Category Archives: Blog Stories

Q: Recently a video of “Against All Odds”, the brief documentary on the BRE Datsun team in ’71-’72, was posted online. Some of the responses people posted reminded me of the controversy that keeps coming up about your BRE team winning the ’71 season-ending Trans-Am race at Laguna. The “winning” Alfa was disqualified in a post-race inspection with an illegal oversize fuel tank. What are your thoughts on this race; what happened and why do you think this story never dies down?”

July 26, 2019Blog StoriesadminBRE2GB

Timanus inspecing Cheater Alfa — Click for entire Autoweek Nov 6, 1971 article

It amazes me how this race still sets off people’s passions. No one would probably even remember it today if it weren’t for those hard-core Alfa fans who mistakenly insist the cheating Alfa was robbed of the championship. More than 10 years ago, after a Trans-Am panel discussion at the Petersen Museum, we sent out a newsletter that mentioned how the driver of the cheater Alfa admitted it was a cheater car. We couldn’t believe the mail I got from people saying they had thought more of me than to make something like that up! The whole discourse is on tape. All of us who were there heard it but of course we knew the whole story because we were so deeply involved in the controversy.

There are so many rumors still circulating about that race, like how I paid someone off to have the Laguna Seca race added to the calendar at the end of the season so we’d have a chance to get more points and beat the Alfas for the championship. I wouldn’t even have known how to do that and I certainly wouldn’t have done anything the Japanese (the honorable Mr. K at Datsun) would have thought inappropriate. For those that don’t know the story of what happened let me digress. In our first year of running the BRE Datsun 510s in the 2.5 Trans-Am series in 1971 we were behind the seasoned and favored Alfas in points almost to the end of the year. But, thanks to our amazing team and driver, John Morton, we were steadily gaining on them as we improved our cars. We had a really good shot at winning the last race at Laguna Seca. Winning that crucial event would give Datsun/Nissan the necessary points to win the SCCA’s 2.5 Trans-Am championship.

Alfa spins out 510 — Click for entire Autoweek Nov 6, 1971 article

During the race the lead Alfa, driven by Horst Kwech, and our leading 510 with John Morton behind the wheel, were battling hard. Kwech kept trying to run John off the track (another controversy is whether or not Kwech was doing this intentionally). Kwech knew that even if he crashed into Morton and they both went out, there were several other fast Alfas running. If we went out and any of them finished, Alfa would win the championship. This championship battle brought thousands of fans to Laguna to see this final race. The race was a barn burner that still has those who were there saying it was one of the greatest races they’d ever seen. After a lot of trading paint Kwech’s Alfa hit John right at the top of the corkscrew, spinning him out but John quickly recovered and was back on track re-passing the Alfa which then hit him again! That’s when I decided these two needed to be separated because it was obvious that Kwech would continue hitting John and it didn’t matter if he took himself out in the battle. I signaled John in for the one pit stop we’d have to make for fuel. That put Kwech well in the lead, but I knew he’d also have to stop for fuel as there was no way he could run the distance on the 15 gallons the cars were permitted to run. Only Kwech never stopped! His Alfa cruised on to an easy win and miraculously sputtered out of fuel just past the finish line! It appeared that Kwech had gambled on having enough fuel to finish the race. But I knew better.

If this had happened earlier in the season he might have gotten away with this but by the end of the season we had learned the Alfa could only run about one hour and seven minutes on a full tank. I pulled John in for fuel at one hour and ten minutes knowing by then something wasn’t right with the lead Alfa. We weren’t the only ones to notice. I had a protest written at the close of the race but I needn’t have bothered as another team beat me to it. When the SCCA officials checked the Alfa’s fuel capacity it was much larger than regulations allowed. The Alfa was disqualified. The next day the official results were posted. BRE had won the race and the 2.5 TransAm championship for Datsun/Nissan!

