Click here for 2006 press releases

• Gainesville Post race
• Houston Pre race
• Houston Post race
• Atlanta Pre race
• Atlanta Post race
• St. Louis Pre race
• St. Louis Post race

• Chicago Pre race
• Chicago Post race
• Englishtown Pre race
• Norwalk Pre race
• Norwalk Post race
• Denver Pre race
• Sonoma Pre race
• Sonoma Post race

• Brainerd Pre race
• Brainerd Post race
• Reading Pre race
• Reading Post race
• Indianapolis Pre race
• Indianapolis Post race
• Memphis Pre race

• Memphis Post race 1
• Memphis Post race 2
• Dallas Pre race
• Dallas Post race
• Las Vegas Pre race
• Las Vegas Post race
• Pomona Post race

Earlier in the week Johnson and his motorcycle appeared in the Permatex booth at the APAA Show in Las Vegas. Johnson also spent some time at the companion SEMA Show at the Los Vegas Convention Center visiting with industry people. “I always find those gatherings interesting and informative,” he said. “I’m always surprised by how many people know about our racing, which is kind of cool. At the APAA Show we were able to demonstrate our Reaction Time tester for hundreds of executives. It’s a kick to get those people to throw a leg over our Suzuki race bike and try to sit low down like they would if they were racing. Just sitting on the motorcycle properly is a lot harder than they expect.”

For the first time Johnson was asked by the U.S. Army to participate in their new format Youth and Education Services program for the students of Southern California. “That was a great honor to be on that panel with POWERade Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher. All of the Army-sponsored drivers participated in that, and it was lots of fun.” Johnson also visited Upland High School in Upland, Calif. with the folks from WyoTech Technical Schools. “This was the first time we’ve done a WyoTech program with corporate executives from the company, and I think they had a great time. Those programs are always fun for me, and I’m proud to represent them in ‘Changing Students Lives.’ “I feel the same way about my relationship with Snap-on Tools.

A lot of race fans think that sponsorship simply means a company pays you money to run their name on your race bike, but there is so much more to it than that. When Snap-on franchisees and customers can see their product being used in the racing situation it goes a long way towards demonstrating the real worth of those tools. I don’t care how much money someone might pay me, I’m just not going to endorse their product if it doesn’t get the job done, and Snap-on Tools definitely do that for us and dozens of other racers out here. “Now, with all of that said I’ve got to admit I’m incredibly frustrated by how tough our sport really is.

In the first round of eliminations I had a 0.010 Reaction Time, which is about as good as you can get, and we still lost. There was a time when the first round was kind of a warm-up for the later rounds of eliminations, but no longer. You’ve got to bring your "A" game right from the outset or you’re not going to win.” Johnson’s new powerplant performed well, recording a best elapsed time of 7.022 seconds during qualifying, and then notching a fairly good 7.052 in the first round –but Karen Stoffer’s 7.019 was better, and she won. “I’m not totally disappointed,” Johnson added. “We ran well here, and we’ve got plans in the works to improve our performances for next season. “For us there will be no ‘off season.’ We’re going to get after it hard between now and our first race, which is next March. “Ball players always say "Wait ‘til next year". Well, we’re not waiting. We’re going to be testing and working on new concepts beginning in the next few weeks. I’m looking forward to it.”

Results:

Qualifying:

Session #1: 7.118/176.21 #12 (7.158 Bump)
Session #2: 7.049/188.89 #12 (7.102 Bump)
Session #3: 7.022/190.14 #10 (7.097 Bump)
Session #4: 7.149/188.04 #10 (7.097 Bump

Eliminations:

Round #1 0.010 R.T. 7.052/189.26 lost to Karen Stoffer 0.034 R.T. 7.019/189.47

“I’ll admit that I’m disappointed in myself for our results in the last two races. We’re better than that, darn it, and you’re going to see that next weekend. I rarely make predictions, and I’m not really making one now, but I know one thing: We are going to make our sponsors and fans proud of us at the Finals.” Johnson may have been disappointed in his own performance, but his growing legion of supporters from WyoTech Technical Schools had another fun visit in what he’s come to call “The WyoTech Experience” in his hospitality area. The new student enrollees and their parents may have groaned in dismay at Johnson’s first round results, but they were waiting for him back in his pit area to let him know how much they appreciated his efforts. “I’ve got to admit that seeing those people when we got back brightened my day,” he said. “It’s pretty hard to be down when you’ve got dozens of people offering you encouragement like that. “I get the same kind of support from the Snap-on Tools people, and I sometimes wonder if they realize how important that is to our team. They just don’t let you get down -- ever. Everyone out here races for a lot of different reasons, but for me, a lot of it is the support we get from our sponsors and fans. It really means a lot. “I just hope I can give them something to really cheer about in California next weekend.”

