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You’d be hard-pressed to miss Roger Johns’ bold, bright green 1947 Chevrolet 1/2-ton 3100 model pickup as it slays the 1/4-mile to the tune of 8-second laps.

For the now-retired former oil and gas operations professional from Tuttle, Oklahoma, this endeavor has been both a case of speeding things up and slowing things down.

Johns traded a ’55 Ford street car he had for the truck 21 years ago. At the time, it too was a street rod in style. He fabricated a mild-steel round-tube chassis for it after a couple of years, had a mild 413 small-block Chevy on methanol and TH-400 transmission built, and went drag racing, running in mid to low 10’s. In 2018, he had Lewis Fabrication build a chromoly round tube chassis and quickly dropped 330-lbs. He also built a max-effort 445-inch SBC and a “built” Powerglide and has since run 8.90s at 152 (with 5.60s to the 1/8-mile).

“I’m 68 yrs old and have been involved in drag racing since high school. I took time off after college to start a career and family, and then got back into racing about 25 years ago. When I was a young teenager in the 1960s, my father and I used to go to the drag races in Arkansas City, Kansas, Wichita, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma City. My first car was a ’55 Chevy with a 265 V8. My second car after high school was a ’70 Chevelle with a 402 BBC and a four-speed. I also had an ’81 Pro Street S-10 with a 350 ZZ4 crate engine that had my first home-built narrowed chassis, along with the aforementioned ’55 Ford Pro Street with a 510-inch BBC, which was also a fully home-built chassis.”

During his career, Johns was an executive in sales and operations on highly automated and autonomous drilling rigs dealing with proprietary algorithms and autonomous systems applications and developments. And so he says, “as high-tech as my career was, I choose to stay away from the many and ever-popular EFI ECU control systems and just keep mine extremely simple….K.I.S.S., as they say (keep it simple stupid).”

Vehicle Specs Body: 1947 3100 model Chevrolet 1/2-ton Chassis: Lewis Fabrication (Leon Lewis), fully custom chrome-moly round tube (8.50 cert) Engine: 445ci SBC (4.185″ bore x 4″ stroke), Competition Eliminator architecture, built by Brand Racing Engines in Mustang, OK Compression: 16:1 Engine Block: World Products, Motown II steel Crankshaft: Callies Magnum Connecting Rods: Crower Maxi-Light steel Pistons: Gibtec custom chamber molded Camshaft: Top Secret. 0.892″ lift specific grind for methanol Valvetrain: Manley Titanium valves w/five angle seats, 2.223″ intake & 1.60″ exhaust; 903 Crower Extreme roller lifters (offset-bushed), Comp Cams custom 50 mm roller cam bearings Rocker arms: T&D Aluminum, 1.7″ and 1.6″ ratio Cylinder heads: RFD 15-deg aluminum, extreme high flow/high velocity with CNC porting by Curtis Boggs Intake Manifolds: Dry Flow tunnel ram with throttle body, by Self Racing Engines Induction System: Ron’s 4500 Terminator Throttle Body, 1060cfm Oiling System: CVR billet aluminum wet pump Headers/Exhaust: Dan Lemons 1-7/8″ to 1-5/8″ stepped to 4-1/2″ merge collectors. HPC coated Ignition: MSD 7531 Engine Management System: MFI by Ron’s Fuel Injection Fuel System: Ron’s mechanical twin-gear rotor (0-1/2 size (3.5 GPM) Hoses and Fittings: Aeroquip Transmission: Wilson Racing w/REID Case, Coan lightened internals, 1.98 first gear. “Pro” trans-brake (modified) Torque Converter: Coan 8″ bolt-together billet aluminum, 6900 RPM stall speed Shifter: TCI custom two-speed Driveshaft: Denny’s Aluminum (65″) with HS balanced M-W Yoke, 1350 solid U-joints Rearend: 9″ Ford, back-braced Third Member: M-W aluminum with Richmond Gear 4.57 Lightened Pro Gears (REM polished), REM Micro-Blue bearings throughout Axles: M-W 35-spline gun-drilled with lightened flanges Brakes: Strange 4-piston disc (front) Wilwood 4-piston disc (rear) Rear Ratio: 4.57 Wheel Bearings: REM Micro-blue extreme low friction bearings Front Suspension: Strange “short” struts, 8″ QA1 220 lbs/inch springs, custom re-valving by Santhuff Rear Suspension: 4-link, QA1 double-adjustable (re-valved for radial tire). QA1 10″ coil springs 120 lbs/inch, Tim McAmis custom-built anti-roll bar Wheels/Tires: Weld Pro Start II (semi-gloss black) with M/T 27″ ET Fronts (front) and Weld Pro Star II 15×12 (semi-gloss black) with M/T 28-10.5 Pro Bracket Radials (rear) Seats: Kirkey “Big Boy” 17″ aluminum Floors: Aluminum (mainly), steel (partially) Instruments/Gauges: RPM Performance Data Digital Dash Electronics: RPM Performance “Wireless” data logger, RACEWIRE switch panel w/relay module kit Steering Wheel: Joe’s Ultra Light “Although somewhat rotund in build myself,” he says with a laugh, “I am a weight fanatic on the truck. Every conceivable thing is engineered with weight saving in mind, including the truck actually being assembled with 158 aluminum bolts. Every winter is spent finding ounces to remove, and as in the words of the famed Smokey Yunick [of NASCAR fame], ”find 16 places to save an ounce instead of trying to find a pound.”

