1961 L.A. Times GP -- "Consolation Race"

A classic moment in time captured: Roger Penske in his Cooper Monaco passes early leader Bob Edmison in the Mercedes-Corvette braking for Riverside's Turn 7.   Penske easily won the "Consolation Race" and finished 4th in the main event.  Edmison spun and crashed in Turn 2 after overheating his rear tires in his futile chase of Penske.

Bob Bondurant runs a surprisingly close 3rd in his near-production Corvette.  He didn't qualify for the Times GP main event.

Chuck Sargent leads the next group of four in the ex-Bill Krause Birdcage Maserati; Ricardo Rodriguez follows in the Ferrari TRI/61 "Testa Rossa".   Rodriguez and Sargent took each other out in Turn 6 a couple of laps later. 

Next is Augie Pabst in one of Briggs Cunningham's tempermental and unreliable V12 Maserati Type 63 "Super Cages".  Pabst finished 2nd to Penske and qualified for the Times GP; he lasted one lap: the car suffered a fuel leak and caught fire.

Then comes Jerry Grant in Ferrari 250TR #0704.  Grant finished 3rd and transferred to the main event.  He drove the outdated Ferrari to a 14th place finish.

The blue car is Rick Lewis in the "Roadrunner Special"; he didn't transfer. 

The red car beside him is Don Hulette in the Arciero Bros.' Maserati powered Ferrari.  This peculiar hybrid began life as Ferrari 375 MM #0362 AM.  It gained a fiberglass Mistral body and was driven to 2nd place in the 1958 Riverside GP by Dan Gurney, still with a 4.9 liter Ferrari V12.  Later, a 4.2 liter Maserati V8 from the Arcieros' unsuccessful Indy car program replaced the big Ferrari engine.  Hulette finished fourth and transferred.
 

Don Hulette on his unhappy run in the main event: 

"The car was the worst-handling I'd ever driven... The shift lever broke off at Turn 9 on the first lap and I had to shift with the shift linkage.  After almost crashing five times when I'd come into a corner in neutral, trying to get into gear, I parked."

"MotoRacing" Vol. 7 #2                  From:  Joe Scalzo's "Plugs and Points"
 
Next is Chuck Kessinger in Dr. Rey Martinez's Maserati 450S.  He didn't transfer to the main event.

Andre Gessner follows in his Chrysler-Hemi powered Twareg Special.  He didn't transfer.

Next is George Koehne in his Birdcage Maserati; followed by Bob Hurt in his Ferrari TR59 "Testa Rossa" #0766.  Neither transferred.

Eric Hauser chases them in the ill-fated Sorrell Special.  This car was rebuilt from the wreckage of the Lister-Chevrolet Don Hulette crashed and burned in the 1960 L.A. Times Grand Prix.

Next is Bob Herda in the Huffaker Special-Chevrolet.  He didn't transfer.

Two Under-two liter cars chase Herda:  George Grinzewitsch in his Cooper Monaco and Steve Baughman in his Maserati 200 SI.  Both transferred to the main event, and both DNF'd.

I can't ID the last three cars.  Anyone?  (Any other freaks out there obsessed with this minutia?)

Comments:  Please email me!

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