You may wonder how I can remember such details, like how long the Alfas could run on a tank, almost 5 decades ago. The experiences of the BRE team were captured in detail that season (and the next two years) by talented author, Sylvia Wilkinson, in her book “The Stainless Steel Carrot”. We first came to know Sylvia when she approached me at the beginning of the season about being, what is now called, an “embedded journalist”. She wanted to write a book about an up-and-coming race car driver and had astutely recognized John as a good candidate. It’s not possible to adequately describe how brilliant this book is in capturing the activities and thoughts and feelings of the team as we worked our way through the entire season to become champions.

The chapter on the Laguna race exposes how some team members thought I had pulled in John to fuel early because they thought I didn’t have enough confidence in his driving when it was exactly the opposite. I knew John was fast enough to again pass Kwech but I also knew Kwech would probably take him out again and there simply wasn’t enough time left to gamble. The book also shares how a team member got on John for not being more upset with Kwech continually hitting him (car-to-car), but if you know John you know he’d never lose control of the situation. Sylvia also heartbreakingly describes what it was like for John to not win the race on the track.

Anyone who’s heard me talk about this race knows how emotional I get when I feel for how John was robbed of his rightful place on the podium, being handed the trophy, kissing the girl, shaking Mr. K’s hand, waving to the cheering crowd and the public acknowledgement of winning the Trans-Am 2.5 Championship in his first year with the Datsun 510. The reaction of Alfa fans was much worse. I understand it in the moment when most had no idea what had really occurred but there’s no excuse for it in the years past.

I will leave you with the following excerpts from Sylvia’s book below. (note: The second, and final, printing of the book is now sold out except for two copies we have available on our website plus a few copies we offer that are personally signed by Sylvia, John, myself and 7 other BRE team members, two who are now deceased).

The Stainless Steel Carrot by Sylvia Wilkinson: page 75, where the Laguna race has just ended, the Alfa has been challenged and SCCA officials are checking it.

The BRE crew runs back and forth with information to the camper trailer where John sits smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee. John Knepp sticks his head in the door smiling. “The fifteen-gallon tank on the Alfa just went to sixteen point one gallons and they covered up the gauge”. (note: later it was disclosed that the Alfa’s tank was THREE gallons over!)

On Sunday morning it came over the loudspeaker “The number three Alfa driven by Horst Kwech has been disqualified in the Two-Five Challenge Trans-Am race for having an illegal fuel tank. The official winner is John Morton in the BRE Datsun.”

During Sunday’s Can-Am race, John and his wife Jan walk to the back of the track to watch the race from different turns. Walking down by the fence below the people on the hillsides, the first crowd reaction, the delayed reaction to the victory comes. There is some applause, a few cheers from guys wearing Datsun jackets. But most of the them, as soon as they see his name on the back of his jacket, start hissing.

“I shouldn’t have worn this damn jacket” says John.

Jan says, “I didn’t think people would be that way. Wanting a cheater to win. I’m not prepared for people to be like that.”

“You got him on the fuel tank, huh, Morton?” A spectator walks up to John. “I didn’t get him. The officials got him.” John replies.

“He was outrunning you.”

“We were close. If he’d stopped, I think I would have won.” John pulls away. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s bad enough already. I’m sick of talking about it.”

Going to the post-race gathering when the Can-Am race ended, leaving the elevator, the comments on the Datsun win start up again as John walks through the crowd.

“That’s Morton. He’s an average-looking son of a bitch, isn’t he?”

“I wouldn’t walk around with that name on my jacket.”

“Default. Won by default.”

John and Jan leave the party after the checks are passed out. The next day, someone mentions that Stirling Moss gave a speech on cheating after they left, how there was no room in the sport of motor racing for such actions. He commented that during his participation in the sport from 1947 to 1962 “… although I heard mumblings from time to time, I cannot remember one occasion when anyone was proven to have knowingly cheated. I don’t know whose fault it was that Horst Kwech’s car was running an illegal gas tank, but I was absolutely appalled that anyone could consider cheating in motor racing.”