Chassis: Lewis Fabrication (Leon Lewis), fully custom chrome-moly round tube (8.50 cert)

Engine: 445ci SBC (4.185″ bore x 4″ stroke), Competition Eliminator architecture, built by Brand Racing Engines in Mustang, OK

Engine Block: World Products, Motown II steel

Connecting Rods: Crower Maxi-Light steel

Pistons: Gibtec custom chamber molded

Camshaft: Top Secret. 0.892″ lift specific grind for methanol

Valvetrain: Manley Titanium valves w/five angle seats, 2.223″ intake & 1.60″ exhaust; 903 Crower Extreme roller lifters (offset-bushed), Comp Cams custom 50 mm roller cam bearings

Rocker arms: T&D Aluminum, 1.7″ and 1.6″ ratio

Cylinder heads: RFD 15-deg aluminum, extreme high flow/high velocity with CNC porting by Curtis Boggs

Intake Manifolds: Dry Flow tunnel ram with throttle body, by Self Racing Engines

Induction System: Ron’s 4500 Terminator Throttle Body, 1060cfm

Oiling System: CVR billet aluminum wet pump

Headers/Exhaust: Dan Lemons 1-7/8″ to 1-5/8″ stepped to 4-1/2″ merge collectors. HPC coated

Engine Management System: MFI by Ron’s Fuel Injection

Fuel System: Ron’s mechanical twin-gear rotor (0-1/2 size (3.5 GPM)

Transmission: Wilson Racing w/REID Case, Coan lightened internals, 1.98 first gear. “Pro” trans-brake (modified)

Torque Converter: Coan 8″ bolt-together billet aluminum, 6900 RPM stall speed

Driveshaft: Denny’s Aluminum (65″) with HS balanced M-W Yoke, 1350 solid U-joints

Third Member: M-W aluminum with Richmond Gear 4.57 Lightened Pro Gears (REM polished), REM Micro-Blue bearings throughout

Axles: M-W 35-spline gun-drilled with lightened flanges

Brakes: Strange 4-piston disc (front) Wilwood 4-piston disc (rear)

Wheel Bearings: REM Micro-blue extreme low friction bearings

Front Suspension: Strange “short” struts, 8″ QA1 220 lbs/inch springs, custom re-valving by Santhuff

Rear Suspension: 4-link, QA1 double-adjustable (re-valved for radial tire). QA1 10″ coil springs 120 lbs/inch, Tim McAmis custom-built anti-roll bar

Wheels/Tires: Weld Pro Start II (semi-gloss black) with M/T 27″ ET Fronts (front) and Weld Pro Star II 15×12 (semi-gloss black) with M/T 28-10.5 Pro Bracket Radials (rear)

Seats: Kirkey “Big Boy” 17″ aluminum

Floors: Aluminum (mainly), steel (partially)

Instruments/Gauges: RPM Performance Data Digital Dash

Electronics: RPM Performance “Wireless” data logger, RACEWIRE switch panel w/relay module kit

Steering Wheel: Joe’s Ultra Light

My primary goal achieved — it will run eights (and 5.60s), despite being extremely aerodynamically challenged. It has the aerodynamics of a barn door.”

“Kids and fans just love old trucks, that’s a fact. It’s kind of a car show all of its own when I unload at a new track. There’s always a small crowd of parents and kids to ask questions and take pictures. The greatest thrill is when I tell kids to get in the truck so mom and dad can take their picture …that’s priceless! I have given away thousands of hero cards to adults and kids, which again, the look on their faces is priceless. And I’m still an extremely competitive index racer and do it without any help from electronics…I’m just an old dude that will leave on ‘ya.”

Johns routinely races at Thunder Valley Raceway Park in Noble, Oklahoma (his home track), plus Tulsa Raceway Park, Mid-America Dragstrip, Ardmore Dragway, and Xtreme Raceway Park in Texas. He mainly competes in heads-up index and some Friday night outlaw and grudge racing. “I still win my share of races against the younger crowd using electronics, so I’m kinda proud of that for an old dude,” he says.

The pickup is all steel save for the hood, and is finished in Dodge Neon Green. Johns says the overall shape of these 1947-52 Chevy trucks is what appeals to him about his ride most. “They’re big and round, kinda like the driver!”

He adds in closing, “it’s bright green paint, an old truck…what’s not to love?”

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