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Second, 1965 Road America
500 driven by Hall, Sharp and Jennings
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The USRRC Championship could have been decided two weeks earlier at
Mid-Ohio, but neither Jim Hall or George Follmer scored any points.
And so the battle would have to conclude at the season finale, the
Road America 500, at Elkhart Lake.
The unusual SCCA points rules forced Chaparral Racing to lay all their
cards on the table in order to have a chance at victory. The Texas
team entered two cars, both of which were to be driven during the main
event by Jim Hall and Hap Sharp in order to maximize each drivers'
points scoring potential. Bruce Jennings was hired as a teammate in
the #65 car, and Ronnie Hissom in #66.
Sharp carved his way through the field to find himself lying in 2nd
position on lap 27, up from his 12th spot on the starting grid! Around
lap 43 he switched into the #66 car and Bruce Jennings
took over the driving duties. The stop cost him one
place, but a wild spin just a few laps into his stint cost Jennings
a further two spots. Sharp in the white #66 also
managed to put the #65 car down a lap as a result! At about two-thirds
distance, it was time for Hall, who had started in the #66, to take a
turn in #65 while Hissom took over #66. Talk about 'musical cars'!
To Hall's great displeasure, the SCCA awarded equal points to both
under and over 2-liter finishers, so while the Chaparrals fully
deserved top honors, Follmer in a 2-liter Lotus-Porsche dominated his
class and snatched away the Championship! Chaparral Racing's best
efforts couldn't clinch the final USRRC Championship for Jim Hall
despite a dominant one-two finish for the team. Only the rule-makers
could thwart the Texas team.
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