AVTOWEEK

VOLUME 26
NUMBER
,John Bishop
'Talks About liSA
PAGES
The life Of
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I_A Team lanager,
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; PAGE 10 .
BuHum Takes
EI 'Diablo
PA.GE 12
Andretti Wins One But Hunt Is Champion
By Pete Lyons
Now we know hedid win the British GP!
Safe by one point, Master James is our
new World Champion. That's really the
only one of the incredible results of the
incredible Japanese Grand Prix that
counts. All the rest makes good reading,
sure-but Hunt pulled it off!
Practice was good, dry and untroubled
and the grid was an honest reflection of
potential. It showed Mario Andretti on
pole narrowly from Hunt, with Lauda
well within probable striking position
a nd certainlyin points-earning form. But
r a ceday really ought not have happened,
not quite as early as it did. After more
than an hour and a half's delay, the race
finally was flagged off in weather condi-
tions that struck everyone-even those
few drivers who were willing to race-as
appalling. But because he got a superb
start Hunt was in front of all the spray and
muck, the impossible visibility and
treacherous footing that made four driv-
ers give up. One of them was Niki Lauda-
the World Champion abdicated his
chances in Japan.
Hindsight unfortunately supported
those drivers who toughed it out, for the
weather against all local predication
cleared and the last half of the race was
run in drying conditions, so much so that
quickly weari ng rain tires became the
real factor, and set the surviving runners
up for the utterly unbelieveable finish
that-
Continued On Page 16
1976 World Driving Champion James Hunt sloshed his McLaren M23 home to a third place in deplorable conditions in the Japanese Grand Prix Oct. 24.
Massive Pontiac Recall
WASHINGTON, D.C.-A recall of
330,000 1974 Pontiacs has been ordered by
the U.S. Environmental Agency. The
problem is a possibly defective valve
whic;.l could cause nitrous oxide emmis-
sions in excess of federal standards.
Models affected by the EPA order
include Catalina, LeMans, Bonneville,
Ventura, Firebird and Grand Am. Two
different valves were used in the models,
EPA officials said, and only the one
manufactured by the Dole division of
Eaton Corp. can lead to the excessive
emission. General Motors must pay for
inspection of all the cars it can locate,
however, to insure that the cars using the
Eaton valve are inspected and repaired.
GM says it has been cooperating with
EP A for more than two years in the
matter, and is "disappointed" the agency
has ordered recall. If the cars are
maintained according to recommenda-
tions, there will be no emissions viola-
tion, according to the company.
LATE NEWS
First National City Travelers Checks will sponsor the Jim
Hall/ Carl Haas Formula 5000 effort next season, with a formal
announcement of the deal coming next week. Driver assignment
appears to be open amid rumors that Brian Redman may opt out of
open-wheel racing.
The Chrysler Corp. has earned a whopping $303 million in the
first nine months of 1976, a larger figure than the company ever has
earned in any previous 12-month period. Increased sales, particu-
larly of the Aspen and Volare, are cited as the reason for the
increase. Along those same lines, GM is expected to report record
earnings of $345 million for the third quarter, with Ford Motor Co.
reporting earnings of $42 for the quarter despite the UAW strike.
A project initiated by Road Test Magazine, now under
consideration by ABC Sports, would put a live video camera in and
on various kinds of racing cars, with everything from IROC to Indy
reportedly under consideration. The results would be used in
Continued On Page 3
Pete Lyons
King Richard (Remember Him?)
Pulls Out A Win At Rockingham
By Al Pearce
ROCKINGHAM, N.C.-The winner
looked vaguely familiar to most of us. He
had on sunglasses, he was puffing away
on an EI Ropo cigar and he grinned a lot.
But he hadn't been in an interview room in
so long that he felt obliged to take things
into his own hands and clear up any
doubts we might have had.
" First, let me introduce myself," he said
into the microphone. "My name is Ri-
chard Petty and I'm a race car driver."
So he was, indeed. After all but disap-
pearing from Victory Lanes around NAS-
CAR's speedways in 1976 there was
Richard Petty smiling like always just a
few minutes after winning the American
500 here at the North Carolina Motor
Speedway.
Petty' s last such interview was at
Pocono in early August. He had won a
500-miler there as David Pearson had a
late-race flat tire and lost an overwhel-
ming lead almost within sight of the
checkered flag.
But the last win that most of the
Southern-based media folks remembered
had been right here in late February when
Petty won the Carolina 500. So it was that
he felt obligated to remind those who
hadn't been at Pocono that he was, indeed,
the Richard Petty, the race car driver.
It hasn't been the best of all possible
years for the all-time king of NASCAR
racing. His three victories represents his
lowest win total since 1961 when he won
two of 41 races. And although he has won
a pocketful of loose change-about
$300,000 worth--he counts the success or
Continued On Pag'e 14
BRITISH lEYLAND
N/H/ONAl RACE SUPPORT PROGRAM
CAR CLASS 1st 2nd 3rd
Jaguar E-Type V-12, Xl-S BP $200.00 $100.00 $50.00
Jaguar XKE 18, 4.2 CP 10000 50.00
friumph TR5, TR250 CP 100.00 50.00
friumph TR7 DP 200. 00 10000 50.00
friumph TR6 DP 200.00 100.00 50.00
friumph GT6, all DP 100.00 50.00
Healey 3000 DP 100.00 50.00
MGB, MGB-GT EP 200.00 100.00 50.00
Triumph TR2, TR3. TR4 EP 100.00 50.00
Austin Healey 100-6 EP 100.00 50.00
MG Midget 1500 FP 200.00 100.00 50.00
Midget/ Sprite 1275 FP 100.00 50.00
i riumph Spitfire 1500 FP 200.00 100.00 50.00
Tri umph Spitfire Mk iii & IV FP 100.00 50.00
MGA, ali FP 100.00 50.00
Austin Heal ey 100-4 FP 100.00 50.00
'V1G Midget/Sprite 1098 GP 50.00
;riumph Spi tfire Mk I & II GP 50.00
'I1G Midget/Sprite 948 HP 50.00
Morris / Austin Cooper CS 50.00
BRITISH LEYLAND COMPETITION DEPARTMENT
West Jim Coan East Mike Barratt
422 Valley Drive 600 Willow Tree Rd.
Brisbane. CA 94005 Leonia, N.J. 07605
(415) 467-9402 (201) 461-7300