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• Gainesville Pre race
• Gainesville Post race
• Houston Post race

• Atlanta Pre race
• Atlanta Post race
• Englishtown Pre race

• Joliet Pre race
• Joliet Post race
• Denver Pre race

• Sonoma Post race

MORRISON, CO 7/24/11 - Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson of Irondale, AL is considered by many to be a pretty confident guy, but lately his racing fortunes have had him wondering. But, after a pretty good showing at the NHRA Mile-High Nationals in Denver this weekend, he knows his team is headed in the right direction.

“ We ran well in qualifying,” he said as the team prepared to head to Sonoma, California for the Fram/Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma next weekend. “We ran some strong elapsed times, particularly considering this is a high altitude track, and we qualified in the top half of the field, and that’s where you need to be,” he said. “But, we had a mechanical problem in the first round, and that ended our day early. Even though we lost, we’re encouraged by how well we performed on Friday and Saturday. Now we have to put it together for the whole weekend.

Johnson heads into this coming weekend’s race in Sonoma needing a good result to help get his Suzuki-running team closer to the Top 10 standings. “That’s what this is all about,” Johnson said. “We absolutely have to qualify for the Countdown to 1 playoffs. We’re close, but we’re not quite there, and as frustrating as that is, we have to concentrate on the job at hand, and that’s running hard at theFram/Autolite Nationals.”

Crew chief Tim Kulungian is looking forward to next weekend’s outing too. “That track is just about at sea level, while the one we raced on this weekend is 5,280 feet on the starting line. We ran really well up here, so if we can translate what we did here to sea level, oh man, I can’t wait!”

Johnson added, “Infineon Raceway is in California’s wine country. I’d like nothing better than to share a good bottle of a great vintage with my guys in the winner’s circle in Sonoma. We’re really overdue for a great result, and I think it’s going to come next weekend in California!”

Johnson joined NHRA Top Fuel driver David Grubnic in Montana to film an upcoming segment on driver and rider training. The feature is shot with two specially prepared Pivot Works dirt bikes that David and Steve rode near Yellow Stone National Park and will air on ESPN2 within the next 2 weeks.

NEXT:
NHRA Fram/Autolite Nationals, Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California, July 29-31.
Exclusive television coverage of qualifying and eliminations appears on ESPN2. Check local listings for broadcast times.

JOLIET, IL 7/10/11 - Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson of Irondale, Ala. is, in his own words, “not a happy camper.” After qualifying for the 16-motorcycle field at the NHRA O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals his Suzuki failed him in the first round, and he was unable to reach the starting line against Eddie Krawiec, becoming an automatic first round loser.

“First round loser. Wow. Those are the words you never want to hear,” Johnson said as his team loaded their equipment for a disappointing ride back to Alabama. “That’s only marginally better than hearing ‘Did Not Qualify!’

“Mechanical problems are always a part of racing,” he added, “but that doesn’t make us any happier about the way things worked out this weekend.

“All we can do is get back to our shop, try and figure out where these Gremlins are ‘living,’ and get them the heck out of there,” he said. “My guys, from crew chief Tim Kulungian on down, work so hard that a loss like this is even more devastating.

“Ya know, it’s one thing to just lose a race. You might not like it, but it happens, but when it does you know you did your best, and the other guy was just quicker on that run. But, when things go wrong mechanically, it makes you want to tear your hair out. I won’t do that because mine’s too short to even get a grip on!”

Making the Route 66 outing all the more bittersweet is that Johnson has some important sponsorship news that’s about to break, and he was thinking about making an announcement after a good day at the track. “We’re going to hold off for just a bit on that announcement,” he said. “We’d like positive news to come out of a positive race, and this obviously wasn’t very positive. If things go just right for our team we might have something to say just before, or even during the NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Denver in two weeks.”

Johnson has had a roller coaster season thus far, and knows the pressure’s only going to get higher in the weeks ahead. “We definitely need to step up our act,” he said. “The Countdown to 10, which determines the 10 riders eligible for the NHRA Full Throttle championship, ends at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend. We’ve won that race twice, but we can’t depend on a great finish at the year’s most important race to make the Countdown. We’ve got to be well within the Top 10 going into Indy. Our goal is strong finishes in the three races that include Pro Stock Motorcycle between now and the U.S. Nationals.”

Johnson is a two-time qualifier for the Countdown to 1 championship program and has been competing on the NHRA Full Throttle series for 26 years. He made two final round appearances in 2010, but has yet to reach a finale this season. “That has to change,” he said late this afternoon in Joliet.