John: “I’ve gotten disappointed before in different ways but not getting to drive a car or having a mechanical failure are different kinds of disappointments from not getting to win a race. Getting it, like those people said, by default illustrated one thing. You win and everybody waves. I guess I never knew that people were so damn fickle and two-faced. But that’s because I had always been an underdog until this year and people thought it was nice to see an underdog win. Now with Brock, I become the favorite; people expect me to win. But in these little cars I won’t be the favorite anymore unless it’s some guy who owns a Datsun and wants to feel good; from now on out, people are going to want to see me lose. I don’t think I’ve ever cheated at anything.”

Peter Brock commented later on the crowd’s reaction. “These people have been following the series too long for it just to be a motor race. They have all chosen sides by now and you can’t blame them. It’s like the World Series; they call the umpire a son of a bitch because he made a good call.” Before the truck left for Los Angeles, Brock had lettered on the van – 1971 2.5 TRANS-AM CHAMPIONS. His sign painter had come prepared to do the job, just in case.

Above excerpt from the Stainless Steel Carrot by Silvia Wilkinson. A great book.

What are your favorite race courses in the world and why?

July 20, 2019Blog StoriesadminBRE2GB

LeMans

The course is mostly run on local roads that are closed to the public during race week. The allure of Le Mans is not so much the track it’s the race that occurs there. Running flat out for 24 hours for the cars, drivers and spectators gives this course a unique reputation and feel. The tradition and history of a race that’s been run since 1923 is evident. The racing is also good as the ACO’s quirky French rules are designed to push ingenuity vs. convention. Le Mans… it has rightfully earned its place on almost everyone’s bucket list.

Pikes Peak Hillclimb

It’s not really correct to say this is one of my favorite race courses. It used to be a completely different challenge before it was paved. Now, with the road fully paved to the top it’s still a race like no other. You can be sweating in the bright sun at the start line and freezing in the wind and snow at the finish line on the peak. The cost of running off course is huge as the earth falls away for hundreds of feet if you get off-line at the wrong spot! To continue my commentary on track food…. the night before the ‘climb Gayle and I buy a box of donuts. The next morning we place the box in the engine compartment. The donuts get toasty warm and fresh as we climb the mountain at 3 a.m. to find the spot where we’ll be all race day.

Baja

The course changes every year which adds some intrigue and required research to determine where and how you want to watch. Baja is like sex….it’s all good but some is really special. Once you learn a great spot to watch you can go back each year (if they run that same part of the course). The cars run on a particular section only once so if after they go by you the first time, and you’d like to see them again, you can get on the main highway and move farther down the course to watch ‘em come by again or maybe go across the peninsula and catch them heading for the finish. It will feel like you are also part of the race just to get there before they pass. Anything can happen in Baja which is part of its allure so stay flexible and enjoy… it’s an adventure you’ll never forget and you’ll feel you’re part of it.

Bonneville

There’s nothing in the world like the almost limitless expanse of the Bonneville Salt Flats. Bonneville is about getting up close and personal with the cars and teams. Everything moves very slowly at Bonneville, except the cars! Even after the cars are prepped the line to race can easily take a couple of hours. This is the time when you can spend quality time talking to the crews and drivers. Their work is done and there’s time to talk, learn the history of each class and what makes each car so special. Watching the cars run can be interesting too, but be sure to bring a set of binoculars...and a lot of sun screen!

I’d like to hear what your favorite race courses are and why.

July 4th it will be 54 years when the Daytona Cobra Coupe won the FIA GT World Championship. What was it like for you when that happened?

July 2, 2019Blog StoriesadminBRE2GB

I was thrilled of course but by the end of the ’64 season the Coupe was already well-proven. What I felt most about the’65 Championship was elation for driver Bob Bondurant. He went to the mat with the Coupes in Europe. Alan Mann, team owner and manager for the Cobra team in ’65 in Europe, was rough on Bob. He made it clear to Bob his English drivers were to win over him. Bob employed the adage of success is the sweetest revenge and went to work. Not only did he take the Championship win at Reims but he did it on July 4^th, America’s independence day from the British. Now that’s a movie!

