Johnson’s Mere Return To Cockpit Proves Wishes Do Come True

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Most, if not all, NHRA racers get a little extra revved up for the season-opening Winternationals at Pomona, Calif. Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr. was turbocharged.

“I woke up at five o’clock this morning,” he said on the opening day of the 2014 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season before qualifying. “I was ready to run this race when we pulled out of the gates last November. I’m ready to go.”

That’s what happens to a race-car driver when his successful career as a tour regular is interrupted and he takes the odd opportunity to remain as close as possible to the action – the action that he used to generate. That’s how he reacts to having a fresh chance to feel that rush, to feel again that sensation of going the length of four football fields in less than four seconds, but most of all to feel once more that security of belonging.

MG_6433Until last fall, when businesswoman/philanthropist Terry Chandler chose Johnson as heir to her retiring brother Johnny Gray’s Funny Car seat, Johnson was a bit of a disconnected soul. He had an impressive resume: 10 NHRA victories and distinction as one of only 15 in NHRA history to have won events in both Top Fuel and Funny Car and one of just 18 ever to have led the qualified fields in both nitro classes. With experience on the FIA European circuit, in the Yas Marina program in Abu Dhabi, and with Australia’s ANDRA sanctioning body, Johnson had won races in six different countries. But he didn’t have a steady driving gig.

It’s not like Johnson, who’ll be 46 in April, was forgotten. His skills outside the race car were in high demand. He was impresario of inventory, track-prep appraiser, and occasional test driver at DSR. He was a pit reporter for ESPN2 and co-hosted a TV program for the Velocity Channel. Last year he started a racing supply business, trading on his extensive global network of motorsports acquaintances. But he didn’t have what he wanted most: a full-time racing job.

DSC_4072He does now, driving the Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger in a unique sponsorship arrangement. And his family is at Don Schumacher Racing, where he first had landed after Kenny Bernstein parked the Monster Energy Dodge in late 2008 – and where the employees were cheering for him to get the nod from the pool of about 50 applicants.

“It’s not going to be the corporate side of things, like I did in the past,” Johnson – who drove for corporate-powered legends Joe Gibbs, Don Prudhomme, and Kenny Bernstein — said. “I think it’s fitting for the opportunity I’m getting. It’s not like I brought money or a sponsor to a team.”

Since its beginning in 1980, the Make-A-Wish foundation has granted more than 240,000 fantasies for children with life-threatening medical conditions — about one wish every 38 minutes, thanks to generous donors and more than 25,000 volunteers. Make-A-Wish contributes no money to the sponsorship. That is a 100-percent gift from Chandler’s pocket — giving the charitable organization added exposure and giving Johnson another chance to drag race.

“The car is going to raise awareness and help people who aren’t as fortunate, who have struggles. I can relate pretty good to what they’re going through, probably not to the degree they’re going through. But I understand what it is when people aren’t as fortunate or it’s just an uphill battle for somebody,” he said.

Johnson said he had some discouraging days and more than his share of frustration, although he had a short but productive stint with the Rapisarda Autosport International Top Fuel team for four races. Of the motorsports business model, he said, “I understand how it all works. But at the same time, you try to do all the right things but sometimes no matter if you do do all the right things it doesn’t work.”

It’s all working right now.

“I think it’ll be a fun time to put a smile on somebody’s face, because this has definitely put a smile on my face,” he said, looking toward the Feb. 21-23 race at Phoenix that’s No. 2 among the schedule’s 24 this year. “Paying it forward is a good way to put it.”

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When he worked in the background at DSR, he paid it forward. “I did a lot of things along the way that maybe Don didn’t ask me to do but I felt like needed to be done for the betterment of the team,” Johnson said. He said that certainly didn’t hurt but said Schumacher told him at the outset of that relationship, “Come to work for me. We’ll work on a deal and get you in the car.”

