The 1975 Long Beach Grand Prix was the inaugural running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach. The race was held September 28, 1975, on a 2.02miles temporary street circuit. It was race 7 of the 1975 SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 Championship. An estimated 65,000 spectators saw Englishman Brian Redman win the race from Australian Vern Schuppan, with Canadian driver Eppie Wietzes finishing third.[1]
In 1974 the city of Long Beach began a billion-dollar redevelopment program of the downtown area.[2] Chris Pook, a British travel agent working in Long Beach, proposed holding a street course race in the vein of the Monaco Grand Prix. In order to prepare for a Formula One race the following year, the organizers decided to hold a Formula 5000 race that was held at a track in Riverside with an exhibition in Long Beach.[3] [4]
Qualifying times were set in two sessions on Saturday. Seeded drivers had one 45-minute session and one 1 hour, 15 minute session, while non-seeded drivers had two 45-minute sessions.[5] Starting positions were set by two heat races, with the finishers from Heat 1 starting in odd positions and Heat 2 in even positions.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:21.297 | |||
| 2 | 1:21.948 | |||
| 3 | 1:22.036 | |||
| 4 | 1:22.799 | |||
| 5 | 1:23.346 | |||
| 6 | 1:23.602 | |||
| 7 | 1:23.674 | |||
| 8 | Eddie Lewis | 1:24.039 | ||
| 9 | Francisco Mir Racing | 1:24.091 | ||
| 10 | 1:24.168 | |||
| 11 | Racing Consultants | 1:24.204 | ||
| 12 | Formula Racing | 1:24.223 | ||
| 13 | 1:24.264 | |||
| 14 | 1:24.491 | |||
| 15 | 1:24.817 | |||
| 16 | Anglo American Racing | 1:24.909 | ||
| 17 | Krinitt Racing | 1:25.347 | ||
| 18 | Chris Oates, Ltd. | 1:25.529 | ||
| 19 | McCormack/Burke Racing | 1:25.734 | ||
| 20 | 1:26.090 | |||
| 21 | T. P. Racing | 1:26.183 | ||
| 22 | Evan Noyes | 1:26.357 | ||
| 23 | Jomar Racing | 1:26.846 | ||
| 24 | Lance Smith Racing | 1:26.947 | ||
| 25 | Wrangler Wracing Team | 1:26.966 | ||
| 26 | McCormack/Burke Racing | 1:27.167 | ||
| 27 | Lancer Stores | 1:27.574 | ||
| 28 | Black American Racers | 1:27.645 | ||
| 29 | Nagel Racing | 1:28.562 | ||
| 30 | Roger Bighouse | 1:28.570 | ||
| 31 | Briggs & Fodge Racing | 1:28.650 | ||
| 32 | Formula Magazine | 1:29.252 | ||
| 33 | Manteca Motors | 1:29.743 | ||
| 34 | Solazure IV, Ltd. | 1:29.801 | ||
| 35 | J. Levitt | 1:30.086 | ||
| 36 | Barbara Baker | 1:31.310 | ||
| 37 | E. J. Simpson | 1:31.894 | ||
| 38 | AME Racing | 1:31.952 | ||
| 39 | Sting Racing | 1:33.219 | ||
| 40 | J. B. Quality Products | 1:33.496 | ||
| 41 | Jim Gustafson Racing | 1:36.831 | ||
| 42 | Ill-Eagle | 1:37.730 | ||
| 43 | G. W. Pollard | 1:38.810 | ||
| 44 | J. Levitt | 2:05.826 | ||
| [6] [7] |
Heat 1
| Heat 2
|
At the start, Al Unser led from 2nd on the grid. On lap 3, polesitter Tony Brise had taken the lead and Mario Andretti took over second place. Brise led until lap 15, when both Andretti and Unser got by. Brise re-passed Unser on the next lap, and battled with Andretti until he re-took the lead on lap 29. On lap 33, Andretti retired with transmission problems, and one lap later Brise retired with a broken driveshaft. Brian Redman took the lead and pulled away to a nearly 30-second victory over Vern Schuppan and Eppie Wietzes. Redman also clinched the season points championship.[9] [10]
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Car | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Brian Redman | Carl A. Haas Racing | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 50 | 1:10:12.042 | 4 |
| 2 | 48 |  Vern Schuppan | All American Racers | Eagle 755-Chevrolet | 50 | +29.938 | 7 |
| 3 | 94 |  Eppie Wietzes | Formula Racing | Lola T400-Chevrolet | 50 | Running | 10 |
| 4 | 2 |  Chris Amon | McCormack/Burke Racing | Talon MR-1A-Chevrolet | 49 | + 1 lap | 12 |
| 5 | 10 | David Hobbs | Hogan Racing | Lola T330-Chevrolet | 49 | + 1 lap | 8 |
| 6 | 4 | Warwick Brown | McCormack/Burke Racing | Talon MR-1A-Chevrolet | 49 | + 1 lap | 11 |
| 7 | 24 |  Evan Noyes | Evan Noyes | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 48 | + 2 laps | 27 |
| 8 | 19 | Bob Earl | T. P. Racing | Lola T330-Chevrolet | 48 | + 2 laps | 17 |
| 9 | 46 | John Morton | Krinitt Racing | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 48 | + 2 laps | 28 |
| 10 | 30 | Skeeter McKitterick | AME Racing | Chevron B24-Chevrolet | 46 | + 4 laps | 20 |
| 11 | 12 | Benny Scott | Black American Racers | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 40 | + 10 laps | 22 |
| 12 | 64 | Tony Brise | Theodore Racing | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 34 | Driveshaft | 1 |
| 13 | 5 | Mario Andretti | Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 33 | Transmission | 3 |
| 14 | 50 | John Korn | Jomar Racing | Lola T330-Chevrolet | 33 | Battery | 21 |
| 15 | 3 | Jody Scheckter | Hogan Racing | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 29 | Halfshaft | 6 |
| 16 | 91 | Jon Woodner | Interscope Racing | Talon MR-1A-Chevrolet | 27 | Accident | 13 |
| 17 | 33 | Elliott Forbes-Robinson | Francisco Mir Racing | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 27 | Camshaft | 9 |
| 18 | 13 | Ron Dykes | J. B. Quality Products | Lola T192-Chevrolet | 27 | Suspension | 16 |
| 19 | 28 | Randy Lewis | Wrangler Wracing Team | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 20 | Rod | 15 |
| 20 | 51 | Al Unser | Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 17 | Suspension | 2 |
| 21 | 00 | Tom Pryce | Phoenix Racing | Shadow DN6-Dodge | 14 | Gearbox | 5 |
| 22 | 75 | Bob Nagel | Nagel Racing | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 14 | Mechanical | 23 |
| 23 | 55 | Bill Baker | Barbara Baker | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 14 | Black flagged | 24 |
| 24 | 20 | Gordon Johncock | Patrick Racing | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 11 | Rod | 19 |
| 25 | 39 | John Gunn | Racing Consultants | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 9 | Overheating | 25 |
| 26 | 9 | John Cannon | Anglo American Racing | March 73A-Chevrolet | 6 | Halfshaft | 14 |
| 27 | 6 | Graham McRae | Eddie Lewis | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 1 | Accident | 26 |
| 28 | 45 | George Follmer | Lance Smith Racing | Lance LSR1-Chevrolet | 0 | Wheel | 18 |
| [11] |