For myself, the highlights with the Coupe were mostly in ‘64:

The Coupe’s first test day at Riverside that February where it broke the roadster’s lap record by 3.5 seconds. Up until then few people in the shop at Shelby’s believed in the Coupe. At that first test, Ken Miles called Shelby from the track and said: “this thing’s a rocket ship.” By the time we had the car loaded and back at Shelby’s, the center of the floor had been cleared out for it and it was decided it would race at Daytona the next month. I still met some resistance from Phil Remington on my design for a rear air foil but it was clear the Coupe was staying. Prior to this point the guys in the shop referred to the Coupe as “Brock’s Folly”. That wasn’t heard again after the Riverside test.
The Coupe’s stellar performance at Daytona (its first race) on February 16th. The Coupe was so efficient we found we could throttle back the performance to be just slightly faster than the Ferraris and be 25% more fuel efficient than our Cobra roadsters! All that was required to win was to lead the Ferraris until it was time for them to pit. At that point we could put a couple of laps on them before pitting for fuel. Over the hours we were some seven laps in the lead until we had a pit fire. We were so far ahead of Enzo’s Ferraris at the time of the fire the crew were sure they could repair it and still win the race. For whatever reason Carroll decided to pack everything up and the Coupe’s first win would come a few weeks later at its next race, the 12 Hours of Sebring. With the Coupe now proven to be a winner against Ferrari we were well on our way to achieve Carroll’s goal of beating Enzo.
The Coupe’s win at Le Mans in June with Bondurant and Dan Gurney. I think this says it all.

Heading into the end of the ‘64 season we had Ferrari beat with two more Coupes being completed. Had him beat, that is, until Enzo got the sanctioning for the late-season Monza race cancelled so we couldn’t get the points needed to take the Championship away from him that year. We learned never to underestimate what Enzo would do to win. 1964 was the year the Coupe made Shelby American an international success even though the record books don’t quite show it. Not that anything in racing is a “given” but the Coupe winning the FIA GT Championship for Ford and Shelby in ‘65 was as certain as possible. The Daytonas’ superior speed all season long even forced Enzo to announce he was quitting GT racing after Monza. The Cobra team’s success against Ferrari in ’64 convinced Henry Ford II to hire Shelby to develop and race the prototype Ford GT40s in ’65. Enzo would focus all of his energy on the prototype class against the GT40s. So in ’65 the question wasn’t really if the Daytona Cobra Coupes would win the championship but which driver would win the championship in them, English or American? July 4^th, American driver Bob Bondurant racing in Reims, France brought home the FIA GT Championship to Shelby, Ford and America.

With summer upon us, which automotive museums would you recommend people visit that don’t get a lot of publicity and we might otherwise miss?

June 7, 2019Blog StoriesadminBRE2GB

I’ve been lucky to have been invited to some great under-the-radar museums. Here are some of my favorites:

• The Chaparral Gallery in the Petroleum Museum in Midland, TX. Jim Hall’s collection of Chaparral’s is fascinating. Here you can see and compare how rare innovation and brilliance changed our sport forever. The oil field displays are pretty impressive too. This is where implausible inventions were created because no one had ever done what these wildcatin’ Texas “ahl biznes” roughnecks achieved. Innovation is part of Hall’s DNA. As much as anything I enjoyed the serenity of this place. In the quiet of the West Texas plains along I-20 is the greatest collection of Jim Hall’s Chaparral race cars. It’s a modest and quality display of these aerodynamic wonders. Well worth a stop.

