Nite Crawlers Racing Team from 1960 to 1961

Nite Crawlers Racing Team from 1960 to 1961

The 1960s ushered in a new era for the Putty Hill Garage. In 1960 and 1961, the team won back-to-back National Modified Championships with Johnny Roberts behind the wheel. Much of the team remained the same but in addition to Johnny, 1960 and 1961 saw the addition of Roy "Tiny" Slayton, who was the owner of the cars. With a new car owner and a new driver, the team had a new number, 7. This team called themselves the Nite Crawlers. They spent almost every night of the week either working on the racecars or racing. This was on top of their regular jobs and only Tiny Slayton and Johnny Roberts received any of the winnings. And the winnings they received were just enough to keep racing. They didn't race for the money. They raced because they loved racing.

Neither Johnny Roberts or Tiny Slayton continued with the team after 1961 but both did continue racing. Johnny Roberts tragically perished in a racing accident on July 24, 1965. During a heat race, he took over for another driver in another car instead of racing his own and collided with the back of another car before hitting a guard rail at Lincoln Speedway in New Oxford, Pennsylvania. Johnny was a very accomplished driver and is the only racecar driver to be inducted into Maryland Sports Hall of Fame.

The Eras of the Putty Hill Garage Teams

If you haven't already, I would suggest starting on our Legacy of the Putty Hill Garage Racing Teams post first.

Putty Hill Garage Racing Team from 1952-1953
Putty Hill Garage Racing Team from 1954-1957
Putty Hill Garage Racing Team from 1958-1959
Nite Crawlers Racing Team from 1960-1961 (You are here)
Putty Hill Garage and Gastrock Racing Teams from 1962-1964

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May 1960

The above photo appeared in an article in the Baltimore Sun newspaper about the team in May 1960. The article was titled "700 Hours and $5,500 Make a Racer" and was written by William C. Costello. Photo credits go to A. Aubrey Bodine.

The team huddles around the 1937 Ford with their 1957 Ford off to the right of the frame, awaiting repairs from an accident at Daytona in February.

Driver Johnny Roberts sits in the car with car owner Roy "Tiny" Slayton just next to him. Tiny's "lieutenant", Jim Bunty, stands behind the car. George Williams sits to the far left of the photo. Joe Westerman, Wally Isennock, and Paul Ewers are up around the front end of the car.

1960

  • Daytona International Speedway - February 13, 1960

    Although this photo was taken upon returning home to Maryland sometime after the race at Daytona, the damage depicted was due the the 37-car pileup during the Modified-Sportsman race on February 13, 1960. For some perspective, the started field consisted of 68 cars. Another NASCAR race program from 1960 estimates that the field of cars "were running approximately 150 miles an hour" at the time of the crash.

    NascarAllOut has a fantastic video of the broadcast of this race. In it, you can see this car slide into frame in the infield grass at about the 12:34 mark and remain in center frame for the majority of about 15 seconds. Since the video was colorized later, the flames on the front of the car appear blueish but were actually a bright red as you'll see in the photo of the 1937 Ford at Alcyon below.

    I've isolated that part of the video and provided it in the link below. If you'd like to see the whole video on YouTube, you can click on the button below that says "Watch Full Video".

    Watch Clip 
Watch Full Video

  • Assessing the Damage

    A view of the damage to the front end of the 1957 Ford that the team uses for longer tracks over a mile

  • Assessing the Damage

    A closer view of the damage to the driver side front fender

1960

Assessing the Damage

Another view of the damage to the front end

1960

Under Repair

The 1957 Ford under repair at the Putty Hill Garage.

1960

Johnny Roberts

Johnny Roberts in the 1937 Ford, Number 7 in action at Alcyon Speedway in New Jersey.

1961

  • Daytona Beach - February 1961

    After being involved in the pileup the year before, last year's National Modified Champions are ready to race again at Daytona.

  • Daytona Beach - February 1961

    The 1957 Ford and the team's truck sits in a parking lot getting ready for the race at Daytona in 1961.

February 1961

Mercury Engine

A closeup of the high-performance Mercury engine with a three-carburetor intake and magneto distributor

February 1961

Equal-Length Headers

In this view of the engine, towards the top-right corner of the photo, you can partially see the equal-length headers that the team pioneered as one of their innovative edges against their opponents.

Daytona - February 1961

The '57 is lined up in the Daytona pits ready to start the race. As you could assume, the result of the 1961 Daytona Race was better the the 1960 race.

Daytona 1961

  • From the Infield

    Some race action caught on camera from the infield at Daytona.

  • From the Infield

    Some race action caught on camera from the infield at Daytona.

  • From the Infield

    Some race action caught on camera from the infield at Daytona.

1960-1961

Sportsmanship

The Nite Crawlers Racing Team truck trailers the number 49 for a friend and fellow racer out of Delaware.

Shop our Nite Crawlers Shirts and Sweatshirts!

Inspired by the 1960 National Modified Champion Racing Jackets worn by the real team

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