May 3rd, 1964 - Dave MacDonald drives Shelby King Cobra Lang-Cooper (CM/1/64) in the USRRC Championships at Laguna Seca.

Dave MacDonald on his Saturday qual run in the King Cobra Lang Cooper. Dave's time of 1:17.0 was 8th fastest. [Dave Friedman / THF]

Qual times for the 1964 USRRC race at Laguna Seca. A total of 35 modifieds would make this year’s field

Race day! A packed house shows up at Laguna Seca Raceway to see a stellar field of cars and drivers. Photo Dave Friedman

Dave MacDonald talking with friends in the pit area before the race. Photo Dave Friedman

The King Cobra Lang Cooper is pushed out to the starting grid in preparation of the big race. Photo Dave Friedman

Joe Freitas (L) and car owner Craig Lang keep Dave loose before the start. Photo Dave Friedman

Photos Dave Friedman

Laguna Seca flagman Don Seike waves the race green! [Duke Manor]

Race starts and Bob Holbert in #114 grabs the hole shot. Dave MacDonald is in the #97 Shelby King Cobra-Lang Cooper and the two
Chaparrals were driven by Jim Hall #366 & Roger Penske #367. Skip Hudson is in the #91 Nickey Chevrolet Cooper Monaco and
the #98 Shelby Cobra Roadster was driven by Ed Leslie. Photo Dave Friedman

Into turn two it's Holbert, Hall, Hudson & Penske.

A couple laps in and Holbert still leads Jim Hall's mighty Chaparral. Photo Martin Hill

On lap 4 the Master of Oversteer Dave MacDonald drifts through a turn after getting past Dave Ridenour. Photo Dave Friedman

Lap 5 - Dave MacDonald blows past Skip Hudson (91) & prepares to move on 3rd place driver John Cannon. Behind Hudson is Chuck
Daigh and Ken Miles running 6th & 7th. Photo Dave Friedman

On lap 6 Jim Hall slings his Chaparral past Bob Holbert to take the lead. Photo Dave Friedman

Dave continues to move toward the front. Photo Dave Friedman

Paul Reinhart running mid pack has his Genie Chevy ahead of Bob Markley's Elva Porsche. Photo Dave Friedman

Lap 7 and MacDonald gets past John Cannon's Scarab Mk IV Chevrolet to take possession of 3rd place. Photo Dave Friedman

Lap 10 and Bob Holbert retakes the lead from Hall and they're still out front running 1-2. Photo Dave Friedman

Lap 12 shows George Koehne and his Genie ahead of Chuck Dietrich and Skip Hudson. Photo Dave Friedman

Hard charging Dave MacDonald catches Jim Hall on lap 14 and the two superstars run 2-3 behind Holbert. Photo Dave Friedman

Shelby team driver Ken Miles stepped out of a Cobra for this race and ran the Arciero Brothers' Lotus. Photo Dave Friedman

John Cannon stays ahead of Jerry Titus in the early going. Photo Dave Friedman

Frank Crane's Ferrari 250 & Chuck Dietrich's Elva Porsche chase after Tony Settember's Lotus. Photo Dave Friedman

MacDonald slings his King Cobra past Hall on lap 18 and now goes after teammate and leader Bob Holbert. Photo Dave Friedman

Lap 22 Skip Hudson slips by Dave Ridenour on the scenic Laguna Seca course. Ridenour though would bang the back of Hudson's
Cooper Chevy and put Skip out of the race. Photo Dave Friedman

Roger Penske in Jim Hall's 2nd Chaparral entrant goes by Dave Ridenour & Chuck Daigh. You can see the crunched front end of
Ridenour's Genie. Photo Dave Friedman

Lap 23 and Bat Masterson's Porsche - Buick (222) running side by side with Chuck Dietrich's Elva Porsche. Photo Dave Friedman