• Speedy Bill’s (Speedway Motors) Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, NE – This is truly one of the most amazing museums (automotive or otherwise) I’ve ever been to and it was a crazy set of circumstances that led me there. While visiting Gayle’s family in Nebraska her dad asked if I had ever stopped by Speedy Bill’s in Lincoln. Her dad was in the communications business and had built some radio towers in the empty lot next to Bill’s Speedway Motors Museum. Her dad had met Speedy and gone through his collection before it was open to the public. He said there were “some pretty unique things” there he thought I’d like.

Even though it would be along our route heading back to our home in the Seattle area we didn’t have time to stop. However, traveling down I-80, two exits past Speedy’s in Lincoln we lost a wheel nut and the right rear wheel off my Daytona Coupe. We searched for the far-flung nut but in the tall grass alongside the freeway, we couldn’t find it. We stayed in Lincoln for a couple of days while another one was made. While waiting we rented a car and headed to Speedy’s. We met Bill (now deceased) and he gave us a tour of this incredible one-of-a-kind collection. As a racer in his youth, Bill was always interested in speed which translated into the myriad collection of accessories that increase the performance of a car. It’s how his massive automotive accessories business began.

In his collection, rather than just have a Model T on display he also had every accessory available for it. My grandad, EJ Hall, a personal friend of Henry Ford’s, made the two-speed Ruxtell axles for the T, amazing that this option was the ONLY non-Ford made part ever sold by Ford! Speedy had one on display. There aren’t a lot of cars in this collection so once you see everything that Bill pulled together you realize that gathering a bunch of rare cars and displaying them is child’s play compared to what Bill amassed. One particular focus is engines. I saw more unique, historically important engines than I ever imagined. Go to the museum website and select Display, then Engines from the drop down menu. The engines alone are worth the trip, but there’s more. An entire floor was dedicated to pedal cars and model tether-cars. People would travel on trains far and wide to race these “spin-dizzies” during the war as fuel rationing didn’t allow for real automobile races. It’s rather difficult to describe how amazing this collection is, except to say it’s at the top of my list of museums you should see that you might never hear about otherwise. Preferably, don’t wait until your car breaks down on the Interstate out front!

• With a location like Hickory Corners, Michigan I wasn’t surprised I hadn’t ever heard of the Gilmore Museum, until I arrived. It’s a sprawling complex of 20 exhibit buildings on perfectly manicured grounds. Located between Detroit and Chicago it has a particular focus on America’s automotive history including the horseless carriage as well as steam, gas and electric powered vehicles (before those became trendy). In covering America’s transportation history you also have to include trains. The Gilmore does that well with an actual train switch tower onsite which was relocated to the Gilmore campus after serving the Kalamazoo and South Haven railway line for more than 100 years. Visit their website and look at the Gilmore site map to see all the great displays in store for you.

There are dozens of smaller museums of quality we should all make an effort to support including:

You ran BRE Datsuns in several of the very first Baja races, including a 4 vehicle team in 1969 consisting of a Datsun pick-up and three factory-built “lightweight” Datsun 510s, built to African Safari Rally specs. You managed the team and then co-drove one of those cars with John Morton. Then for many years more recently you also covered the Baja races as a photojournalist with your wife Gayle. What are the top things you’d like to share about the Baja races for those of us who’ve never been?

May 31, 2019Blog StoriesadminBRE2GB

First, let me say that Baja racing is my favorite form of automotive competition. Baja racing culture is about life, speed, the beauty of the land and enjoying everything to its fullest extent. The fact that the rules are fairly free, with minimum oversight allows lots of innovation for the competitors. As for ourselves… with no fences, an open road and no self-inflated officials blowing whistles, screaming or telling you where you can’t stand means you’re in Baja for one of the most exciting and grueling adventures on the planet; Baja is one of the last great open road races in the world.

1. Let’s start easy.

Get acquainted by watching a Baja race on TV. This Saturday, June 1^st, 2019 the San Felipe 250 will air on ABC's "World of X Games" at 2:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT. I’ve seen a preview and I can’t wait to see more…some spectacular coverage!

