,’ Jones jumped the start from the second row and surged into the early lead, but the Lola was eliminated after just four laps when the gear selector linkage broke at the shifter. This race marked Parnelli’s final appearance in North America’s famed Group 7 racing series.

For 1968, the driver of the Bignotti DOHC Ford-powered Lola T70 Mark 3 for the Can-Am series was two-time USAC National Champion Mario Andretti, who had appeared at five 1967 Can-Am rounds behind the wheel of the fast but unreliable Holman & Moody ‘Honker II.’ At the opening round of the 1968 Can-Am series at Road America in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin, Andretti qualified eighth and was running in third place on lap 48 of 50 when the DOHC Ford engine lost oil pressure and grenaded in spectacular fashion.

   

Two weeks later, on September 17^th at the ‘Bridgehampton Grand Prix’ held on the Bridgehampton Road Course on Long Island, Andretti again qualified the metallic blue #21 to start eighth on the grid, but this time during the race the DOHC Ford Indy engine lost oil pressure on the fourth lap and Andretti retired in the car’s final SCCA Can-Am race appearance.

Andretti and Bignotti skipped the next two rounds of the 1968 Can-Am series but reappeared at the final two rounds with a new car, the red #3 Lola T160, chassis number SL160/1 which was powered by a Ford 427 cubic engine built by Holman & Moody that carried STP Oil Treatment sponsorship. The Lola blew its engine during the qualifying session at Riverside, but in the season finale at Las Vegas, Andretti qualified the red T160 sixth and finished twelfth after a lengthy mid-race pit stop.

The appearance of such a historic machine as Lola chassis SL73/127 that appears as it did in 1967 and 1968, even though it is now equipped with a small block fuel injected Chevrolet engine at the CSRG Charity Classic highlights the importance of vintage car racing in keeping racing history alive. It was true joy to watch car owner Carl Moore of Alamo California put this restored beauty through its paces.      

AJ Foyt’s four Indy '500' winning cars at PRI 2017

 

 

 

This year’s Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show, the thirtieth annual event, honored four-time Indianapolis 500-mile race winner Anthony Joseph “A J” Foyt with a display of his four Indianapolis winning cars that were shown courtesy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

 

The 1961 winning “Bowes Seal Fast Special” carried the number 1 that denoted Foyt’s United States Auto Club (USAC) drivers’ championship in 1961. The tubular chassis built by Youngstown Ohio’s Floyd Trevis from AJ Watson blueprints is powered by a 252-cubic inch 4-cylinder Offenhauser engine and completed the 200-lap race around the 2-1/2 mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway in three hours and thirty five minutes at an average speed of 139.130 miles per hour.

Foyt started the 1961 “Golden Anniversary” race from seventh position and first led the race on lap 73 and for the balance of the race carried out a spirited duel for the lead with Eddie Sachs and Rodger Ward. Foyt made his last scheduled pit stop on lap 160, but due to a fueling malfunction the car did not received a full load of fuel. Foyt led the race when crew chief George Bignotti signaled via the sign board that another fuel stop was needed. Foyt’s lap 184 stop for a splash of fuel seemingly handed the victory to Sachs, but Eddie pitted with three laps to go to replace a badly worn right rear tire and Foyt claimed his first '500' victory.

 

 

The 1964 winning “Sheraton-Thompson Special” built by AJ Watson with Offenhauser power that carried Foyt to victory had already won the first two 1964 season races at Phoenix International Raceway and Trenton international Speedway, and the Indianapolis ‘500’ win for Foyt was the third of seven USAC championship race wins in a row.  Foyt started the 500-mile race in fifth place slotted behind the front row which was comprised of all rear engine cars powered by Ford double overhead camshaft (DOHC) engines and all of whom had shattered Parnelli Jones’ one year old track record.

At the drop of the green flag, the pole winner Jim Clark  and second qualifier Bobby Marshman set the pace but they were eliminated; Clark by tire failure and Marshman by a broken oil pan. Defending winner Jones took the point but his #98 roadster was eliminated by a pit fire and Foyt took the lead on lap 55 and dominated the rest of the way. Foyt won by over a minute and a half over Rodger Ward and averaged over 147 MPH in the last victory at the Brickyard by a front engine roadster.