NEXT:
NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals, Bandimere Speedway, Morrison (Denver), CO July 22-24
NHRA Fram/Autolite Nationals, Infineon Raceway, Sonoma (San Francisco), CA July 29-31
NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals, Brainerd, MN August 19-21

Exclusive television coverage of qualifying and eliminations from these and every NHRA Full Throttle series event appears on ESPN2

NORWALK, OH 6/28/11 - It's been a frantic few weeks for Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson of Irondale, Ala. - and the pace is only going to get faster in the weeks ahead. "Where am I, exactly?" Johnson jokingly asked as his team finished loading up their equipment at Summit Motorsports Park following last weekend's NHRA Full Throttle series event. They're about to make a mad dash back to team headquarters in Irondale, where they'll go over every inch of their Suzuki, then head right back into America's heartland for the O'Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill. on the weekend of July 8-10. Then they'll have another week off before heading to the NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison (Denver), Colo., and then it's off to the West Coast for the Fram Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. just outside of San Francisco on the following weekend.

Putting it rather mildly, Johnson says, "If you don't like traveling, and you can't stand the pressure of dealing with racing all over the place almost every weekend, you just can't even think about becoming a Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racer. What we do is all about pressure, and dealing with it. The men and women who do the best job of it usually come out ahead." Like every racer, Johnson and his team, headed by crew chief Tim Kulungian, would like their season to be like a nice restful plateau, but life doesn't work that way. Instead of a smooth "ride" it's an up-and-down-merry-go-'round that's enough to have you tearing your hair out. One run the bike's cranking out six second elapsed times at faster than 193 miles per hour, and on the next it's slower than a golf cart. "That's the most frustrating aspect of this endeavor," says Kulungian. "Consistency wins races, and right now we're just not as consistent as we'd like to be. Steve is doing an excellent job driving our Suzuki, so it's up to the rest of us to make sure when he swings his leg over the bike that it's as quick and fast as we can possibly make it."

Johnson has been winning rounds - but not enough of them to make him happy. "We made it to the second round this weekend," he says. "But on that run our Suzuki just didn't get off the starting line as it should have, and we lost. We have to overcome that and a few other glitches before we get to Joliet in a couple of weeks. "That's the goal, and we're going to bust our butts to get the consistency we need."

NEXT:
NHRA O'Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals, Joliet, IL July 8-10
NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals, Morrison (Denver), CO, July 22-24
NHRA Fram/Autolite Nationals, Sonoma, CA July 29-31

Atlanta Post Race
 

COMMERCE, GA 5/15/11 - Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racing veteran Steve Johnson of Irondale, Ala. had high hopes for the National Hot Rod Association’s Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway this weekend. “This was a really important race for us,” he said after a disappointing first round loss. “It was not only important for our position in the Full Throttle points standings, but even more so because we were representing the American Red Cross in their fund raising efforts to help victims of the recent tornados in the Deep South. Many of our friends and neighbors in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia have lost their homes and virtually everything they had. I hope our efforts kept the publicity rolling for this very important fund-raising effort.”

Johnson is drag racing’s most experienced competitor on two wheels, today making his 301st NHRA national event start. “I’dbe less than honest if I didn’t admit to being proud of that record,” Johnson said, “but when you get right down to it, we lost in the first round today, and that hurts. Obviously, we’d hoped to do better.”

Johnson’s American Red Cross-themed Suzuki struggled in qualifying, with crew chief Tim Kulungian making radical changes to the tune-up in an effort to make the motorcycle quicker. “We ran a pretty decent 7.091 second elapsed time on Friday afternoon,” Kulungian said, “but we knew we could run harder. The ironic part of it is that we did run quicker, but even though the elapsed times and speeds looked okay, we needed more.”

Johnson faced Hector Arana, Jr. in the first round, and after having capped off qualifying with a best effort of 6.983 seconds, the last thing he and the team expected was to have their Suzuki slow to a seven second flat elapsed time on that all-important run. Arana won with a superior 6.973 second run. “The most frustrating aspect of it,” Johnson said, “was that we didn’t do anything radical for that first round. We were fairly conservative, and maybe we should have gone the other way, and been a lot more aggressive.

“Yeah, I know. It’s like being a Monday Morning Quarterback, when you can see the whole field, including the guy who was wide open for a touchdown, that you missed when it really counted. We can’t go back, we can only go forward, and do our best in our next outing in New Jersey on the first weekend of June.”