2. Getting the bug and want more?

Watch the full feature movie Dust to Glory by Dana Brown.

3. If you want to go to a Baja race

first, make a plan. The Baja 500 is actually running this week starting Saturday in Ensenada. Understand it’ll never turn out the way you expect but it’ll give you a structure to start! There’s a common saying mentioned frequently when nothing goes as planned in Baja (and it never does)… “That’s Baja!” We still have the race logs and maps we created when we raced in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Be prepared but most of all be flexible.

4. Choose the “right spot” to watch the race:

This is an easy yet difficult task in Baja because there’s 1000 miles of road to choose from. Once the field goes past there’s little chance of ever seeing them again, so get comfortable and relax. One of my favorite locations is the “Rollers” just outside of Ojos Negros. Hardcore fans will have been there since the day before the start, selecting their spot and partying as only they can in Mexico. You’ll know when the Trophy Trucks are coming as their support helicopters will appear first in the distance. Within a couple of hours, the entire field will have passed and, essentially, it’s over; but you’ll never forget the day. There are literally hundreds of such places all along the course, so be sure to look at the course maps.

5. Determine a meeting point so if all fails,

you know where to go to get back with your group. Gayle and I got separated while covering the Baja 1000 in 2004. I was shooting from a helicopter and she from the ground. She was to drive to a specific helicopter refueling location to pick me up when my stint in the chopper was over. She got there but I wasn’t there. Turns out there had been an accident on course and our chopper was flagged down to help. By the time rescue personnel arrived and we were back on our way we couldn’t recover the schedule. I stayed with the chopper until it got dark at which time they had to land because no aircraft are allowed to fly at night over Baja. I then flagged down the support truck of a team I knew. They gave me a ride but they were going the wrong direction, farther south to meet their race vehicle which was down with broken wheel lugs. I tagged along and got the best night photography of my career showing the team welding lugs onto the race car’s chassis in the middle of nowhere in the dark.

Having planned in advance what should happen if we didn’t connect at the fueling spot, Gayle knew not to wait for me any longer than 1pm. Following the course map she found a couple of crossover points where she got more race shots. As darkness fell she went back to race central in Ensenada and tracked which racers would be arriving at the finish line soon. It was the year “Dust to Glory” was being filmed and she engaged in some interesting conversation with the crew and director. She got some amazing shots at 2am of the winner of the bike class taking the flag (she loves to point out the two seconds in the movie where the camera pans past her as the winner comes in. After a few more hours of shooting she went back to our ultimate meeting location (a nearby ranch used by racers). No one was there and the generators shut off at night. She found her way to a room in the dark. A few hours later I was dropped off by the crew I’d spent the night with. Even with all the downtime they experienced they never quit and won the championship with my photos to prove it. Gayle and I had great stories to share when we reconnected. And we reconnected without panic because we had a plan and a contingency plan with an if-all-else-fails meeting location (the ranch).

6. Relax and take time to enjoy

the wonders of Ensenada like the local fish market where you’ll see fish being offloaded from boats and the best $1 fish tacos at stands just outside. Drink only bottled drinks. You can also go high-end for a great dinner at the upscale Sano’s restaurant just north of town. Try the spinach salad, a ribeye medium rare with baked potato and a great glass of local Santo Tomas red. It doesn’t get much better.

7. Join a pit crew.

Really got the bug? Most Baja pit teams are made up of volunteers. Some of these contract support teams, with members from all over the world, have been meeting in Baja annually for decades, hauling in everything imaginable to service and fuel their contracted racer teams. Since many pit stops are hundreds of miles below the border and teams have to get there at least a day in advance there’s no skimping on making life a great party. Great food, people, equipment and drink plus every possible luxury imaginable (including swimming pools) can be found out there, hundreds of miles from nowhere. Sublime madness. Do an internet search on “Baja pit crews.”

Brock Racing Enterprises