58 AUGUST 2019 scca.com
INSIDE SCCA
FORMULA 1 AND SCCA
SCCA’s 75-year history is chock full of impressive undertakings,
including the shaping of F1 | WORDS Jeff Jacobs, Vice Chairman, SCCA Foundation
The SCCA Foundation’s major sweepstakes fundraiser continues
through Sept. 3 and features another
amazing VIP ticket package to the
Formula 1 U.S. Grand Pix in Austin.
However, the connection between the
SCCA and Formula 1 goes beyond
just a terrific prize for a good cause.
Over its 75-year history, the SCCA has
been involved with Formula 1 through
drivers who have competed at the
highest levels, workers and race officials
who make U.S.-based races possible,
and even as a hosting organization.
The SCCA Archives collection at
the International Motor Research
Center in Watkins Glen documents this
prestigious history in several ways.
Driver records and Club publications
recount the exploits of SCCA members
like Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Jim Hall,
Bob Bondurant, and Skip Barber
AT THE GLEN
(ABOVE and FAR
RIGH T) From 1961
until 1980, the U.S.
Grand Prix called
Watkins Glen home.
The races included a
number of American
drivers with SCCA
roots, as well as
countless SCCA
workers ensuring
the events went off
without a hitch.
As importantly, SCCA members
have a long history that continues
to this day working corners, serving
as scrutineers, and working as
event officials and stewards at
Formula 1 races. While two lucky
winners will attend the November
F1 race at COTA as a result of the
SCCA Foundation sweepstakes,
many more SCCA members
will be there, too, in volunteer
and professional capacities.
Donations to the SCCA Foundation
during the sweepstakes for the
Formula 1 VIP trip help fund
the preservation work on the
SCCA Archives, crucial work to
ensuring this history is available for
future generations – and the IMRRC
staff working on the collection recently
discovered an extraordinary treasure
trove of historic Formula 1 posters.
“Opening the mailing tubes that
Harry Handley packed with posters
in the 1970s is like opening a time
capsule,” explains SCCA Archives
technician Rick Hughey. “The new
graphic storage drawers purchased by
the SCCA Foundation will keep them
flat for easy display for decades.”
For SCCA Archives technician Joe
Cali, the posters touched a personal
memory. “I found a poster for the
long-anticipated first Canadian Grand
Prix,” he notes. “I was lucky enough to
see Jack Brabham – who is pictured
in the poster – win that 1967 event.”
Head Archivist Jenny Ambrose
notes, “The Formula 1 posters
were unexpected surprises in the
oversized graphics collection. Many
had not been unrolled since former
SCCA Archivist Harry Handley
carefully packed them away in tubes.
They are in beautiful condition.”
These historical finds in the SCCA
Archive are amazing – and they’re only
made possible by donations made to
the SCCA Foundation, including funds
raised via the SCCA Foundation
in Formula 1. Other SCCA Hall of
Fame members like Mark Donohue,
Bobby Rahal, and Carroll Shelby also
competed in Formula 1 during their
driving careers, often while continuing
to race in SCCA series like Trans Am.
But our history goes beyond just
the drivers. Alec Ulman, an SCCA Hall
of Fame member, long dreamed
of hosting Formula 1 at the track
he created out of an old Air Force
base in Sebring, Fla. He made it
happen in December 1959, when
Formula 1 held its final race of the
season at the Sebring track with
19 entries, including six American
drivers with the SCCA’s Phil Hill
among them. Later, it was SCCA Hall
of Fame member and Watkins Glen
founder Cameron Argetsinger
who brought the U.S. Grand Prix
to New York from 1961-’ 80.
