After the team victory at Watkins Glen at the end of June, the next West Coast event was at Kent WA in July. The transport rig carrying CSX2127, 2128 and 2129 had to head west from New York.
Bob Johnson, an independent, was competing with CSX2026 and was going to compete in the SCCA event at Lake Garnett on July 7, 1963.
Lake Garnett Raceway, Garnett, Kansas
CSX2127 and CSX2128 made their debut in March of that year at Sebring, an International event, and became known as the "Sebring" cars.
I would guess that the Shelby team, returning from New York on a holiday week, made the decision to make the stop and run with Johnson in Kansas...
...maybe to show some support for their customer by waving the factory flag...maybe to help him out in the race and run some "interference" with the competition.
But, however it was decided, the Shelby factory rig pulled into town the first weekend in July to compete at Lake Garnett.
Friedman wrote once that the most feared sight in racing was this rig rolling into the pits
With Bob Johnson...
Besides Johnson in #33, they also found a few other interesting cars... a full-boat team of Corvettes led by Grady Davis, and drivers Dick Thompson and Don Yenko, driving a Corvette, some StingRays and... a Corvette Grand Sport.
Corvette Grand Sport #004
There had been a lot of buzz prior to this about how the Cobras would compete against the Corvettes, head to head. It would happen here that weekend.
(...continued)