Results:

Qualifying:

Session #1: 7.222/181.38 #11 (7.392 Bump)
Session #2: 7.218/183.29 #14 (7.277 Bump)
Session #3: 7.171/185.56 #14 (7.235 Bump)
Session #4: 7.201/183.84 #14 (7.235 Bump)

Eliminations:

Round #1: -0.033 R.T. 7.131/186.56 lost to Matt Smith 0.189 R.T. 7.068/186.51

Next: NHRA Auto Club Finals, Auto Club Raceway, Pomona, California November 4-7

Johnson is currently listed in the NHRA POWERade Top 10 standings, and knows that strong performances in the AC Delco Nationals this coming weekend and then again at the Auto Club Finals in Pomona, Calif. a week later will result in his 15th Top 10 finish in 21 seasons. “I think one of the most fascinating aspects of these final two races is how different they are for me personally. Las Vegas just has to be the ultimate party town. There’s just so much to do away from the track that’s it’s kind of overwhelming. When the races end the place empties out faster than any other track I’ve ever been to because everyone has things to do and places to go. “I grew up in Southern California, so I know there’s plenty to do out there, too. But, for me any race at Pomona is like coming home. Even though I live in Alabama now – and I love it here – I have lots of friends and family in Southern California, so it’s important to me to do my very best. “There are a few races in every season that somehow seem to rise above the rest in importance. For our team those races include the Gatornationals in Florida in March, the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Labor Day, and the Auto Club Finals at Pomona. It’s where everyone’s season comes to an end. And, it’s where you set the tone for the next season.

“We’ve had what I guess you could call a very ‘interesting’ year,” he said. “We’ve had great weekends, and we’ve had a few that I’d rather forget, but no matter what the outcome, our goal remains the same – winning rounds, winning races and finishing the season in the POWERade Top 10 standings. “What keeps this team focused is that we’re all dedicated to the same goals, and that goes for everyone from our crew chief, Mark Peiser, to our technician/engineers, Tim Kulungian and Richie Wiley, and our support staff in the office. Everyone hates clichés, and I’m certainly one of those guys, but it really does take a team to win races. I’m just fortunate to have a great one.”

Johnson is excited about the fact that his Helmet Cam for the ESPN2 race telecasts will be backed by Permatex. He’ll also appear, with his motorcycle and a Reaction Time tester, in the Permatex booth at the APAA Show in Las Vegas on October 31st through November 2nd at the Sands Expo Convention Center. “I love doing those kinds of shows,” he said. “We get the chance to meet new people and give them an introduction to drag racing, and that’s important to me. It’s the same kind of excitement I feel when we host WyoTech Technical School student enrollees and Snap-on Tools dealers and reps in our hospitality area in the pits at the NHRA races. For a lot of those students, and their parents, it’s their first introduction to the sport, so we try to make it as much fun as possible. It’s the same with the Snap-on Tools folks. It makes a very strong impression on them when they see their tools actually being used in the competitive arena, and that’s meaningful.”

Johnson has a very simple goal for the year’s final outings on the POWERade Series circuit – win! Catch all of the action from both the AC Delco Nationals and the Auto Club Nationals on ESPN2 in High Definition. Here’s the complete broadcast schedule, with all times Eastern:

AC Delco Nationals:

10/27 Qualifying – 10:00 PM – 12:00 AM
10/28 Eliminations – 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
10/31 Repeat Eliminations – 2:30 AM – 4:30 AM

Auto Club Nationals:

11/03 Qualifying – 10:00 PM – 12:00 AM
11/04 Eliminations – 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
11/09 Repeat Eliminations – 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

After last weekend’s outing in Memphis, where Johnson made it to the final round, losing his best engine in the process, he was still at least somewhat encouraged by this weekend’s race in Texas. “Our crew chief, Mark Peiser, and the guys picked out what we believed to be the best of our remaining engines, and it actually started coming around in qualifying. Our elapsed times improved from the second to the third qualifying session, and improved again in the fourth, but it didn’t seem to matter because we were 13th after all four sessions,” Johnson said. “Even though I redlighted in the first round that elapsed time was another improvement, but it’s tough knowing that this wasn’t our best engine. I hate racing like that. “We’ve got two more races this season, and that means two more opportunities to move from ‘potential’ to becoming winners. If I didn’t think we can do it we wouldn’t be racing. “I’m a very lucky guy in that every member of our Snap-on Tools team is dedicated to improving our performances every time we go to the starting line, so we’re always on the same page. The goal continues to be winning races, and that’s what we’ll strive to do in those next two races.”

Johnson once again hosted a group of WyoTech Technical School enrollees and their parents in his pit-side hospitality area. “Visiting with those new students is something I always look forward to because they have such a high level of enthusiasm, and it rubs off on everyone on our team,” he said. “When we make a good run, they’re there to support us and join in a little mini-celebration. “Our next race is almost a month from now, but I can promise you the team’s going to be working every day to make sure we bring the best possible ‘package’ to the AC Delco Nationals in Las Vegas. Personally, I’ve got an incredibly tight schedule of appearances and we’re also going to get in some testing before then, too,” Johnson added. “Our goal continues to be a Top 10 finish in the NHRA POWERade standings, and we can achieve that goal by continuing to run as consistently as we have for the last few weeks. The rider will just have to do a little better job on the starting line, and if he doesn’t, I’ll fire the guy. “Oh, man. That’s me. Okay, I promise to do better next time out!”

