Page 10 - One Last Turn

of the season. The McLaren M6B of Mexican driver Moises Solana on which Frank was mounting tires needed more help, so Frank volunteered to manage his pit crew. The Solana car won the race, so Frank can claim that he worked in the paddock of the car that won the very first USRRC race (Jim Hall’s Cooper- Monaco) as well as the car that won the first race of the last season!
After his Mecom days, Frank worked as an industrial maintenance man, eight hours a day, five days a week
142
with overtime, a big change from the
demands and pay of his racing days. By then, he had four children and racing had forced him to leave the family alone too much of the time, especially when A.J. Foyt opened a year-round garage at Indianapolis. This would have necessitated too many long 12-hour days.
“In my ten years I worked with and for some of the best people in the world. The drivers that drove for the teams I was working for were some of the most significant drivers in racing history and
wonderful people — Miles, Ruby, Foyt, Hall, Stewart, McLaren. There were much better mechanics than I, but I worked hard and had some success.”
A Frank Lance supported car: Chaparral One
In November of 1960, Jim Hall ordered a prototype race car from builders Troutman and Barnes of Southern California. It was the first of two cars to be ready for the 1961 and 1962 racing seasons.
Hall chose the name Chaparral, after
Frank Lance worked on the tires of the winning McLaren M6B of Mexican driver Moises Solana at Mexico City, the first USRRC race of the 1968 season. (Frank Lance collection)
Frank Lance ONE LAST TURN
© DALTON WATSON FINE B
© DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS © DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS TON WATSON FINE B