In 1963 the SCCA created the United States Road Racing Championship. It was their first attempt at a professional-level road racing championship. This series included the large club events throughout the spring and summer. This was meant to bridge the gap between the amateur gentlemen drivers of the SCCA, and the hot-rod types that wanted to get a small payday out of their racing efforts.
There was a very similar championship in Canada, with many of the teams racing on both sides of the border.
While the series top level was the open sports-racer class, they also ran a concurrent GT championship until 1965. The first year was a single class of large-bore Shelby Cobras, Corvettes and the occasional Jaguar or Ferrari GTO. An under 2.0 litre class was added for 1964 and 1965.
USRRC 1963 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| USRRC - Laguna Seca | |||||
| 1 | Lotus 23 Ford Chuck Parsons  | 10 2.0 | Spark | S0261 |  |
| 17 | Ferrari Dino 196 SP Doug Thiem (Error: Box lists "Riverside") | 1 2.0 | Art Model | ART033 | |
| DNF | Ferrari 250 GTO Ed Cantrell | 9 GT | Box | 8433 | |
| Bang | 433 |  | |||
| USRRC - Road America | |||||
| DNF | Porsche 718 RS61 Don Wester | 50 S 2.0 | Minichamps | 430 636560 |  |
| DNS | Ferrari 290 MM James Flynn | 48 | Art Model | ART249 | |
The USAC Road Racing Championship was discontinued after 1962, despite growing fan interest. The big money-paying 200-mile events in the autumn still went on, but without an overall championship points system. Many of the top F1 drivers competed in these during the North American rounds of the GP season. There were races at Kent, Riverside, and Laguna Seca.
The entry list for these races often included the biggest international drivers and teams of the era, with Chaparral, Ferrari (NART), Shelby, and Lotus often creating dedicated cars for this mini-season.
In some ways, this nameless series of races was the purest expression of motorsport that has ever existed. It was considered to be "Group 9" in the FIA Yellow Book.
1963 "Fall Season" | ||
|---|---|---|
Track |
Organizer |
Comments |
Mosport |
CRDC |
Canada GP |
Riverside |
CSCC |
L.A. Times GP |
Laguna Seca |
SCRAMP |
Pacific Grand Prix |
Kent, Washington |
? |
Pacific Northwest Grand Prix |
Non-Championship Races 1963 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Canadian Grand Prix - Mosport | |||||
| 1 | Ferrari 250 P Pedro Rodriguez  | 5 S +2.0 | Art Model | ART225 |  |
| DNF | Ferrari 250 P John Surtees  | 4 S +2.0 | Art Model | ART155 |  |
| L.A. Times Grand Prix - Riverside | |||||
| 4 | Ferrari 250P John Surtees | 11 O2L | Art Model | ART251 |  |
| L.A. Times Grand Prix - Riverside (Preliminary GT Race) | |||||
| 2 | Shelby Cobra 'Coventry Motors' Allen Grant | 96 | Bang | 7292 |  |
| Pacific Grand Prix - Laguna Seca | |||||
| 11 | Shelby Cobra 'Coventry Motors' Allen Grant | 96 | Bang | 421 |  |
| Box | 8421 | ||||
| 12 | Lotus 23B Graham Hill | 1 S +2.0 | Spark | S0254 |  |
| Nassau Speed Weeks | |||||
| 2 | Ferrari 250 P Pedro Rodriguez | 10 S3.0 | Art Model | ART395 |  |
| 3 | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Roger Penske | 50 GTP | Eagle's Race | 2009 |  |
| 4 | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Augie Pabst | 65 GTP | Eagle's Race | 2008 |  |
| 6 | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Dick Thompson | 80 GTP | Eagle's Race | 2003 |  |
| 7 | Ferrari Dino 196 SP Bob Grossman | 90 S 2.0 | Art Model | 090 |  |
United States Road Racing Championship 1964 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| USRRC - Augusta (GT) | |||||
| 5 | Porsche 356B Carrera Abarth GTL Chuck Cassel | 50 GT 2.0 | Best | 9458 |  |
| USRRC - Laguna Seca | |||||
| DNF | Cheetah GT Jerry Titus | 58 O2L | Spark | S1451 |  |
| USRRC - Road America '500' | |||||
| 3 | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Roger Penske Jim Hall Hap Sharp | 67 O2L | Eagle's Race 2006 |  | |
| DNF | Cheetah GT Ralph Salyer (Roof removed to create 'Cro-Sal Special') | 26 O2L | Spark | S1453 |  |
The 'Group 9' series attracted more attention, and there was a dedicated series in the UK, where Lotus, Brabham, and Lister took part.
