The New England Region Stirling Moss Trophy

In the words of Sir Stirling Moss himself:

“It’s hard to drive at the limit, but it’s harder to know where the limits are.”

Who is Stirling Moss?

Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of competition and has been described as “the greatest driver never to win the World Championship”.

Acknowledged as one of the finest drivers in Formula 1 history, Moss claimed 16 wins, 16 poles and 24 podiums in only 66 F1 starts. He is one of only two racing drivers knighted by the Queen of England, and competed and drove multiple times at Lime Rock Park.

Read his Q&A on racing and see his lifetime stats here, courtesy of Lime Rock Park.

A True Sportsman

While never claiming a world championship title, there are tales of opportunities Moss had to take a win, but did not. Rather, stories abound with examples such as Moss allowing other drivers to reclaim positions because of circumstances outside their control. In general, Moss is known for living a life with no regrets, choosing sportsmanship over titles.

Letter from Stirling Moss:

“I leave it to you to decide who should be given the trophy, but it does seem that to award it to the driver showing exceptional driving ability, combined with good sportsmanship, is a good one.”

What exactly is the Stirling Moss award?

The trophy was donated to the New England Region for the 1968 season. It is Moss’ physical trophy from the 1956 German Grand Prix at Nurburgring. This historic trophy has been awarded each year to the New England Region top Solo driver. Through the years the method of determining the winner has changed but the honor of being the recipient has never diminished.

How is the trophy awarded?

In the 1970s NER combined National classes and bumped drivers to achieve minimum participation levels. In 1973 and 1974, two drivers tied in points and both were awarded the trophy. In 1976, two drivers again tied and the first run off was held. It was scored based on three runs at the end of the last event. The trophy was presented to the driver who had the greatest improvement over his fastest time during regular runs. This continued through 1982.

In the early 1980s the NER program had grown to National recognition and it was no longer appropriate to consolidate National classes. All class winners should be eligible to win the Stirling Moss Trophy. A run off was held annually, and the winner was the competitor who had the smallest standard deviation from his fastest regular run during the event.

In 1991, the format was again changed to include rankings of drivers from events during the series.

Several different formulas have been used in the half-century that the trophy has been awarded. Although the method used to determine the Top Solo Driver in NER has evolved, and at times been controversial, there was never a question whether the final recipient deserved the award.

Stirling Moss Champions Through the Years

2010s

2010 Nathan Whipple

2011 Grant Reeve

2012 Nicholas Barbato

2013 Nicholas Barbato

2014 David White

2015 Bob Davis

2016 Billy Davis

2017 Jason Fair

2018 Brian Kuehl

2019 Todd Kean

2000s

2000 Nick Leverone

2001 Matt Murray

2002  Matt Murray

2003 Matt Murray

2004 Nathan Whipple

2005 Matt Murray

2006 Grant Reeve

2007 Matt Murray/Lynne Rothney-Kozlak

2008 Paul Zahornasky/Brian Levesque

2009 Billy Davis

1990s

1990 Lynne Rothney

1991 Kathleen Barnes

1992 Lynn Rothney-Koziak

1993 Mike Zoner

1994 Wade Scannell

1995 William Goodale

1996 Nick Leverone

1997 Andy Bettencourt

1998 Bill Gendron

1999 Bill Gendron

1980s

1980 Mark Kent

1981 Chip Lewis

1982 Charles Levesque

1983 John Duane

1984 Fran O’Connor

1985 John Duane

1986 Paul Koziak

1987 Michael Piera

1988 Mark Besso

1989 Jinx Jordan

1970s

1970 Mike Folsom

1971 Kenneth H. Payson

1972 Bill Foster

1973 Gordon Santee/Bud Grocki

1974 Bill Goodale/Larry Lard

1975 Stephen Lewis

1976 William Fralick

1977 Ken Payson

1978 Lowell Peabody

1979 Mark Kent

1960s

1968 Ed Pass

1969 Skip Patten

*BOLD Names are multi-time winners

The Eric Carlsson Monte Carlo Challenge Award

New England Region presented this distinguished trophy to the sports car club team within New England that had the highest score in the Sports Car Club Champion Auto-Slalom Series. The trophy was named for Erik H. Carlsson, who was a Swedish rally driver for SAAB and famous for his rally success and Monte Carlo podium finishes in 1962 and 1963. In 1963 he married another worthy driver and respected competitor, Pat Moss (sister of Sir Stirling Moss). Erik passed away in London at the age of 86 in 2015.

This trophy tenure was for 20 years from 1968-1988. Competition was fierce and a hostile rivalry was evident among the clubs to own the honor of receiving this trophy each year. Rules dictated points were awarded to SCCA members only, with the highest place finisher for each team in each class earning points towards the overall score.

See the full list of trophy winners here.

The trophy is on display in the NER Archives.