As Tommy Hinnershitz dominated the “Golden Age” of Eastern AAA big-car competition for nearly two decades, Hank Rogers was among a handful of drivers who would challenge Hinnershitz for superiority, if only for a short time.
From 1939-1955, Hinnershitz was dominant in the class, earning 6,205 points, but Rogers, who was born Hank Rakowski in Trenton, N.J., in 1917, was second during that span with 3,313.2 points. He was a consistent top-five finisher over most of his career in big cars, winning 33 Outlaw, AAA, USAC and URC feature victories to his credit.
Williams Grove Speedway opened on May 21, 1939, with Hinnershitz winning the inaugural event. But Rogers, who finished seventh in the debut, would race there for 25 years, longer than anyone else during the non-winged era.
With World War II looming, Rogers stayed with AAA when promoter Ralph Hankinson, who controlled Eastern AAA fair circuit races, split from the group. Rogers finished second in points behind rising star Bill Holland, taking three victories with 11 other top-seven finishes.
The next year, AAA was out of racing and the U.S. government put a moratorium on auto racing in July. Racing resumed after the war in 1945, but without AAA sanctioning, which would return in 1946.
During the war years, Rogers started a family, marrying Elaine Farcher in 1941. The couple’s daughter, Elaine, was born in 1942, followed by Hank, Jr. in 1945 and Fred in 1955.
Hank returned to AAA in 1946, and drove the black No. 16 Hal owned by Johnny Matera before landing a ride in the Dutch Culp Offy. He also subbed for Joie Chitwood in the Ted Nyquist/ex-Fred Peters Offy, winning a 30-lap feature at Charlotte, N.C., on Oct. 26.
After driving the black No. 36 Hank Goranson/John Fetzer-fielded Offy in 1947, Rogers became a car owner, assembling a rail-frame Dreyer using a chassis purchased from racer Vic Naumann and an engine from Light. The Goranson-Fetzer Offy received a new lower tail for 1948. The renamed “Black Jewel Offy” carried the No. 4 earned by Rogers.
In the 1950s, big cars had come to be known as sprint cars, and Rogers competed in fields made stronger by Indianapolis 500 drivers concentrating their non-Indy efforts in the region.
Rogers’s shot at Indy came briefly in 1952 when Slick Airways of Texas entered the Blue Crown Lou Moore cars — one for Tony Bettenhausen and the other open. Rogers tried out for the car, Spider Webb got the ride. However, Webb failed to qualify.
When AAA went out of business in 1955, the USAC was created to take its place. Rogers raced in USAC for two-plus seasons before moving to the United Racing Club, winning the last nine features of 1958.
Rogers retired for good in 1968. Two years later, Hank Rogers, Jr. made his debut in a URC race at Middletown, N.Y. Rogers, Sr. died on Nov. 1, 1989.