Results:

Qualifying:

Session #1: 7.153/186.74 #13
Session #2: 7.159/186.46 #13 (7.184 Bump)
Session #3: 7.121/188.99 #13 (7.163 Bump)
Session #4: 7.099/189.10 #13 (7.163 Bump)

Eliminations:

Round #1: -0.001 R.T. 7.071/187.63 fouled against Peggy Llewellyn 0.052 R.T. 7.023/189.18

Next: NHRA AC Delco Nationals, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV October 26-28

“We’re going to have our hands full,” Johnson admits. “We suffered a major engine failure in the final round, so we’re going to have to bounce back from that. We have plenty of engines, so that’s not the problem. The ‘problem’ is that none has thus far matched the power of the one that failed in a field that’s split by maybe a tenth of a second, we need every bit of horsepower we can muster.” Johnson moved into 9th place in the NHRA POWERade Top 10 standings in Memphis, and hopes to solidify that position in Texas. “Being in the Top 10 is extremely important to us,” Johnson said, “but our goal continues to be winning races. We have three more opportunities to do that, including this coming weekend. “Racing is a tough, unforgiving world. You can be on top of the world one minute, and at the bottom of the barrel the next. A month from now we’re the only ones who might remember how well we ran in Memphis, so the idea is to give everyone a reason to remember us a little longer. We can do that by running hard and winning rounds at the Motorplex.” Professional qualifying for the NHRA O’Reilly’s Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex begins Friday afternoon, September 21st and continues through Saturday, with eliminations scheduled for Sunday, September 23rd. ESPN2 HD will broadcast coverage of both qualifying and eliminations.

Schedule:

Qualifying:

9/21/07 3:45PM and 6:45PM
9/22/07 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM

Eliminations:

9/23/07 11:00 AM

Television (All times Eastern, all telecasts on ESPN2)
Qualifying: 9/23/07 12:30AM-2:00AM
Eliminations: 9/23/07 7:00PM-10:00PM, Repeat 9/25/07 4:00AM-6:00AM

IRONDALE, AL (9/17/07) - It’s the day following the NHRA O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, and Snap-on Tools Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson is finally coming down from the high of his best outing of the season. His runner-up finish in the race, as well as tying his career-best elapsed time of 6.982 seconds in the second round, and setting new personal bests in Reaction Times had Johnson pretty excited on Sunday – but that wasn’t half the story. On Friday afternoon Johnson had one of the scariest moments of his 21-year career when his Suzuki ran over some debris on the track at a high rate of speed, severely damaging the racing slick on the back of his motorcycle.

“It was amazing,” Johnson said from the comfort of his office. “I may look relaxed now, but man, I would have loved to have seen the expression on my face when this happened. “When you’re running at better than 170 miles an hour on two wheels, and one of them suddenly goes wildly out of balance because a huge chunk of the riding surface has disappeared, the motorcycle begins acting like one of those bulls you see on the Pro Bull Riders telecasts – only worse, ‘cause the motorcycle is going a heck of a lot faster than those bulls!

“Years and years ago I read a story in one of the magazines about ‘Big Daddy’ Don Garlits, and he was describing a run he’d just made to his mechanic, T.C. Lemons. Garlits says, ‘Saw a big ole bolt layin’ out there,’ and Lemons says, ‘Yeah?” ‘Yup. Fine thread,’ Garlits replies. “Well, I didn’t see anything, but something was definitely out there. When we got back to the pits, and I stopped shaking, we went over every inch of that Mickey Thompson tire, and you can plainly see where we ran over something and put a big cut in it. “We have never had a tire failure or even the slightest problem with the M/T Tires. In fact, I wouldn’t race on anything else. They’ve proven to be incredibly reliable and safe. In a way this incident actually helped prove how safe the M/T Tires are, because regardless of how badly the tire appears, it never lost an ounce of air. If it had deflated completely, well, I don’t even want to think about that. “The M/T guys went over the tire with our team, and they agree that we hit something on the track. You can really see where something from the outside cut into the tire. “Ya know, I might as well admit it, I didn’t see whatever it was we hit because I usually have my eyes squeezed closed the whole time. I don’t like admitting that, but that’s my excuse. Maybe if I was looking I would have been able to avoid whatever it was we hit.”

Johnson’s Snap-on Tools team is already gearing up for this coming weekend’s NHRA O’Reilly Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, just south of Dallas. “We had a great weekend in Memphis,” Johnson said. “Now we’re looking forward to more fun in the Lone Star State.

