It was a young guy from Hollister, Johnny Lomanto, who dominated our area’s roadster races. Many “hot rods” used Ford’s flat-head V-8, but Johnny raced a cut-down pickup with a hopped up GMC Six.
The Lomanto family farmed apricots and prunes, there were four brothers and three sisters. Older brother Tony had a trucking business. Johnny’s first car used a 1931 Chevy roadster body fitted with a pickup bed, later he mounted a 1927 Chevy roadster body to a 1931 chassis. Experience on the farm and with Tony’s trucks introduced the Lomanto boys to the strength of GMC (often referred to as “Gimmy” or “Jimmy”) truck motors, especially the 270 [cubic inch?] units. Mr. Lomanto discouraged his sons from racing and once, when the boys weren’t finishing all their farmwork, he grabbed a sledge hammer and broke a motor to pieces.
Johnny’s first race was at “Devil’s Bowl” in Salinas. Another man was scheduled to drive, but chickened out so Johnny took the wheel and went on to win. Notice the photo that shows John Allemand congratulating Johnny for that first win.
Inspired after attending a race at Devil’s Bowl, the Allemand family built a track on Roop Road, then known as Hot Springs Road, near Coyote Lake. The Gilroy Dispatch used this headline on March 24, 1947 when reporting an the first Allemand race:
“Lomanto Captures Main Event at Local Speedway
Automobile racing fans gathered in large numbers at the Allemand Speedway here to witness a card of racers which included a 10-lap feature with a $300 first prize.
Johnny Lomanto, Hollister speedster, made a show of the race, going out in front during the first lap and holding a neat advantage all the way. Reagan of Salinas finished in the runner-up spot.
LaMata seems to be the class of drivers in this area. A car was sent down from the bay district yesterday to challenge Johnny in a match event, but Johnny left him far behind in a 5-lap set-to”.
Here’s how author Don Radbruch described the situation in Roaring Roadsters II: “Johnny became somewhat of a legend at Allemand when he won ten main events at the track in 1947. Word of his winning ways filtered up to the Oakland area and the Northern California Roadster Racing Association sent a car to Allemand to ‘blow off that guy in the GMC.’ It didn’t work. Lomanto won the main that day for a $300 payoff and then added $50 for soundly trouncing the visitor in a match race”.
It was actually Henry Allemand who put up that money to get the Northern California Roadster Racing Association to send down a challenge racer – a guy with a similar Chevy; nothing brings crowds like some real competition.
Johnny still lives in Hollister with his wife, Babe. She worked for years in Gilroy’s Filice & Pirelli Cannery, and she built a giant-size album of photos, clippings and race programs—from 1946 all the way through her husband’s winning career, in roadsters, motorcycles and go-karts. It takes an entire room to display the trophies and relics from that career.
One of Johnny’s competitors was Elmer George, the father of Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George. About the time of Johnny’s 80th birthday, the Lomantos received a letter from Tony George, inviting them to the Indianapolis track. Though Tony George was travelling outside the country, his secretary guided Johnny and Babe throughout the complex. Other competitors include Paul Kamm & Oscar Betts from Hollister; Gilroy’s Vernon Scofield raced Model Ts and Sam Hanks, a nationally famous racer who won the 1957 Indianapolis 500.
Help Hot Rod History
Please contact Phill Laursen via the Gilroy Museum ((408) 846-0446 or
Gi***********@ci.us
if you know how to contact the family of Rod Eschenburg, he is said to have had a great collection of Allemand photos.
