58 JANUARY 2018 scca.com
UNCOVERING OUR HISTORY
INSIDE SCCA
t was Jan. 6, 1963, with fresh snow lining the
course around Malboro Speedway in Upper
Malboro, Md. The SCCA’s annual “Refrigerator
Bowl” had 110 cars registered for one of the
major events of the year on the East Coast
racing circuit. An amazing variety of sports
cars took to the course. Dr. Dick Thompson,
known as “The Flying Dentist,” debuted a
Yenko-prepared 1963 Corvette Sting Ray
Z06 to take the win in A/P over Don Yenko
himself. At the wheel of a Formula Junior class
Elva, future SCCA Hall of Famer Mark
Donahue finished second to Bus Brosenne in a
Midget. Meanwhile, Don Greimel piloted his
Morgan SS to victory after a hard chase by
Hollis Webster in, of all things, a go-kart.
Photographs of the race cars being flung
around the track lined with snow, printed
results by class, and a full accounting of the
race can all be found in the February 1963
issue of The Straightpipe – the long-time
newsletter of Washington DC Region.
This amazing record of SCCA racing has
been rediscovered thanks to the efforts of
the archivist team working on the SCCA
Archives, which are now housed at the
International Motor Racing Research Center
in Watkins Glen, N. Y. With funding from the
SCCA Foundation, Joe Cali and Rick Hughey
organized, re-housed, and inventoried some
102 cubic feet of Regional newsletters and
magazines from the archive over the past year.
“The Regional publications document the
activities of more than 100 different SCCA
Regions from all over the United States
from the 1950s to the early 21st century,”
lead archivist Jenny Ambrose explains. The
collection includes newsletters ranging from
glossy, professionally printed magazines
to mimeographed sheets. “They contain a
wealth of information about Regional races
and Club activities. Charming drawings
and cartoons and photographs from local
tracks provide visual documentation that
enhances the articles, meeting minutes,
race schedules and results, standings, party
announcements, and lists of new members.”
Thanks to funding provided by donors to
the SCCA Foundation, this amazing collection
of Region newsletters is no longer lost to
It’s a winter wonderland of discoveries in the SCCA Archives, all made
possible through your donations | WORDS Jeff Jacobs, Vice President, SCCA Foundation
“They contain a wealth of
information about Regional
races and Club activities”
JENNY AMBROSE