Photo courtesy of Matt Polito

First, as a team owner I’m extremely proud of how everyone performed. We demonstrated what I’ve been saying all along, which is that we’ve got a great team here, one with a tremendous amount of potential. Today shows that we’re on the verge of maybe leaving that word ‘potential’ behind, and moving into the area of realizing that potential. “On the other hand, as a competitor, I’m pretty proud of my riding contributions this weekend. It’s so easy to redlight, or have an okay light or even be late, but this weekend I was in the zone, where everything worked perfectly. I don’t know how to explain it, but every time I went to the starting line my vision narrowed down and it was just me, our Suzuki and the Tree. Everything else faded away, and that’s why we had really good Reaction Times in every round. “But, things didn’t go as smoothly as it might have appeared. We ran over something on the track in the first qualifying session, which blew a big chunk out of the tire. Believe me, you can’t even imagine what it’s like trying to control a 190 mile per hour motorcycle when something like that happens out at those speeds. That was one helluva ride. I’d bet my heart rate was off the charts after that one! “And then, in the finale, we had a major engine failure, and switching back to my team owner hat, all I can say is Ouch, that hurt! Yeah, it hurts to the tune of about twenty grand, but that’s the risk that every competitor out here takes every time they fire up their motorcycles.

“Ya know, I also had a lot of fun today, and that’s what this is all about. I did a couple of television interviews, and even when they weren’t shooting me I pretended they were. At least I had the guys at the finish line laughing. “I also found myself seven new fans – at least until the engine blew against Andrew (Hines). I think all seven riders in the Countdown to the Championship came over and wished me luck in the finals, and I’m just sorry I ended up disappointing them. Heck, I was disappointed, too.” After Friday’s YES (Youth and Education Services) event, WyoTech Technical Schools representative, Angela McMillen, hosted students and teachers from eight area schools in Johnson’s hospitality area, and no one went away hungry after she delivered 50 pizzas to Johnson’s pits. On Saturday a special group of WyoTech enrollees and their parents enjoyed the WyoTech Experience as groups have done in each market in which the NHRA POWERade Series and Pro Stock Motorcycle has appeared this year. Special guest Rick Hightower of Snap-on Tools Industrial Tools Division spoke to the group about Snap-on’s heritage in motorsports and their support of the WyoTech programs. As Johnson said, “It was another busy weekend, but when we can produce results like these, it’s more than all right with me.

“I said last week that I was seeking inspiration from the spirit of Elvis here in Memphis, and I found it. He was riding with me in every round, but I looked around for him before the finale and didn’t see him. I guess he had something more important to do, darn it! “Finishing in the NHRA POWERade Top 10 standings is extremely important to us, and we made a big move in the right direction today. By making the final round we moved into 9th place, and while I know that’s the best we can hope for with our Snap-on Tools Suzuki team because of the way the points system is structured, that’s where we’re determined to finish. We just took one more step towards that goal today.”

Results:

Qualifying:

Session #1: 7.131/179.83 #8 (7.243 Bump)
Session #2: 7.187/185.18 #11 (7.173 Bump)
Session #3: 7.029/190.27 #10 (7.137 Bump)
Session #4: 7.061/191.00 #13 (7.115 Bump)

Eliminations:

Round #1: 0.027 R.T. 6.982/191.19 defeated Chris Rivas -0.023 R.T. 7.799/126.93
Round #2: 0.007 R.T. 7.049/190.89 defeated Hector Arana 0.076 R.T. 7.021/188.57
Round #3: 0.001 R.T. 7.060/188.60 defeated Craig Treble 0.037 R.T. 7.051/190.08
Round #4: 0.019 R.T. Broke, No Time, lost to Andrew Hines 0.061 R.T. 6.917/192.91

Next: NHRA O’Reilly Fall Nationals, Texas Motorplex, Ennis (Dallas), Texas, September 21-23

“Our first stop in Memphis is going to be Graceland, where I plan on soaking up as much ‘Elvis’ as I can. Then we’re going to take that magic to Memphis Motorsports Park, and do some serious butt-kicking!” Johnson continues to be one of the most popular riders on the NHRA POWERade Series tour and is constantly in demand by both fans and media. But, underneath all the fun beats the heart of a determined, serious competitor. “No doubt about it,” Johnson says, “Our team wants to win, and the winning starts right there in Memphis – with Elvis riding right with me in every round!” Johnson’s Snap-on Tools Suzuki team, led by crew chief Mark Peiser, was a solid, top-half-of-the-field qualifier at last weekend’s NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, but a series of mechanical misfortunes resulted in a second round loss. But, that Number 7 qualifying position earned the team valuable points towards next year’s Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, which will once again take place during the Indianapolis race. “We love racing in the Battle,” Johnson acknowledges, “but our goal for next season is the POWERade championship.

The goal for the balance of this season is winning races. “I know there are people out there who don’t think I take racing seriously enough, but the truth of the matter is that for the last 21 years Pro Stock Motorcycle racing has been my life. I joke around because it helps to ease the tension. “If I thought for one second there was someone on our team who wasn’t as dedicated to winning as I am, well, you wouldn’t see that person around for very long. Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racing is a tough, demanding endeavor, but I’m lucky in that every member of our Snap-on Tools team has the same sense of determination that I do. “We have something to prove in the remaining four races on the POWERade Series tour, and that’s that we’ve got an exceptionally talented group here, one that’s determined to win. “The winning starts right here, right now.”

