1975 : Gregg again

The 1975 season was to begin with a welcome new addition to the IMSA Camel GT calendar : the 24 Hours of Daytona. This race would become one of the most important international road racing event in the future. That was not still the case in 1975 but it was certainly one first important step as this race was to star a brand new BMW works team(see article here). You could add the fabulous Greenwood Corvette plus some good Camaros and Corvettes and a battalion of well-driven Porsche Carreras, a new Ferrari Boxer and three Daytonas, then you had an honest 50 car field. The scenario would be your regular one as the Corvette led for a while, then the BMW took the lead, only to let one of the Porsche Carreras take back the commanding position in the middle of the night. It was, as per usual could we say, Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood who finally took their second straight victory on the Florida superspeedway. Sebring was a bit different six weeks later. A good promotional work from John Greenwood had brought a huge 70 car field and some 50000 spectators. The Floridian race was on its way to become a great American classic. The track was surely not improving with the years but still had its magnet effect. It was the race you should not have to miss. The race started very fast with John Greenwood leading the very first laps, but soon to be overtaken by a very agressive Hans Stuck that led for a while. The tactical for the Bavarian make was to erode the opposition, which they did. A lot of cars experienced various problems and when the leading car had to retire, the second one just took the lead until the chequered. Every opponent had suffered from various trouble.
Second overall were George Dyer-Jacques Bienvenue Porsche Carrera, John Graves-Dave Helmick-John O'steen finished third. In GTU, it was Rusty Bond-George Rollin-John Belperche who finished tenth overall to win this class.
At Road Atlanta, the race had a two-heat format. A rumour was running, hinting the that the two best Porsche drivers had been supplied with more powerful engines. A new entry was to be seen as the all new Chevrolet Monza, driven by Horst Kwech, was making its racing debut. The car was in a development phase and could not fight for the win. However, it was the first of many cars that were to enter the IMSA fields in the next months as the AAGT category was officially born.
Peter Gregg took the first one. Al Holbert was second and Hurley Haywood third. The second heat was won by Al Holbert who subsequently won the race. Hurley Haywood finished second and Michael Keyser third. The rumour was probably true.
The next race was a swing to the Laguna Seca Raceway. The first heat saw a great fight between Hans Stuck and Peter Gregg, the latter finally winning the race with the slightest margin. Third was Elliot Forbes Robinson, then Michael Keyser and George Dyer. In the second heat, Stuck had his revenge and won easily, beating Michael Keyser, Elliot Forbes Robinson and Peter Gregg who had to pit unexpectedly. Holbert finished fifth after starting 41st to make a splendid comeback.
The next race, at Riverside, saw the two BMW 3.0CSL dominate the event. Peter Gregg-Hurley Haywood Porsche could just try to break their domination but with no success and they had to settle for third, one lap down. Hans Stuck shared the winning car with Dieter Quester, Sam Posey took second with Brian Redman. A string of seven Porsches took third to ninth place while Bob Sharp-Walt Maas finished tenth overall and took the GTU honors. They defeated the Porsche 911S driven by Jim Borsos and Dennis Aase.
Lime Rock was a track that suited the Porsches and Peter Gregg took the first heat, ahead Hans Stuck and Al Holbert. The second heat saw a hard-fought battle between Gregg and Holbert against Stuck and Posey BMWs. At the end of the race, it was a one-two for Porsche ahead Hans Stuck and Sam Posey.
The next round was to be held at Mid Ohio, with the finishing order from that race would determine the starting for the second race, which took place in June. The purse also would be quite attractive :$20000. Stuck was the early race leader had to stop with a bad wheel bearing. Peter Gregg then took the lead but he had to withdraw from the race. That left Al Holbert who won the race ahead Sam Posey and Hurley Haywood. Warren Agor entered a new Chevrolet Monza and finished at an encouraging fourth place. Bob Sharp again the GTU category after dicing with Brad Frisselle running on a similar car.
Mosport was the first ever race to be held in Canada and a 50000 crowd gave IMSA its best audience of the year. Two 50 miles heat would determine the starting order of the main event. Redman won the first one ahead of Peter Gregg and Al Holbert won the second while Carl Shafer was second. The main event saw Brian Redman take the lead but until his engine failed. Carl Shafer then inherited the lead with Peter Gregg waiting behind. Most of the race was a Shafer-Gregg fight but they finally came too close and the Porsche suspension was damaged. The Camaro too was having handling trouble and Hurley Haywood slipped past an inattentive Carl Shafer who took second. Third was local driver Ludwig Heimrath and Peter Gregg finally fourth. Brad Frisselle took his first GTU win on his Datsun Z car.
The next race at Daytona saw Hans Stuck holding Carl Shafer's Camaro and the Porsches of Haywood,Holbert, Dyer and Kemp. Peter Gregg experienced bad luck when the engine of his Porsche Carrera swallowed a valve. Carl Shafer, solidly holding second had to retire when he broke his oil pump. At the end, Hurley Haywood was second, then Al Holbert, George Dyer, Charlie Kemp, Bob Beasley, Jim Busby and John Graves took the next following spots, all driving Porsches. Juan Montalvo finished ninth and won the GTU category on his Ford Escort. At Mid America, high temperatures and humidity made the two heats tiring ones. Al Holbert beat Peter Gregg in the first heat after a hard fight. Hurley Haywood finished third after a final attempt to capture second failed. The second heat was a repeat victory for Al Holbert who again lead Peter Gregg. It was a three men battle but Hurley Haywood lost an engine in the battle. Peter Gregg had to stop to replace a tyre after rubbing on some debris. He finished second however, just ahead of John O'steen.
The next race, held at Talladega, was  completely wasted as rain delayed the start of the race. At the start, Hans Stuck began to dominate the race until it was stopped when the rain flooded the track. After a lull, the race resumed, Hans Stuck was then challenged by Peter Gregg, mainly in the infield. However, Hans Stuck managed to hold a thirty second advantage over Peter Gregg when the rain began to fall again. The poor race conditions drove the race direction to red flag the race. Hurley Haywood took third and Al Holbert fourth. Brad Frisselle again the GTU category.
Mid Ohio was the next race and one of the longest in the IMSA schedule.  A 6Hour event which was supposes to give the advantage to the Porsches on this challenging track. The race was led by Peter Gregg- Hurley Haywood who had a special long tailed Porsche Carrera. After four hours of domination, Peter Gregg collided with a slower car. It took 40 minutes to repair the damaged suspension and the car was to sixteenth. Al Holbert and Elliot Forbes Robinson finally took the win while the unfortunate pair Gregg-Haywood worked their way back to ninth overall. John Graves-Dave Helmick finished second, 6 laps down and Roberto Quintanilla-Roberto Gonzales took third, 12 laps down. With one race remaining, Peter Gregg, Al Holbert and Hurley Haywood all could win the title. It was a different race as John Greenwood entered his super Corvette. As per usual, he dominated the race, 40 seconds ahead of Brian Redman and Sam Posey BMWs. Peter Gregg finished fourth and again won the Championship, Hurley Haywood was fifth. Bob Sharp easily won the GTU category as he won again at the Finale.
Porsche had won the Championship but a new threat had come to the horizon : it would soon materialize as the Chevrolet Monza was to appear in 1976, mostly improved entered by top teams. The IMSA Camel GT Challenge was undergoing major changes.