Sherwood Johnston (29 September 1927 - 9 November 2000) was an American racing driver who won racing titles on land and sea. Johnston was active in sports car racing during the 1950s. His greatest success was winning the 1952 SCCA National Sports Car Championship.
Career
Johnston began his career in April 1951, at the Thompson Speedway, in a minor national sports car race in the United States, in a privately entered Jaguar XK120, with a trip to the podium, after finishing in third place. When the SCCA National returned to Thompson in the July, Johnston would pilot the XK120 to two race victories and a third. For the following season, Johnston stepped up to race in the SCCA National full-time. Despite not winning any races outright, he still obtained sufficient points to be crowned champion at the end of the 1952.
As a result of Johnston's success, he came into contact with Briggs Cunningham, and signed for his racing team. Since the contract with Cunningham came into force in the summer, he raced a Jaguar D-Type of Art Feuerbacher, together with Bob Wilder to third place overall in the 12 Hours of Sebring. This was the first World Sports Car Championship race of motorsport history. His first trip to Le Mans saw Johnston entered in three of Cunningham's car, but did not participate in the race. Three weeks later, he had his first European success, when he partnered Briggs Cunningham to third overall in the 12 Hours of Reims, a race that didn't count towards the World Championship.
When Cunningham returned to Le Mans in 1954, Johnston was still part of the driver squad. This time he was partnered by Bill Spear, and together they finished in third place and won their class. He also undertook a number of SCCA National races for Cunningham, in various sports cars, across many classes. He scored enough points to finish second in the B Modified class.
For 1955 visit to Circuit de la Sarthe, Cunningham paired himself with Johnston, but a piston failure ensured the pair did not finish. When the team returned to the US, Johnston started racing the first of Cunningham's Jaguar D-Types, they began winning immediately. Johnston, who had started the SCCA season driving a Ferrari 375 MM, finished the year as champion of SCCA's new C/Sports Racing class, beating a young Californian, Phil Hill in the process.
On 20 May 1956, Johnston's world changed. He was part of the Cunningham team that raced at the Cumberland circuit, in their D-Types. They were joined by amateur driver Walt Hansgen. At the start of the race, Hansgen raced away and left the field behind to win, but Johnston failed to finish the race. A fortnight later, Hansgen would also be a member of the Cunningham team. At Road America, both Johnston and Hansgen rolled their D-Types. After the disaster of the 1955 Le Mans and the accident at Road America proved too much for Johnston to ignore and he retired after finishing third in a SCCA National race at Beverly Airport.
In the summer of 1969, Johnston returned to racing. He had obtained a Lola-Chevrolet T142 to race the SCCA Continental Championship for Formula 5000 cars. His best finish was 9th in the Le Circuit Continental, held at the Circuit Mont-Tremblant. For 1970, Johnston was signed by J & B Racing to race their Surtees-Ford TS5. After failing to finish any of the first four races, he announced at the Monterey Grand Prix, that he was to stop racing as his eyes wouldn’t focus quickly enough between the road and the gauges.
Achievements
In 1955 Johnston received two awards from the SCCA. He was presented with the President's Cup for demonstrating ability, competitiveness and success in the SCCA National Championship. He was also awarded the Kimberly Cup, as the driver who had shown the greatest improvement in the past year.http://www.scca.com/clubracing/comtent.cfm?cid=44475
Racing record
Career highlights
Season Series Position Team Car 1952 SCCA National Sports Car Championship http://www.driversdb.com/drivers/sherwood-johnston 1st Jaguar XK120 Burke Mount Hillclimb 2nd Jaguar XK120 Seneca Cup 3rd Garret Fuller Lagonda Chrysler Special 1953 Grand Prix, 12 Hours of Sebring 3rd A. H. Feverbacher Jaguar C-Type 12 Hours of Reims 3rd Briggs Cunningham Cunningham C-4R 1954 SCCA National Sports Car Championship – B Modified http://www.driversdb.com/drivers/sherwood-johnston 2nd Briggs Cunningham Cunningham C-4ROsca MT4Kurtis Kraft 500S Les 24 Heures du Mans 3rd Briggs Cunningham Cunningham C-4R International Sports Car Grand Prix of Watkins Glen 3rd Briggs Cunningham Cunningham C-4R 1955 SCCA National Sports Car Championship – C Modified http://www.driversdb.com/drivers/sherwood-johnston 1st Briggs Cunningham Ferrari 375 MMJaguar D-Type Eagle Mountain Hillclimb 1st Ferrari 375 MM International Sports Car Grand Prix of Watkins Glen 1st Briggs Cunningham Jaguar D-Type The Florida International Twelve Hour Grand Prix of Endurance 3rd William C. Spear Maserati 300S Governor's Trophy 3rd Briggs Cunningham Jaguar D-Type 1956 Torrey Pines 6 Hours 1st Jerry Austin Jaguar D-Type 1969 SCCA Continental Championship https://www.driversdb.com/drivers/sherwood-johnston 23rd Lola-Chevrolet T142
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1954 Briggs Cunningham Bill Spear Cunningham C-4R S8.0 283 3rd 1st 1955 Briggs Cunningham Bill Spear Cunningham C-4R S8.0 196DNF(Engine)
Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1953 A. H. Feverbacher Bob Wilder Jaguar C-Type S5.0 162 3rd 1st 1954 B. S. Cunningham Co. Briggs Cunningham Cunningham C-4R S8.0 104DNF(Engine) 1955 William C. Spear William C. Spear Maserati 300S S3.0 180 3rd 2nd 1956 Jaguar of New York Distributions Inc. William C. Spear Jaguar D-Type S5.0 127DNF(Valve)
Complete 12 Hours of Reims results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1954 Briggs Cunningham Briggs Cunningham Cunningham C-4R 2125th
References