Next: O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals, Memphis Motorsports Park, Memphis, TN September 14-16

Television: (All times Eastern, all telecasts on ESPN2) Qualifying: 9/16 12:00AM-2:00AM, Eliminations: 9/16 7:00PM-10:00PM, Repeat Eliminations: 9/20 4:00AM-6:00AM

“Okay, that’s the good news. The bad news was that we were changing engines and transmissions after almost every run. We brought three engines with us, and every night we went completely through two of them trying to find the right combination for the track surface and the weather conditions. Throw in a little transmission trouble, and it’s easy to see why this was both a good and bad weekend for our Snap-on Tools Suzuki. “To run in the sixes at this level of event was absolutely awesome,” he continued. “This was the first time we’ve qualified in the top half of the field this season, and to do it here was something we can really build on. It shows that our Snap-on Tools team is on the right track. Now we have to put together these good qualifying efforts with better race day performances. “But, we’re not forgetting that this Number 7 qualifying result puts us in a good position for next year’s Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, because it takes a year’s worth of qualifying efforts to earn enough points to be in the Top 8 for that show. This is a good start for that.”

Johnson raced Angelle Sampey in the first round of this year’s Ringers Pro Bike Battle on Saturday morning, and was very disappointed with his loss. “We had a better Reaction Time on the Tree, which means we left on her, but in third gear it felt like someone had hit the brakes,” Johnson said. “We definitely had an engine problem, so after the run we yanked that one out, and put in our newest engine to finish qualifying. But, when I tried to do the burnout the transmission failed, and we lost that run. “We spent a ton of money preparing for this event, but trying to run as hard as we had to puts a lot of stress on parts, and we have never, in my entire career, had the kind of failures we had this weekend. “This was just one of those weekends that had a lot of highs, and some serious lows. I’m happy that we went two rounds during eliminations on Monday for the U.S. Nationals, but at the same time I know that, when things are right with our Suzuki, we’re capable of so much more.

“Next year we’re going to have more chances to prove ourselves, because the new schedule was announced this weekend, and Pro Stock Motorcycle will compete in 17 POWERade Series races in 2008. That’s one more than we’re running this year, so our fans will have more of an opportunity to see us in action, and I’m pretty excited about that.” As usual with this very popular driver, he also had himself one very busy weekend with personal appearances. He also hosted a number of WyoTech student enrollees and their families with John Neu, District Sales Manager for Snap-on Tools, and also took time out to participate in both an extensive radio interview, and just for grins, a taped interview for 1320TV.com. “And people wonder why I’m exhausted at the end of one of these long weekends,” he said with a grin. “Every racer says it, but the funny thing is that we all believe it and live it. What we do out here really is all about the fans. If they’re having a good time and enjoying the show, than we are,” Johnson said. “Drag racing is a lot of work, and when you lose it’s tough to take, but when a fan walks up and says, ‘Good job, you’ll get ‘em next time,’ man, that’s a good feeling.”

Results:

Qualifying:

Session #1: 7.091/187.83 #9 (7.180 Bump)
Session #2: 7.117/182.87 #12 (7.151 Bump)
Session #3: Broke, no time #13 (7.151 Bump)
Session #4: 6.986/190.83 #7 (7.082 Bump)
Session #5: 7.033/191.08 #7 (7.082 Bump)

Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle Eliminations:

Round #1: 0.051 R.T. 7.117/182.87 lost to Angelle Sampey 0.070 R.T. 7.048/184.17

U.S. Nationals Eliminations:

Round #1: 0.051 R.T. 7.083/188.81 defeated Karen Stoffer -0.001 R.T. 7.110/187.65
Round #2: 0.013 R.T. 7.161/186.05 lost to Hector Arana 0.068 R.T. 7.046/189.20

Next: O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals, Memphis Motorsports Park, Memphis, TN September 14-16

The race was so close the ESPN broadcasters replayed the entire race, concentrating on the finish line, and then a not-so-funny thought began to enter every viewer’s mind – Johnson’s Suzuki appeared to be the clear winner. Not by much, but in drag racing any margin at all is enough. And while the debate raged among the NHRA officials as to what they’d actually seen on their screens, Matt Smith received the accolades of the fans and media. Less than 24 hours later the National Hot Rod Association made one of the toughest, yet fairest decisions, in their history. They declared Steve Johnson the winner of the 2005 NHRA U.S. Nationals. Alas, by then the fans, the photographers and everyone else had long since deserted the race track, and there was no one with whom Johnson could celebrate, so his “official” winner’s circle appearance was put off until the following weekend’s POWERade Series race.