 

 

For the 1967 Indianapolis 500-mile race AJ Foyt drove a new rear-engine creation known as the “Coyote” with the aluminum monocoque chassis built by metal craftsmen Lujie Lesovsky and Eddie Kuzma covered by a fiberglass body crafted by AJ’s father Tony.  The new car powered by a DOHC Ford engine operated “under the radar” for most of the month of May 1967 as everyone’s interest was focused on the STP (Scientifically Tested Products) Granatelli four-wheel-drive turbine-powered machine.

Foyt’s “Sheraton-Thompson Special” qualified fourth and along with the rest of the starting field watched as Parnelli Jones and his turbine “Silent Sam” motored into the distance.  Jones led four times for a total of 171 laps, but while on his 196th lap a bearing in the transmission failed and Jones rolled into the pits.

Foyt in second place nearly a lap down inherited the lead and looked bound for victory but the race was far from over. As Foyt steered his Coyote through the final turn on his last lap, the crashing cars of Chuck Hulse, Carl Williams, Bobby Grim, Bud Tinglestad and Larry Dickson nearly blocked the main straightaway. Foyt slowed dramatically and carefully picked his way through the wreckage to claim his third Indianapolis victory.

 

 

In 1977, ten years had passed since Foyt’s last Indianapolis victory though he had finished third in 1975 and second in 1976 in rain-shortened races at the Speedway. The latest iteration of the “Coyote” chassis designed by Bob Riley which first debuted in 1973 was powered by a turbocharged 159-cubic inch version of the Ford DOHC engine, known as a “Foyt” engine after AJ had purchased the rights after the Ford Motor Company pulled out of racing in November 1970.    

AJ in the Poppy Red #14 sponsored by broadcaster Jim Gilmore started from the fourth starting position and Foyt first appeared at the head of the pack on lap 21. Foyt remained in the mix but the race was dominated by Gordon Johncock in the STP Wildcat who led Foyt by 10 seconds when he made his last scheduled pit stop on lap 180.

Johncock regained the lead from Foyt on the exchange of pit stops but on lap 184 the crankshaft in Johncock’s Offenhauser engine broke and a huge plume of smoke signaled the end of Johncock’s race.  Foyt inherited the lead with a cushion of over 30 seconds over second place Tom Sneva and he cruised to claim his historic fourth victory, the first man to conquer the Brickyard four times.

Foyt would continue to race in the Indianapolis 500-mile race until he retired before the race in 1993 with a record 35 consecutive starts, a year after he set the record as the race’s oldest starter at 57 years and 128 days old.  Foyt held the record for the most years between wins (10) until it was surpassed by Juan Pablo Montoya with 15 years between wins in 2000 and 2015. 

Foyt holds the record for the most Indianapolis 500-mile races led with thirteen and leads all drivers with a remarkable 12,272-1/2 miles completed in competition at Indianapolis to go along with being the first man to capture four Indianapolis 500-mile race wins.  

Fred Agabashian

from the Bay Area to Indianapolis glory

Part three -1958 and a busy retirement 

 

Fred's 1958 IMS portrait in his

Champion Spark Plug 100 MPH club leather jacket

courtesy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection

in the IUPUI University Library Center for Digital Studies

Bignotti-Bowes Racing Associates entered their pair of Kurtis-Kraft 500G chassis for the 1958 Indianapolis '500' with Fred Agabashian and Johnnie Parsons set to return as the drivers, but in early April, they had to quickly find a driver. Agabashian resigned from the Bowes team in mid-April and accepted a large retainer from trucking magnate Pat Clancy to drive the "City of Memphis Special" another Kurtis Kraft 500G with Danny Quella as chief mechanic.  As Agabashian’s replacement Bowes and Bignotti chose his teammate from the 1956 Federal Engineering team, Bob Veith.

Agabashian came to Indianapolis in May 1958 fully expecting to start his 12th consecutive Indianapolis ‘500’ but the month proved to be a painful experience. Fred made an aborted qualifying attempt on May 17 the first day of qualifying. During a “test hop” in the “Helse Special” during practice on Wednesday May 21 he turned a lap at 143.9 MPH then spun and crashed in turn two.