Jim Parkinson is running mid pack in his Cooper - Buick. Photo Dave Friedman

Ed Leslie running a strong race in the Shelby Cobra Roadster battles John Cannon through a turn. Photo Dave Friedman

Lap 35 it's still MacDonald and Hall running 2-3 and chasing after Holbert. Photo Dave Friedman

Lap 38 and Dave MacDonald puts a lap on both Frank Monise's Lotus 23B and Jack Flaherty's (4) Genie Climax. (Dave Friedman)

Lap 42 and Bob Holbert puts a lap on Dave Ridenour's beat up Genie Merc. Photo Dave Friedman

Two laps later MacDonald comes up on Dave Ridenour and prepares to lap him as well. Photo Dave Friedman

The dogfight between MacDonald & Hall continues on lap 46 with only a fraction of a second between them. Holbert is still leader.

MacDonald & Hall coming up to lap Ed Leslie & John Cannon who had pitted earlier. Photo Dave Friedman

On lap 50 Hall slips past MacDonald to recapture 2nd and the two drivers continue chopping at Holbert's lead. Photo Dave Friedman

Frank Crane charging hard in his Ferrari 250 TRI/61 and running 10th. Photo Dave Friedman

Dave MacDonald still running 2nd puts a lap on Robert Keys and his Lotus 23B. Photo Dave Friedman

On lap 59 leader Bob Holbert's King Cobra begins to slow and drop back in the field. Here Bob Winkleman's Lotus is the latest to go
by Holbert. Photo Dave Friedman

Lap 61 and Bob Holbert enters the pits. Bad news as the rear suspension is shot and Bob is done for the day. Photo Dave Friedman

Jim Hall inherits the lead with Dave MacDonald still on his tail in 2nd. Photo Dave Friedman

On lap 64 MacDonald & Hall pit at the same time. The stops are quick and no time is lost to the field as they are multiple laps ahead
of everyone but Roger Penske. Jim Kennedy's Porsche heads back out to the track. Check out the skinny tires! (Dave Friedman)

Dave MacDonald back out on the track laps Eldon Beagle's Porsche. Dave still trails Hall. Photo Dave Friedman

Late race photo shows Chuck Dietrich, Frank Crane & George Koehne still charging hard. Photo Dave Friedman

With 70 laps in the books and 10 to go, Ed Leslie, John Cannon and Chuck Daigh come over the hill. Photo Dave Friedman

Dave MacDonald blows past George Koehne to put him another lap back. Photo Dave Friedman

MacDonald flies past the start finish line as his pit crew tells him he has just 5 laps to catch Jim Hall's Chaparral. Photo Dave Friedman

Dave MacDonald passes Roger Penske's Chaparral to put Roger 2 laps back with 4 to go. Photo Dave Friedman

Only three laps to go and MacDonald trying mightily to reel in Hall. Photo Dave Friedman

Last lap and Dave MacDonald all out in the Lang King Cobra - but he will not catch Jim Hall. Photo Dave Friedman

Hall will not be denied and he whips his lightweight Chaparral around a turn on the final lap. Photo Dave Friedman

As you can see in the Motor Sports News cover shot, Jim Hall was victorious as he rumbled across the finish line 19 seconds ahead of
MacDonald. Both Jim & Dave finished 2 plus laps ahead of the rest of the field. Roger Penske was 3rd in the other Chaparral.

Race Results for the 1964 United States Road Racing Championships at Laguna Seca Raceway

News articles recapping the 1964 USRRC at Laguna Seca Raceway

Article continued

Driver strike averted at Laguna Seca

USRRC drivers standings after this Laguna Seca race. Dave MacDonald chose to skip the Pensacola race that Jim Hall won, in order
to run the Atlanta 500 on the NASCAR circuit.

Dave MacDonald's paycheck from Shelby American for his 2nd place finish in the 5/3/64 USRRC at Laguna Seca

The Shelby King Cobra-Lang Cooper slot car