Chuck Daigh and the Troutman-Barnes Special

Back to the Santa Barbara races of September 1955.  This is Chuck Daigh, in the Troutman-Barnes Special.  Daigh finished in second place in the Sunday main event.  Initially he was running in fourth spot behind Ernie McAfee, Phil Hill and Ken Miles. 
The car is a slick piece of mid-50's engineering.  It had a tube frame, independent front suspension, a live axle and transverse leaf springs in the rear, drilled and ducted Ford drum brakes and MG rack & pinion steering.  The body was 9 aluminum panels attached to the frame with dzuz fasteners.  It started life with a heavily modified Mercury flathead V-8 engine, but soon got an overhead valve V-8 from a Ford Thunderbird with Hilborn injection.  It ran in Southern California races from 1954 through 1957 with a variety of drivers.

USRRC photos

Here are three photos I took at the 1968 USRRC race at Pacific Raceways.  The first is the Carl Haas Simoniz Lola T70 driven by Charlie Parsons.  Charlie had the fourth fastest qualifying time and placed second (to teammate, Skip Scott) in the race.

The second photo is Roger Penske's Sunoco Special, driven by Mark Donohue.  This is the McLaren M6A that Bruce McLaren used to win the 1967 Can-Am championship.  Mark qualified on the front row with the second fastest time and led from the start of the race.  However, just past the halfway point of the race the engine blew and Donohue rolled into the pits to retire.

The bottom photo is the Carroll Shelby entered Lola T70, driven by Peter Revson.  Peter qualified on the pole with a time .2 faster than Donohue.  Unfortunately he completed only one lap before the ring and pinion failed.

If you desire an 8x10 print of any photo on this blog please send a $27 Paypal payment to:  grimeheel62@comcast.net.  If you don't want to use Paypal you can send a check to:  Mike Martin,  6043 - 45th Ave SW,  Seattle  WA  98136.  Be sure to add or enclose a note stating which photo you desire.