In addition to Johnson’s Suzuki carrying the American Red Cross colors into the battle, he also participated in a Saturday afternoon autograph session on behalf of the organization, and also helped collect additional donations during Sunday morning’s Track Walk that included race fans and other drivers.

“We managed to collect some significant donations on behalf of the tornado victims, but the need is still great” Johnson said. “When all is said and done, that was really more important than what we did on the track. Winning would have been great, but we’ll sleep well tonight, knowing that we’ve at least done a little something to help our friends and neighbors.”

Just because the Southern Nationals is over doesn’t mean that the need for tornado assistance has. Donations can be made to the American Red Cross by calling 1-800-RED CROSS, or online at http//eastgeorgia.redcross.org./ A $10 donation may also be made by texting the phrase, “REDCROSS”to 90999.

NEXT: NHRA Supernationals, Englishtown, NJ, June 2-5

BIRMINGHAM, Al 5/10/11 - Jeff Taylor, executive director of the East Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross, announced today that National Hot Rod Association Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson of Irondale, Alabama will represent the organization during the running of the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce this coming weekend. Johnson, drag racing motorcycle racing’s most experienced competitor, will be making his 301st start in Atlanta. A two-time winner of the prestigious NHRA U.S. Nationals, Johnson is currently in 10th place in the Full Throttle Series standings.

Johnson’s Suzuki will be decked out in official American Red Cross colors and logos for the weekend, and his team will be wearing coordinated Red Cross-themed uniforms. “We’re pulling out all the stops for this effort,” said Johnson. “This is not only important to every member of our team, it’s important for the people of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and the rest of the Deep South. Our neighbors really need our help right now, and we know our friends and fans in NHRA Drag Racing are incredibly generous. We’re doing everything in red and white this weekend so everyone will remember what our neighbors have gone through, and will dig deep to help them.”

“We’re excited about Steve representing us,” said Mr. Taylor. “He’s the kind of high profile competitor that will help get our message out there that we’re still collecting funds to help the people who have lost their homes in the recent tornados that swept through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and much of the rest of the South. We’re supported 100 percent by donations, and this effort on behalf of the American Red Cross by Steve Johnson is much appreciated. It will go along way towards keeping this important issue in front of the public.”

“This is all about our friends and neighbors,” added Johnson. “We were personally very lucky in that the storms missed us, but the devastation is all around us, and we know people are hurting. We’re hoping that drag racing’s generous fans will help us reach our goal of$10,000 for the weekend.”

Johnson will have a special collection point in his pit area. Additionally, the East George Chapter of the American Red Cross will have a booth set up in the Manufacturer’s Midway. Working with Steve Johnson on this effort is NHRA Pro Stock car driver Allen Johnson (no relation) of Greenville, Tennessee, who has also seen the devastation wrought by the tornados first hand. “We had some serious damage here in Tennessee,” said Allen, “along with a number of people who were seriously injured. The death toll was surprising, but we were luckier than the folks in Alabama and Mississippi. It was really bad down there.”

On Saturday afternoon there will be a formal autograph session at the American Red Cross booth after the second qualifying session at approximately 3:30PM. On Sunday morning there will be a Track Walk with legendary 6-timeNHRA Pro Stock champion Warren Johnson (no relation – again!) where the American Red Cross will again have a major presence. Steve Johnson will also participate in the Track Walk.

“We’re pleased to help the American Red Cross and Steve with these efforts,” said NHRA president Tom Compton. “We know a lot of our competitors are a lot more than racers, and Steve is an excellent example of someone giving back to his community.”

If you are unable to attend the NHRA Southern Nationals in person, donations can be made the American Red Cross by calling 1-800-RED CROSS, or online at http://eastgeorgia.redcross.org/. A $10 donation may also be made by texting the phrase “REDCROSS” to90999.

Baytown, TX 5/2/11 - National Hot Rod Association Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson of Irondale, Alabama rode his Suzuki to a quarter final round finish at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park yesterday.  More importantly for Johnson, by moving into the second round of competition he picked up enough Full Throttle Series points to move into the Top 10 standings.

        The event was a landmark for both Johnson and the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, as he became the first two-wheeled competitor to appear in 300 NHRA national events.  This is Johnson’s 25^th season in the class.

        “If you would have told me in the beginning that I’d still be competing 300 races later, I would have told you you were nuts.  I hate to say it, but I guess we know who’s nuts now, don’t we?