“That was a lot of fun,” Johnson said, “but it wasn’t like getting to celebrate with my teammates and friends in Indy. This time around I’m hoping we can make that celebration the real thing, on Labor Day Monday afternoon, with the fans, with the media, and with our sponsors. It’s time for history to repeat itself – without all the controversy! “And, if things really go the way we hope they will, it’ll be a double celebration because we’re going to go all out to win the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle on Saturday afternoon.” Following a year’s worth of qualifying efforts Johnson has once again qualified for the Battle, a special race in which he’s competed nine times in its 16-year history. He’s tied with the late Dave Schultz with those nine qualifications, with only Angelle Sampey having competed in more Battles, 10. Ironically enough, they’ll pair off in the first round of eliminations on Saturday, September 1st.

“When I look at my history in the Battle I kind of feel like NFL Hall of Famer Dan Marino. He took his team to the Super Bowl in almost his first year in the league, but they lost. He thought getting back to the big game would be easy, but it never happened for him. “I made it to the finale of the first one of these special races in 1991, but I haven’t been in a final round since then. Now’s the time to make up for that and go all the way to the winner’s circle. “Angelle is a tough competitor, but I have confidence in my crew chief, Mark Peiser, and in our mechanics, Tim Kulungian and Richie Wiley, as well, and I think we can get the job done,” Johnson said. Although Johnson just missed the cut for this year’s Countdown to the Championship, he’s determined to make the remainder of the season memorable. “We can still have a major impact on the championship,” he correctly notes. “If we have our Snap-on Tools Suzuki properly prepared, and if everyone on the team, including me, does his job perfectly, we can win the Pro Bike Battle and the U.S. Nationals. “We have the will,” he added. “Now we just have to find the way!”

Next: The NHRA U.S. Nationals begins Friday, August 31 with one professional qualifying session. The Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle takes place Saturday, September 1st as qualifying continues. Two final qualifying sessions take place Sunday, September 2nd, with final eliminations slated for Labor Day Monday, August 3rd.

Television Coverage: (All times EDT, all telecasts on ESPN2) Qualifying: 9/2/07 12:30 AM-1:30 AM, 2:00 PM – 5:30 PM, 9/3/07 12:00 AM – 1:00 AM, Eliminations: 9/3/07 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM, 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM, Repeat 4:00 AM – 6:00 AM

“I knew the instant I let the clutch out that we were on a very good run, but I honestly didn’t expect to see numbers like 6.982/193.43 on the time slip when I turned off the track. “I can’t even begin to express my disappointment, not just for our team, but for all of our fans and sponsors. We’ve had great support from Snap-on Tools, WyoTech Technical Schools, Mickey Thompson Tires, Simpson, Web Cam, Goodson, Vanson and a lot of others. I feel like I’ve let all of them down, and I’m more determined than ever to somehow make it up to everyone.

“Believe me when I say that we are not giving up. We’ve qualified for the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle at Indy, and we’re going to start climbing back to the top right there. The second step is going to be the U.S. Nationals itself, and we know how tough it is to win the biggest race of them all. Our team knows what it means to win that race because we won it two years ago. We want that feeling again.” When the season began Johnson’s career-best elapsed time was a 7.001 recorded at this race a year ago. He lowered that mark to a 6.987 with a first round victory over Chip Ellis at this year’s Gatornationals in March, but didn’t come close to his previous best speed of 192.91 MPH, recorded during his winning run at the U.S. Nationals in 2005, until today. “Personal records are nice,” Johnson admitted, “but I wouldn’t have cared if we would have run in the eights all day as long as we won. It didn’t work out that way, so now we’ve got to move forward. “I’m pretty sure some of the motorcycle racers who also missed the Countdown will be in testing mode for the remaining five races we have this season, but we won’t be in that group. It’s our intention to attack each and every race just as aggressively as we tried to attack this one. That’s how you win, and that’s what we’re determined to do. If we just happen to ruin someone else’s championship run along the way, so much the better, because no matter what, winning is what this is all about.”

With that in mind Johnson’s team will immediately be heading to O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis for pre-U.S. Nationals testing, which crew chief Mark Peiser terms “critically important. The track at Indy is nothing like the one here in Reading, and the weather conditions probably aren’t going to be close, either. We want to get some runs in as quickly as we can so we can make whatever adjustments we need to make to be a major player in both the Battle and the Nationals itself.” “I made one promise before this weekend that I didn’t keep,” Johnson added. “Now I’m going to make another one. Win, lose or draw, everyone’s going to know that the Snap-on Tools Suzuki was there, ‘cause we’re going to make some noise at Indy.”

Results:

Qualifying:

Session #1: 7.152/186.48 #9 (7.195 Bump)
Session #2: 7.222/185.59 #16 (7.169 Bump)
Session #3: 7.005/191.81 #7 (7.084 Bump)
Session #4: 7.054/192.49 #9 (7.074 Bump)

Eliminations:

Round #1: 0.063 R.T. 6.982/193.43* lost to Antron Brown 0.042 R.T. 6.988/189.66
*Career-best elapsed time and speed.

