December 28 racing notes

1961 - Back in late September 1961, Fred Lorenzen won the pole for the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville. He led 57 laps but lost an engine and fell out of the race after 300 laps. Apparently he didn't stick around to receive his trophy for winning the pole. The trophy was belatedly awarded to him during some Daytona speed tests on December 28th. From Daytona Beach Morning Journal .

1961 - NASCAR announced Johnny Roberts had filed an entry to race in the 1962 Daytona modified race to be run the day before the Daytona 500. From Spartanburg Herald .

He was to race in a car field by Mel Joseph - who later built Dover Downs International Speedway and fielded cars in two races for Bobby Allison, including his disputed win at Bowman-Gray in 1971.

From Kevin Andrews collection .

Roberts most spectacular trip to Daytona was in 1967 for the ARCA race. He flipped wildly but escaped without the car catching fire because of the new fuel bladders developed for stock car racing.

From J.C. Hayes collection .

From Jerry Bushmire collection .

1965 - Dan Gurney and the Wood Brothers file the first entry blank for the 1966 Motor Trend 500 at Riverside. The filing was notable because it signaled Ford Motor Company planned to race in NASCAR in 1966 after all ... at least initially. From Spartanburg Herald .

Gurney and the Woods did race at Riverside - Gurney's only GN race of the 1966 season.

From Matt's collection

From Ray Lamm collection

1966 - Nord Krauskopf announced Bobby Isaac would drive his K&K Dodge in 1967. From Spartanburg Herald .

From Ray Lamm collection .

Patti Pennington , the young lady presenting the Martinsville trophy to Fred Lorenzen at Daytona in December 1961, was even busier in the new year, 1962, as well as 1963. Is it just me, or does one of her photos bear a striking resemblence to Linda Vaughn?

The September 1, 1962 Daytona paper carried the news of Patti being crowned "Miss Southland."

Before 1962 was over, Johnny Roberts would be commended as a hero for saving the life of racer Ralph Rose at Richmond's Strawberry Hill / Atlantic Rural Exposition / Fairgrounds Raceway half-mile dirt track following a horrific crash. He was presented the Naughton Award for Sportsmanship.

June Rose Hudgins collection

June Rose Hudgins made these comments here on our site several years ago when RR member Troy Curtis posted the photo above:

 Comment by June on November 15, 2008 at 2:29pm

We were not allowed in the pits at Strawberry Hill (VA state fairgrounds) and were sitting in the stands. As soon as the wreck happened, Toni ran down the grandstands to the entrance of the track. Two officials grabbed her arms to restrain her, and Paul Sawyer said he saw Toni Rose "stretch her arms out straight and run right out of her jacket" and kept on going. They were left with only her jacket. She was at Ralph's side as he & Johnny were laying in the infield at the wreck. Toni always said "I drove every lap of every race that Ralph did" and she meant it! Paul and wife, Virginia, were close friends with Ralph & Toni Rose, and would often drive from Norfolk to the track in Richmond together. Ralph Rose's only fear of racing stock cars was being trapped in a burning car. Needless to say, they didn't have the equipment back then that is in place today. He told me he thought it was all over when he saw all of that fire and he was hanging mid-air in Z-1 with a seat belt he couldn't get unlocked. Lawrence Leonard, sportswriter for the Richmond Times Dispatch, did an interview with him where he said "Johnny Roberts stuck his arm in there "bleeding like a cut hog" and got me free.

 Comment by June on November 14, 2008 at 9:25pm

Paul Sawyer told me that "he thought he'd never get the fire crews over there that day." My father, Ralph Rose, was in the Z-1 that his crew pushed away from the fire. Johnny Roberts of Baltimore pulled a trapped Ralph from his car, which was laying on its side, and then went into the infield and collapsed. My mother, Toni Rose, wrote a handwritten letter to Bill France commending Johnny for his heroic actions, and he ended up winning the coveted McNaughton Award that year. The 31 was Gene Lovelace of Newport News, and the 25 was Jack Mulligan of Hampton, VA.