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July
26th, 1965 was a sad day for the Maryland racing community. NASCAR
Sportsman and Modified champion Johnny Roberts was killed in
a racing accident at Lincoln Speedway in Hanover, Pa. The driver
who made a name for himself racing up and down the East Coast had
settled in to racing at Lincoln, Dorsey and Hagerstown in 1963
through 1965. First driving the low slung #8 Chevy coach of Reds
Kagle, then switching to a coupe in 1965, Johnny made his mark
against the small lightweight supermodifieds that dominated the
Central Pennsylvania tracks. It was not easy getting a feature win
driving a “heavy”, but Johnny cracked the winner’s circle on
consecutive July 4th weekends, taking a Lincoln win in 1964 and
his last win at Hagerstown in 1965.
Johnny
was already planning for the 1966 season with a new weapon to
race against those “damn little bugs”. He felt he could build
a coupe type modified that could beat the bugs. The burly Roberts
just didn’t like the idea of strapping into the cutdown bugs.
His new car was based on a 1937 Chevy coupe with innovations never
seen around here before. Unfortunately his accident came before he
could finish building his new creation. |
#7 Johnny Roberts Hemi Powered "Bug
Killer
Bob
Williams Photo |
On
Sunday September 6th 1965 Lincoln Speedway held the Johnny Roberts
Memorial race for all their divisions plus some that ran at Dorsey
Speedway in order to let all racers honor Johnny. More than the
racing itself, the biggest attraction of the day was the
appearance of the beautiful maroon and white #7 coupe setting on
the trailer behind the grandstands. People were pouring all over
the car and the track photographer, Lloyd King, had photos ready
for sale.
Some
of the mechanics and friends of Roberts spent many long nights
finishing the car for this special occasion. Willie Alder, Ace
Oertley, Bob Saul and others knew what John wanted and they came
through at the eleventh hour. |
| At
first glance the car looked like one that might show up at
Langhorne in October. Upon closer inspection you noticed some of Johnny’s
new ideas. The coupe was built on a Ford truck frame with twin
I-beam front suspension. Big John wanted plenty of power to catch
the bugs and put a fuel injected 426 Hemi up front. As you stared
at the gleaming engine, it finally sunk in that there was no
radiator. John placed the radiator in the trunk area. The car was
very light having air holes drilled in everything. He placed his
seat towards the right side with the steering column cocked on an
angle. The normal window openings of the 1937 Chevy body were cut
out to the maximum. Willie Alder laid on one of his famous paint
jobs of fogged maroon and pearl white with a gold #7. It was such
a shame its creator wasn’t around to see it finished. |
Willie Alder, the
body and paint guy on the #7
Bob
Williams Photo |
#7 making a parade
lap around Lincoln Speedway for the Johnny Roberts Memorial Race
9/6/65
Bob
Williams Photo |
What
would happen to the new modified was anyone’s guess. One rumor
was that Tiny Lund would drive it at Trenton or Langhorne.
Actually little was seen of the car after the memorial race. Bobby
Ballantine took over Robert’s former ride, the Reds Kagle #8, so
the rumor he would drive the car was wrong.
The
next few years the car sat at Johnny’s friend and fellow racer Joe
Michals’ garage. Finally the car showed up for the modified
portion of the Indian Summer Classic twin 100’s at Beltsville
Speedway on Oct. 20th,1968. The #7 looked a little different as
the crew moved the radiator up front. Bobby Ballantine was picked
to drive, which was a good choice since he had became a top LMS
driver there. By all accounts the car was a handfull. The twin
I-beam suspension just didn’t want to turn. The crew even tried
chains to limit the travel, but that didn’t help much. That
coupled with the raw power of the Hemi made it tough for even Big
Bob to handle. |
| The
future looked dim for the car until it was purchased by
Flemington N.J. Speedway racer Dawn Noble. He bought the
car which was rough looking at the time and minus the Hemi from
Mrs. Roberts. His
goal was to install a Chevy small block and race it at Flemington.
Even though Johnny had built the car with dirt in mind, Noble
could never quite get it to handle on the flat five eighths mile
dirt. His next idea was to try the car at the smaller quarter mile
asphalt Atlantic City Speedway. He had better luck and was very
competitive getting several wins.
Just
before the Sportsman-Modified race at Dover Downs in 1969, Dawn
sold the car to a New Jersey owner. He put driver Tommy Comerford
in it for Dover, only to lose an engine. Tommy raced the car at
Wall Stadium the next season. |
Bobby Ballantine in
the Johnny Roberts
#7
Beltsville Speedway 10/20/68
Bob
Williams Photo |
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This
is where the history of the car gets fuzzy. Comerford does not
remember where the car went next. Whether it stayed in New Jersey,
or went to another state is not clear.
Any
information on the later years of this car would be appreciated.
-
Larry Jendras Jr. |