        “We know there’s a long way to go in the season,” Johnson added.  “The critical thing is to keep scoring points, enough so that when the Countdown to 10 ends at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend, we’re in that Top 10.  Only the Top 10 points earners qualify for the Countdown to 1, our playoffs, and that’s where we need to be if we have any hopes of winning the championship.”

        Johnson qualified for the 2010 Countdown to 1 playoffs, ultimately finishing in sixth place.

        Qualifying at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals was a struggle for Johnson’s team.  “We made a pretty good run in the first session on Friday afternoon,” Johnson related, “and we were still outside of the field.  We ran even quicker Friday evening – and dropped even further down the list.  Man that was depressing.

        “But, on Saturday Tim Kulungian and Rick Elmore really got it together, and we made two solid runs in the seven-ohs (7.041 seconds and 7.076 seconds, to be precise), and that got us into the field.”

        “Into the field,” yes, but in the last possible position, Number 16.  That meant Johnson would face Number 1 qualifier and current NHRA champion L.E. Tonglet in the first round.  “We knew L.E. had the quicker motorcycle,” Johnson said, “but we weren’t about to give up without a fight.”

        Johnson scored his quickest elapsed time of the weekend against Tonglet, a 6.953 second effort, which was coupled to a very good Reaction Time of 0.025 seconds – and none of it was needed, as Tonglet red-lighted (left the starting line too soon) for an automatic disqualification.  In the second round Johnson had an even better Reaction Time of 0.019 seconds against Eddie Krawiec, but the latter’s elapsed time of 6.971 seconds eclipsed Johnson’s 7.020.

        “We’re naturally disappointed we didn’t do a little better,” Johnson said, “but overall, moving into the Top 10 in the standings was extremely important for our team.  It demonstrates that, even without the major backing some of the teams have, we can be competitive.  We’ll just keep on digging and give it our best shot in Atlanta in two weeks.

        “Despite working 15-hour days on our racing operation, we know there are a lot more important things going on around us.  The recent tornados that have been so devastating to our friends and neighbors in Alabama have really hit home.  We’re grateful that all of that devastation left our shop completely untouched, but that’s obviously not the case with our friends.  We’re doing what we can to help, and sincerely appreciate all of the calls and e-mails we’ve received asking about our situation.  We want to assure our fans and friends that we’re okay, but our friends and neighbors need your help.  If you can, please make a donation through the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army.  Both organizations have specific funds set up for Tornado Relief.”

NEXT:  NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals, Atlanta Dragway, Commerce, GA May 13-15

IRONDALE, AL 3/15/11- Can you remember getting you first computer? Getting it home, tearing into the box, getting it out and setting it on the desk and plugging in the charger? Now turning it on and getting ready to surf the net. But then something is wrong and there are no 14year old kids around to direct you. So now what; you dive in head first to try to make it work.

Well last weekend was when Steve Johnson was ready to start the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle series in Gainesville Florida at the GatorNationals. However the teams’ crew chief was not going to be making the trip to Florida due to a sick daughter at home.

“The guys had a great plan,” said Johnson. “With all the technology today the team was going to email the racing files back and forth to Tim and get a tune up for each round of qualifying. The guys would work on the regular between round maintenance and then get the final tune up information to help us go faster. It really sounded as easy as turning on a computer and surfing the internet.”

After two qualifying attempts on Friday the team was 26th of 27 bikes and really felt like they were behind the 8 ball. Some of the biggest problems were not having a crew chief at the races and a half of bar of cell service to email files.

“I can tell you I have had some pretty stressful days in racing,” said Johnson, “but this one really stinks. We had guests from Cengage Learning and White Rodgers there on Saturday for qualifying attempts three and four. We really wanted them to see us do lay down a career best time in the record setting weather. But after a miserable Friday we would just settle for making a great pass so we could race on Sunday. Thank God we did.”

In fact the team made two great runs on Saturday: a 6.95 and 6.94, both at over a 190mph and good enough for the 14th spot in Sunday’s race. However that is where the weekend ended as the team lost to Andrew Hines in the first round.

“We really need to test,” said Johnson. “That’s was our plan even though things are kind of tight right now, we just need to walk softly. We’ve got six weeks to refine our plan and get everyone healthy. In a perfect world we might even plan some kind of test session before Houston. The competition is going to be brutal and I know their budgets will be used anyway possible to get the most out of their team. This is our 25th year racing so making some educated decisions should be right thing to do. It’s just not always about money and this year I aim to prove it.”