Said Johnson, “Maybe it didn’t happen as fast as we wanted it to, but it eventually happened, and I’ve got to thank him for the opportunity along with Terry Chandler, Johnny’s sister. She had a lot of say in who got to drive. Got to know her over the last few years, working at DSR when Johnny was driving the car. Just a great lady. Just can’t thank them enough, both of them, for giving me the opportunity.”

This self-described “veteran rookie” said he hasn’t forgotten the nuances of a Funny Car or the technique for driving it.

“It’s something I’ve always prided myself on, having a really good feel for the race car and what the car is doing, driving by the seat of your pants as far as feel and sound of the engine and the car,” he said. “Even in testing, the very first run I made in the car, I said, ‘It did this. It did that. It moved here. I felt this.’

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“So that is a little bit of what I think I can bring. I feel like that will help along the way,” Johnson said. “I can’t even count how many runs I’ve made in a nitro car over the years. I think once you gain that experience and get that feel for the car, that is something you don’t ever lose.”

He said, “Driving a car is relatively the same. I’ve managed to be able to stay in cars off and on throughout those five years. It’s not like I got out of the car and haven’t been in one since, so that’s helped me a lot.”

For Johnson, this season would require a minimal amount of adjustment: “Just to keep up to speed and the technology and some of the different things that evolve over the years in driving the cars. Different things change and little different techniques, so that I’m OK with. But it’s just getting back into the grind of the tour and all the appearance commitments, and then when it’s time to get in the car and concentrate.

I think it’ll be a fun time to put a smile on somebody’s face, because this has definitely put a smile on my face. Paying it forward is a good way to put it.

“That is one of the harder things for a driver, I believe, is keeping that focus. Your job is to drive the race car and do a great job and win races, but there is a lot that goes into that as far as appearances and other things,” he said. The key, he said, is “keeping the focus and getting back there that when the engine starts you’re 100-percent focused on doing the best job you can. So I think a couple races, we’ll be back in the swing of it. It came back pretty quick in testing. As soon as they dropped the body, I felt like they dropped the body in the ’09 season after the ’08 full year. So it came back naturally.”

He said this new chance to drive is no more pressure-filled than any other of his 327 events since 1989 have been.

“I think you put pressure on yourself no matter what situation you’re in,” Johnson said. He indicated he rather likes the notion that “you have the car that is capable of winning races and not only winning races, [but] they’ve won championships here in the past few years. So [you can] go out there and have that shot at a competitive car and have a shot at a championship.”

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Staying in shape played a role, he said, in being able to return to the cockpit with little fuss.

“That was one of the things that showed commitment to how bad I wanted to do this over the years,” Johnson said. “I hadn’t been out there on the tour. But you could have easily let yourself go and put on some pounds. But I kept focus on that I wanted to do this, and the opportunity may come tomorrow. You don’t know when that opportunity is coming. I kept myself in shape, and didn’t gain weight. I’m basically the same way I was when I got out of Bernstein’s car.”

He said he combines exercise with a healthy diet: “I ride bicycles in the summertime, and I’ve hit the treadmill this winter and been on the treadmill quite a bit. Basically it’s something you do in your life. It’s not something I do to drive the race car. It’s just I want to keep myself in shape and do some things. To do that, more than anything, I watch my diet. I really I try to eat well. I try to keep a good diet and a little exercise along the way. Hopefully some of the genetics are there.”

Johnson credited simply “the desire to be in the car. That’s how bad I wanted to do it. I always made sure if the call came, I was ready to go.”

That means even at five o’clock in the morning.

 

About the author

Susan Wade

Celebrating her 45th year in sports journalism, Susan Wade has emerged as one of the leading drag-racing writers with 20 seasons at the racetrack. She was the first non-NASCAR recipient of the prestigious Russ Catlin Award and has covered the sport for the Chicago Tribune, Newark Star-Ledger, St. Petersburg Times, and Seattle Times. Growing up in Indianapolis, motorsports is part of her DNA. She contributes to Power Automedia as a freelancer writer.
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