The Daytona Continental race was GT-only in 1964, so they held a one-off support race for sports racers. The Porsche 904 had not been officially homologated, so it ran in its debut race as a prototype.
Non-Championship Races 1964 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Daytona - 'American Challenge Cup' (Non-Championship) | |||||
| 1 | Scarab Mk. IV A. J. Foyt | 35 | Spark | S1165 |  |
| 13 | Cheetah GT Ralph Salyer | 14 | Spark | S1452 |  |
| DNF | Porsche 904 Chuck Cassel | 50 | Minichamps | 400 646550 |  |
| HighSpeed | HF9191B |  | |||
| GP Canada - Mosport | |||||
| 2 | Ferrari 330P Ludovico Scarfiotti  | 3 S+2.0 | Art Model | ART362 |  |
| L.A. Times Grand Prix - Riverside | |||||
| 3 | Lotus 30 Jim Clark (Includes driver figure; unusual for a sports-racing model) | 15 O2L | Spark | S2187 |  |
| DNF | McLaren Elva Mark I Bruce McLaren  | 2 O2L | Spark | S1101 |  |
| DNF | Cheetah GT Mike Jones | 33 O2L | Spark | S1454 |  |
| DNF | Cheetah GT Allen Grant | 81 O2L | Spark | S1455 |  |
| Nassau Speed Weeks - Tourist Trophy | |||||
| 1 | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Roger Penske | 82 GTP +5.0 | TrueScale | TSM164317 |  |
| DNF | Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Jack Saunders | 00 GTP +5.0 | TrueScale | TSM164318 |  |
| Nassau Speed Weeks - Nassau Trophy | |||||
| 2 | Mclaren Elva Mark I Bruce McLaren | 5 S +5.0 | Spark | S1103 | |
| 3 | Ferrari 330P Pedro Rodriguez | 10 S 5.0 | Art Model | ART217 |  |
By far the most famous car of this era is Ken Miles' #98 Shelby Cobra (289), which won the 1965 GT chamionship. There are many examples of this car in all scales of models (especially 1:1).
Ken Miles also raced one of the very first 427 Cobras (Chassis CSX3002) in the Prototype class at Riverside. While the cars had similar paint schemes, the 289 and 427 are completely different and are often confused. This was the only time that the Shelby American team raced a 427 Cobra in top-level competition. The car had not been homologated so it ran in the Prototype class.
Possibly as the result of shifting fan and competitor interest, the GT class was eliminated in 1966. In its place, the Trans-Am championship was created for pony cars in the AS (Sedan) class.
The entry list for this race was off the fucking chain. If you were a race car driver in 1965 and were not there, well then just go bag your face...
Jim Clark scored an excellent second-place finish with the notoriously shitty Lotus 40.
The fearsome white Chaparral cars absolutely dominated 1965. Who could have predicted that they would only win only one Can-Am race?
Team Lotus launched a full scale assault on "Group 9" racing in 1965. Jim Clark ran a full season of the British Sports Car Championship in the spring. For the "Fall Season" Ritchie Ginther and A.J. Foyt were added. Regretfully, all of this talent was wasted as the type 40 was easily the worst object to ever roll out of Coventry. There were numerous design issues, but the inherent flexibility of the wish-bone chassis made the car practically undriveable. (A.J. parked his after a few laps of the season-ending Nassau race in disgust...)
United States Road Racing Championship 1965 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | Chaparral 2 Jim Hall | 66 S +2.0 | Auto Art | 66956 |  |
| 1 | Shelby Cobra (289) Ken Miles | 98 GT +2.0 | Bang | 7341 |  |
| USRRC - Pensacola | |||||
| 1 | Lotus 23 George Follmer | 16 S +2.0 | Spark | S0255 |  |
| USRRC - Riverside (Prototypes) | |||||
| DNF | Shelby Cobra 427 Ken Miles | 98 S +2.0 | Kyosho | 03016BL |  |
| Mosport Player's 200 (Part of the Canadian Sports Car Championship) | |||||
| 1 | Lola T70 Spider John Surtees | 11 Class 2 | Best | 9614 |  |
| Spark | S1467 |  | |||
| DNF | Lola T70 Spider Hugh Dibley | 5 Class 2 | Best | 9194 |  |
John Surtees had a horrific accident at Mosport for the Fall-season Canada GP.
Non-Championship Races 1965 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| GP Canada - Mosport | |||||
| 3 | Ferrari 365 P2 Pedro Rodriguez N.A.R.T. | 10 | Best | 9614 |  |