Next:

Testing at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis
Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, ORP 9/1
NHRA U.S. Nationals, ORP 8/31-9/3

“It’s only Tuesday, and I’m already nervous,” Johnson admitted. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this much pressure as a competitor. This is absolutely a make it or break it weekend for our team. Even though we’ll keep racing no matter what happens at Maple Grove, and there will still be opportunities to win, our goal continues to be the POWERade championship, but we’ve got to make the Countdown in order to be eligible for that.” Sitting those 25 points ahead of Johnson is Eddie Krawiec, who defeated Johnson in the first round last weekend at the Lucas Oil Nationals. As formidable a challenge as it’s going to be to overtake Krawiec, Johnson knows it can be done. “The first thing we’ve got to do is out-qualify him,” Johnson says. “The NHRA awards 8 points for the Number 1 qualifier, 7 for Number 2 and so-on down through Number 4. After that it changes a bit, but the point is that if we can go into eliminations from, let’s say, the Number 3 position, we’d get six points for that. If Eddie were to be near the back of the pack he might earn just one point, meaning that when eliminations begins we would’ve already made up five points.

“There’s one ‘problem’ with this, and that’s the fact that we haven’t qualified as high as third all year, so we’re going to have to do this the hard way, by winning more rounds of eliminations than he does. “Our points system ‘pays’ 20 points for first round loser, 40 for second round, 60 for semifinal round, 80 to the runner-up and 100 to the winner. In order to get into eighth place that means we’ll have to go two rounds further than Krawiec, and that won’t be easy. In other words, if he goes out in the first round and we make it to the semifinals we’ll have picked up 40 points on him, and that could be enough.

“There’s another ‘problem’ with all of this, and that’s that we can’t ‘control’ what happens to everyone else. Chris Rivas is behind us in 10th place right now, but he could have one of those dream weekends and move right around us. “Since we can only control what we do our game plan is pretty simple: Qualify as high up on the list as we possibly can, and then I’ve got to put together my best race of the year. I’ve got to be first off the starting line in every round, crew chief Mark Peiser and the guys have to prepare the best possible ‘package’ for the track conditions, and we’ve got to have a bit of luck as well.” Yes, it’s going to be an uphill battle for Steve Johnson’s Snap-on Tools Suzuki team, but isn’t that what racing’s all about? Overcoming obstacles? Defeating the odds? “Man, please stop. My hands are shaking,” said Johnson as he added another scoop to the coffee maker. “At this rate I might not even make it ‘til Friday!”

Next: NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals, Maple Grove Raceway, Reading, PA August 17-19.

Television: (All times Eastern) 8/18/07 6:00-8:00 PM ESPN2 (qualifying), 8/19/07 10:00 PM – 1:00 AM ESPN2 (Eliminations), 8/22/07 4:00-6:00 AM ESPN2 (Repeat Eliminations)

“We have only one more chance to qualify for the Countdown, and that’s next weekend at the Toyo Tires Nationals in Reading, (PA), but in order for us to make it we’re going to have to be very lucky, and the people ahead of us in the standings are going to have to have the kind of weekend we had here in Brainerd. “After the first qualifying session I thought our Snap-on Tools Suzuki was one of the best motorcycles on the grounds,” Johnson continued. “After the fourth session, when we ended up 12th among the qualifiers, I could tell that the gremlins that have been ‘infecting’ our operation for the last few races were back.” Johnson and crew chief Mark Peiser had planned on installing a brand new engine for the final qualifying session, but when their machine slowed on successive qualifying efforts they decided to wait until next week.

“We may not run the engine even then,” Peiser said. “We can’t afford to make a single mistake next week, or at any time for the rest of the year, if we’re going to have any hope of being a serious contender. Our aim is to make this motorcycle ‘right’ for Reading, and if that means sticking with our proven power plant, that’s what we’re going to do.” Three straight runs in the 7.18 second range were enough to convince Johnson that wholesale changes may be called for in an all-out attempt to make the Countdown. “That was kind of depressing,” Johnson said of the three runs. “No matter what we did, the motorcycle didn’t improve. We have got to get this thing figured out, and we’ve only got two or three days to do it before we have to be ready for next weekend. I‘ve go faith in our guys, and faith in Mark, so whatever we collectively decide is the right way to go, that’s what we’ll do.

“The bright spot of our weekend was the fact that on Saturday morning we hosted the largest group of WyoTech Technical School students and their parents that I think we’ve seen all year, (see pictures at end of story). Believe me, our pit area was jammed, but that’s the kind of crowd I really enjoy.” In addition to his WyoTech hosting Johnson also participated in the Snap-on Tools “Day at the Races” promotion during which he interacted with and signed autographs for Snap-on Tools dealers and customers. “Everybody knows I love doing that stuff,” Johnson said, “but what I really like doing is getting the Snap-on folks to our pit area where they can see the products actually in use. Ya know, it’s one thing to talk about the tools, but quite another when you see the guys actually working with them on the race bike. There’s no substitute for the ‘action’ stuff!”

