Lake Garnett - July 1963, from the archives

[LuvDaBlues]

We at CVAR get some fun facts of racng history from a couple of drivers and publication contributors. Here is the latest. There are some great photo's included with this write up, but I'm too lazy to transfer them over. Enjoy anyway.
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The race at Lake Garnett in July 1963 was a dramatic showdown between the Cobras & the Corvettes.

Lake Garnett - July 1963
There have been several articles over the years that mention in passing the Cobras at Lake Garnett in 1963.
But, to me, it is such a neat moment in Shelby racing history that it is worth an article to tell the story. You can really get a sense of what the Shelby team must have been feeling that year, as they piled up one victory after another in SCCA competition. Prior to that time, the brunt of SCCA competition was independent owners on a regional level. The SCCA established a National Championship, the U.S. Road Racing Championship (USRRC), w/cups for Manufacturers & Drivers … so the contributions of the factory team would be combined w/the independents to garner total points for the marque.

Simply stated, the race at Lake Garnett was a dramatic showdown between the Cobras & the Corvettes. To really have an appreciation of the event, we have to look at a timeline in this early Shelby year to understand what they actually accomplished there.

Recall that the 1st Cobra made its public debut at the NY Auto Show in April, 1962. In order to qualify for any sanctioned racing, they had to produce that magic # of 100 cars. By the end of 1962, AC had built about 60 cars & they were on a run rate to make the 100 # before the 1963 racing season began. They had track-tested the Cobra at Riverside & sent Billy Krause out for the 1st competitive appearance of the Cobra in October 1962, where it promptly broke. They fielded 4 cars at the for-fun event at Nassau Speedweek in December 1962, where all 4 either broke or ran out of gas. So-so results at Daytona & Sebring in early 1963 didn't fare well for success on the international level in this 1st year of racing … even w/the full-court press at Sebring: 6 cars w/3 going down, & the remaining 3 finishing 6th, 13th & 14th. With European support, 2 Cobras even ran Le Mans in 1963 … they made a respectable debut, but could not compete well, nor go the full distance. By the end of the summer of 1963, the design of the Coupe was underway, to give them a slippery car for the 1964 international season, one that could compete on the long tracks of Europe. But SCCA competition in 1963 looked far more promising. After finding & fixing the mechanical weaknesses in an amazingly short time, just look at what was unfolding on the national level … Dave MacDonald, Ken Miles & Bob Holbert drove all over the country for the Shelby American team, & independents Johnson & Hayes competed at the regional level.

Riverside - Jan. 1963 - finished 1st & 2nd OA
Dodger Stadium - Mar. 1963 - finished 1st & 2nd OA
Pensacola - May 1963 – 1st & 5th in GT
Mosport - June 1963 - 1st & 2nd in GT
Laguna Seca - June 1963 - 1st, 2nd & 4th in GT
Watkins Glen - June 1963 - 1st OA & 1st & 3rd in GT

They were kicking butt wherever they showed up.

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 & 2129 had to head west from NY. Bob Johnson, an independent, was competing w/CSX2026 & was going to compete in the SCCA event at Lake Garnett (KS) on 7/7/1963.

CSX2127 & CSX2128 made their debut in March of that year at Sebring, an International event, & became known as the "Sebring" cars. I would guess that the Shelby team, returning from NY on a holiday week, made the decision to make the stop & run w/Johnson in Kansas … maybe to show some support for their customer by waving the factory flag … maybe to help him out in the race & run some "interference" w/the competition. But, however it was decided, the Shelby factory rig pulled into town the 1st weekend in July to compete at Lake Garnett.

Dave Friedman wrote once that the most feared sight in racing was this rig rolling into the pits … w/Bob Johnson!!!

Besides Johnson in #33, they also found a few other interesting cars … a full-boat team of Corvettes led by Grady Davis, Dick Thompson & Don Yenko, driving a Corvette, a Sting Rays & a Corvette Grand Sport. 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.

The Cobras would race in the Production class; before the race, some "competitors" protested that Ken Miles' car violated the Production-class rules, since it had a differential cooler installed. An easy fix … the diff cooler was bypassed &, to the satisfaction of the judges, the car was permitted to run in the Production class.

The race began w/the 3 Cobras quickly taking the lead, & they finished 1-2-3. Bob Johnson, the independent, taking 1st-place (mission accomplished?), followed by Dave MacDonald & Ken Miles … beating all the Corvettes. Now comes the neat part … Shelby & Miles figured that if, w/out the diff cooler, they were considered "production", then it stood to reason that w/the diff cooler, they would qualify for "Modified," & should be able to compete in the day's main event.

