 The 1971 Bud Moore Trans-Am Season
from Ed Ludtke (Road Racing Registry)
Picture courtesy Sam Colman/David Bauer
The season:
May 8th, 1971 Schaefer Trans-Am Race Lime Rock Park, Conn.
9F02M212775 - #15 Parnelli Jones, driver qualified on outside pole and DNF race.
Body in white #1- #16 Peter Gregg, driver finished 4th
May 31st, 1971 Bryar 200 Bryar Motorsport Park. Laconia , NH
775 - #15 George Follmer, driver finished 1st and qualified 1st
BIW#1 - #16 Peter Gregg, driver finished 2nd, qualified 5th
June 6th, 1971 Mid-Ohio Trans-Am Mid-Ohio Sports car course Lexington, Ohio
775 - #15 George Follmer, driver finished 1st and qualified 1st
BIW#1 - #16 Peter Gregg, driver finished 3rd and qualified 3rd
June 20th, 1971 Players Trans-Am race Edmonton International Speedway Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
775 - #15 George Follmer, driver finished 2nd and qualified 2nd
BIW#1 - #16 Peter Gregg, driver finished 12th and qualified 3rd
July 4th, 1971 GBX Trans-Am Donnybrooke International Speedway Brainerd, MN
Team did not enter - unable to secure financial backing
July 17th, 1971 Road America Trans-Am Elkhart Lake, WI
775 - #15 George Follmer, driver finished 2nd and qualified 4th
BIW#1 - #16 Peter Gregg, driver finished 4th and qualified 17th
August 1st, 1971 Players Quebec Trans-Am Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant St. Jovite, Quebec, Canada
BIW#2 - #15 George Follmer, driver finished 2nd and qualified 2nd
BIW#1 - #16 Peter Gregg, driver finished 3rd and qualified 5th
August 15, 1971 Glen Trans-Am Watkins Glen, NY
BIW#2 - #15 George Follmer, driver finished 2nd and qualified 1st
BIW#1 - #16 Peter Gregg, driver finished 3rd and qualified 5th
September 6th, 1971 Wolverine Trans-Am Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, MI
BIW#2 - #15 George Follmer, driver finished 2nd and qualified 2nd
BIW#1 - #16 Peter Gregg, driver DNF and qualified 5th
October 3rd, 1971 Misson Bell 200 Riverside International Raceway Riverside, CA
Team did not enter, Donohue had championship won @ MIS
Follmer drove and won in a Javelin
The Details:
Ford had pulled the plug on the "Factory" backed Trans-Am team at the end of 1970. Everything was given to Bud Moore Engineering of Spartanburg, South Carolina. This was all T/A cars, parts and special equipment from Kar Kraft, Ford's high performance and racing division. Bud had all the 69 team cars in 1970 and all cars were repaired, painted and updated to 1970 "school bus yellow" trim. Bud Moore also leased cars for the SCCA A/sedan run-offs before they were sold. So Bud sold off as many of the "old" cars and kept the Body-in-White shells (4) that he got from Ford. These were back-ups for Ford in the 1970 season just in case they were needed. Bud Moore then sold two cars to Troy Promotions, for Thompson and DeLorenzo, one to Warren Tope, and one to John Gimbel just to name a few teams that were going to compete in the 1971 T/A season. Bud did keep the championship winner #15 (9F02M212775) as this was the freshest of the 1970 cars and he needed time to build the "new" cars so he would be ready for the 1971 season in May.
The New York Ford Dealers Association paid to have Parnelli Jones come back and drive and defend his title as Trans-Am Champ. Parnelli qualified in the number two spot but was bumped off the track and later retired from the race. This was his last Trans-Am race and the series lost one of its most talented drivers, not to mention star power. Peter Gregg drove the #16 (Body-in-White #1) car to a fourth place finish in his first Trans-Am race in a Mustang.
The next race saw George Follmer return to the Bud Moore team and drive the #15 car and win the next two events Bryar and Mid-Ohio. But even with the $4,000 in prize money from those two wins, the team did not make the Donnybrooke race at Brainerd. There was a deal to have three cars there with Jones, Follmer and Gregg, but it could not be worked out. If it had not been for Peter Gregg securing sponsorship from Florida based S.S. Jacobs, Bud Moore would not of been able to compete in 1971.
One last race for the #775 champ car was Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. George was able to bring home a second place finish with the car before it was sold off to a Mexican road racer. Again this is how the Moore team financed the 1971 season. The parts from this car have surfaced, but the chassis is presumed destroyed or scrapped somewhere in Mexico. This was a sad end to a very historic Trans-Am Mustang.
The second Body-in-White #2 made is debut in the Players Quebec Trans-Am event, LeCircuit Mont-Tremblant, St. Jovite, Canada. George would have the pole but be knocked off by Donohue in the Javelin.
He finished second in the race. George would finish the following two races and Watkins Glen and MIS with second place finishes also, but Donohue had wrapped up the 1971 Trans-Am title with his win @ Michigan. George would go on the drive for Roy Wood in the last race at Riverside in a Javelin and win.
So Mark Donohue and George Follmer won all the 1971 Trans-Am races.
The BIW#1 and BIW#2 were sold to Marshall Robbins and raced in the 1972 Trans-Am series. The BIW#3 never was raced but was finished as a back up for Follmer and Gregg. It was sold after the season w/o a engine to Dan Doughtry, who planned to run the 24 hours of Daytona. The fourth unfinished bare shell was sold to racer Paul Pettey.
The 1971 season showed just how good the Bud Moore cars were against the high dollar Penske "factory" team and they did lead the points well into the season, but lack of sponsorship money and competitive tires really hurt the Bud Moore team. Still they were the only team to give Donohue and Penske any competition.
The information here is true and complete to the best of my knowledge. I have collected this information with the help of Bud Moore, Greg Moore, Marshall Robbins, and William Spangler, various employees of Kar Kraft, Competition Press and Autoweek magazines and programs and press accounts from the Trans-Am series. I also disclaim any liability incurred in connection with the use of this data of specific details.
Edward Ludtke
President and caretaker of the Mustang Road Racing Registry
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