This accident marked the first time in his twelve-year career that the 44-year old Agabashian crashed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Fred suffered minor injuries to his left leg and hand in the crash and he also complained of pain in his mid-section. Fred took a private car, not an ambulance, to Methodist Hospital where he stayed overnight. 

The new Helse Kuzma chassis was one of three built for 1958 with independent front suspension and was originally assigned to second-year team driver Jimmy Daywalt who left the team in frustration after suitable speed could not be found.  Apparently the handling problems were not traced to the front suspension, but rather the new one-piece fuel tank design. In retrospect, it appears as though the frame was too flexible.  

An article in the May 21 1958 issue of the Indianapolis Star revealed that “just about everything has been tried by builder Eddie Kuzma and the mechanics, even stuffing inner tubes in the fuel tanks and inflating them to keep the fuel from swishing around too much and finally even cutting off some of the fuel tanks,” In addition to cutting off the fuel tank, prior to Agajanian’s crash crew chief Bruce Crower and his crew “rebuilt the Helse car virtually from the ground up” according to the Star. 

Fred's 1958 '500' qualifying photo

Author's collection

 

Three days after the crash on May 24 the third day of time trials Fred spun in the southeast turn on the second lap of his second qualifying attempt and brushed the wall which damaged the car’s front axle. After repairs Fred qualified the ‘City of Memphis’ Kurtis Kraft 500G at a relatively slow 142.135 MPH which bumped Dempsey Wilson from the field and placed Fred at the tail of the field.

On the windy final day of time trials, Wilson climbed into the ‘Sorenson Special’ and bumped Agabashian from the starting field.  Fred completed a four-lap run into the Racing Associates “D-A Lubricants Special” Kuzma backup car but his four-lap average was not fast enough to bump back in and Agabashian’s string of consecutive Indianapolis ‘500’ starts ended at eleven.  

Agabashian and the "City of Memphis Special" wound up as the 34th fastest qualifier and won $500 from the Speedway as the first alternate. In the third turn of the first lap of the 1958 ‘500’ Ed Elisian and Jim Rathmann tangled as they foolishly fought to lead the first lap.

Bob Veith who had replaced Agabashian in the second Bowes KK 500G was run over by Pat O’Connor’s 'Sumar Special' which flipped and O’Connor was killed instantly. In reaction to this accident, for the 1959 season USAC required that all cars have roll bars behind the driver.  In an interview after the race, Freddie told news reporters that "he wasn't too upset to have been bumped" as he had had a premonition of disaster. 

Fred never officially announced his retirement as a race car driver, he simply moved on to the phase of his life for which he had preparing for years.  According to automobile racing historian Chris Economkai, “Agabashian was one of the first racers to realize the value of public relations” and Fred began making public speeches about racing around 1950.

Fred's image appeared in Champion Spark Plug ads like this one for years

 early in his racing career Fred worked in sales at Bob Phillipi’s Lincoln Mercury dealership in Oakland but at the time of his retirement from driving in 1958, Fred was the senior member of the Champion Spark Plug Highway Safety Team, a group of 100 MPH club members who toured the country to speak to high school students about driving safety.  Fred worked for the Champion Spark Plug Company until he retired 1978 and was succeeded by Jerry Grant.  

In 1959, Fred joined the Indianapolis Motor Speedway radio network as the driver expert on the annual 500-mile race broadcast hosted by Sid Collins, and Agabashian’s gravelly voice was heard nationwide providing expert insight on the Memorial Day broadcast through 1965, and again from 1973 to 1977.

Agabashian worked as an USAC observer and later the chief steward of the Mobilgas Economy Run in 1967 and 1968. In the final  Run held in 1968, Fred dropped the checkered flag on contestants as they crossed the finish line at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after the original finish in New York City was abandoned after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.  

Fred remained active and regularly visited local Bay Area tracks and was an annual visitor to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway until he passed away in October 1989 at his home in Alamo California.  His daughter reportedly still lives in the home and his office  remains just as it was when Fred was alive.  
 

For his career accomplishments Fred Agabashian is an inductee into the Bay Cities Racing  Association (BCRA) Hall of Fame, the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame, the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) Hall of Fame and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Auto Racing Hall of Fame.