Shelby & Miles discuss the strategy of qualifying as a "modified." The judges had no choice but to agree, so they prepped Ken Miles' car & entered it into the Modified race, against the Grand Sport Corvette … & Miles promptly won the race & the G/P Championship at Lake Garnett. This day was an amazing display of just how dominant the Cobras would become in U.S. road racing competition. Clearly, the team had to feel pretty good about the weekend.

Al Dowd, Shelby's Racing Manager & Competition Director, & some of the crew set up a mock grave in the infield,
w/a little headstone that read, "Here Lies the Corvettes".

Ken Miles must have certainly felt pumped after both his team & personal achievements that day;
Ken found the moment right to give a big, cheesy grin to a photographer.

Other than a misstep at Kent in the following month, the Cobras went on to finish 1st place in EVERY remaining USRRC event for the rest of the year taking the USRRC Championship in GT for 1963. Oh, they also did it as well in 1964 & in 1965, too.
"The Cobra Strikes Again"
Road &Track
October 1963

In the article, "Corvette vs. Cobra" (R&T, June 1963), the author stated, " … it is very hard to imagine that any well-prepared, well-driven Cobra will be beaten this year--not by the Corvettes, & possibly not by anyone, unless the organizers get sneaky & push the Cobras over into the same races w/all-out racing cars. There are, as a matter of fact, rumors of this happening, &, if it does, the Cobras just might beat the big, modified cars, too."

Well, it happened! It happened at Lake Ganett in the National SCCA racing event of 7/7/1963. It happened in a grand & spectacular manner, & 60,000 spectators saw the biggest racing show of their lives! The Shelby Cobras came to Lake Garnett (KS), 3 of them. With them, came Carroll Shelby himself, the man who developed this racing machine. The drivers he brought were Bob Johnson (Columbus, OH), Dave MacDonald (El Monte, CA) & Ken Miles (Hollywood, CA). Also at Lake Garnett was the famed Grady Davis Corvette team, which includes Dick Thompson (Washington D.C.), Don Yenko (Canonsburg, PA) & Davis himself from Pittsburgh (PA). They brought 4 cars; a couple of A/P Corvette Sting Rays, a B/P Corvette &, rounding out the card, a C/M Corvette Grand Sport. And there it was, the showdown everyone had anticipated, w/the answer to everyone's question--What would happen in a race between Cobras & Corvettes? And how would both of these American race cars on the challenging 2.8 mile Lake Garnett road racing course, that curls like a sea-horse around Garnett's 65-acre lake?

A few minutes after 1 P.M., the A/P, B/P & C/P cars were given the green flag. In less than half a mile, the Cobras has taken a substantial lead over the entire field, a lead which they continually increased during the 45-minute race. They finished 1st, 2nd & 3rd--Bob Johson, Dave MacDonald, Ken Miles. The Corvettes came in 4th, 5th & 6th --Dick Thompson, Grady Davis & Don Yenko. Before running the Production race, Ken Miles' Cobra had been challenged as being modified by an differential oil cooler. Mechanics hurriedly removed the cooler for the production race. Then Miles & Shelby reasoned that if the removal of the cooler put the Cobra in the Production class, then the return of the cooler to the car would put it in the Modified class. Officials agreed, & Miles entered the Feature Race: C, D, E, F & G Modified.

And at Lake Garnett a Cobra finally showed its pipes to the big modifieds! Miles ran away from the field. He drove a superb race, lapping the tricky Lake Garnett course 23 times in 45 minutes & averaging more than 85 mph, to win the Lake Garnett G/P OA Championship for 1963. Harry Heuer in a Chaparral came in 2nd & Jack Hinkle was 3rd in a Cooper Monaco. Dick Thompson, driving a Corvette Grand Sport, was among the DNFs, & while he was in the race, he trailed the Cobra all the way. At one time, he was in 2nd place, but as for his chances of outrunning the Cobra, 60,000 race fans will tell you that it simply couldn't have been done at Lake Garnett.

Postscript
The cars were:
#97 - CSX2128 - Dave MacDonald
#98 - CSX2129 - Ken Miles
#99 - CSX2127 -
#33 - CSX2026 - Bob Johnson
Just a postscript to these amazing cars … CSX2128 became the "Hey, Little Cobra" cover car, & was also the famous Coventry Motors car, driven by Allen Grant & painted yellow/black by George Lucas.