Will Steve Johnson and the Snap-on Tools Suzuki be among the eight Countdown qualifiers? One week from today we’ll all have the answer. “Man, I’m already nervous and it’s still Sunday,” Johnson joked as his team loaded the transporter in preparation for the trip east. “I feel like I’ve got a target painted right in the center of my back, but I don’t care about who’s behind me in the standings. I’m looking ahead, and my target is the guy in eighth pace, ‘cause that’s where I need to be a week from today.”

Results:

Qualifying:

Session #1: 7.123/184.95 #5 (7.339 Bump)
Session #2: 7.247/187.68 #8 (7.212 Bump)
Session #3: 7.189/188.25 #12 (7.187 Bump)
Session #4: 7.185/187.81 #12 (7.182 Bump)

Eliminations:

Round #1: 0.059 R.T. 7.184/187.47 lot to Eddie Krawiec 0.034 R.T. 7.051/188.91

Notable: Johnson is now in 9th place, 31 points out of 8th in the POWERade points standings, and remains in 8th place in the standings for the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle.

Next: NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals, Maple Grove Raceway, Reading, PA 817-8/19

Steve Johnson is one of those individuals. “When the NHRA POWERade Series travels the nation we’re all very interested to see how much publicity the series and the competitors generate,” he said from his race shop in Alabama. “But, as anxious as all of us are with producing positive results for our sponsors and the series, when you see something like the news that came out of Minneapolis last week about the bridge collapse on I-35, it puts everything into sharper focus, into a different perspective. “When that news broke it stunned everyone on our race team. Our first thoughts were, Have we lost anyone we know? Anyone who’s part of the drag racing family? But, we quickly realized that this was about much more than drag racing. Reading the newspaper stories, and watching the coverage on television, you couldn’t help but notice how all of Minnesota had suddenly become one big family, and we realized that a whole state had become the same kind of close-knit family that all of us in drag racing feel we’re a part of.

“Everyone knows that we’re in the fight of our lives to be among the Top 8 points earners when the U.S. Nationals begins in Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend. That will mean we’re going to be contenders for the first POWERade championship contested under the new Countdown points system, and we’re really excited about that. “But, as much as we’re going to concentrate on making the Countdown – we have just two races left in which to qualify, but we’re right in the thick of things right now – we’re going in to the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd with the people of Minnesota on our minds. We’re dedicating our efforts in their names because of the courage and class they’ve consistently shown since this tragedy took place. “It may sound kind of corny, but we’re going to try and win one for Minnesota!”

Johnson’s Snap-on Tools race team made it to the semifinal round of the Fram/Autolite Nationals in Sonoma, Calif. two weeks ago, and hopes to capitalize on the momentum gained at that race to help them in Brainerd. Right now Johnson is in seventh place in the standings for both the NHRA POWERade Series title, which will earn him a spot in the final Countdown to 4, as well as for the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle that takes place during the U.S. Nationals. “I’ve said all along that we want to be a part of the Ringers Gloves Battle,” Johnson said, “but our major goal is to win the POWERade championship. That’s what we’re aiming for, but our first and immediate goal is to win the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals for the people of Minnesota.

“That was a huge win for us,” Johnson acknowledged, “but we’re still not where we want to be. I’ll admit I’m a little more comfortable, but there are still two races to go, and I don’t see anybody ahead of us slowing down. “Being part of the first-ever Countdown deal would be awesome. Yeah, I know everyone’s part of it, but I’m talking about being one of those 8 people who go for the championship. That would really be something special.” Johnson continues to hold down 8th place in the race to be part of the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, which takes place during the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend. “I’d love to have our Snap-on Suzuki in the Battle,” Johnson said, “but the big prize is still the POWERade championship. If we can keep our momentum going, I think we’re going to be all right.”

In a professional career that spans 21 seasons, Steve’s mom, Betty, had never seen him win a round of racing in person. “Well, now she has,” Johnson said with obvious pleasure. “She’s seen plenty of my races on TV, but never saw me win a round ‘live!’” Johnson’s team once again hosted a group of WyoTech Technical School student enrollees in his pit area on Friday, this after Johnson had visited the Sacramento WyoTech campus Thursday afternoon. Tomorrow, Monday, Johnson will make an appearance at the Fremont WyoTech campus in the morning, and will appear at the Snap-on Tools Diagnostic Center in San Jose in the afternoon.

Johnson and crew chief Mark Peiser are committed to an on-track testing program to help solidify their chances of remaining in championship contention when qualifying begins for the U.S. Nationals on August 31st. That will mean Johnson has made it into the Top 8 the standings. The team has a brand new engine that’s almost ready for dyno testing, and if things go well there, on-track testing as well. Johnson hopes to have the power plant available for the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minnesota August 9th. As Johnson put it, “I’m spending like I’m John Force. It’s not like I have a checkbook like his, but you know that when the pressure is on Force, he’ll do whatever it takes to win. I feel the same way. I’m going to keep doing whatever it takes to throw gasoline on the fire. “I feel like we’re hot right now, and I’ll do whatever we have to do to keep throwing gas on that fire. There’s a fire burning in me because I’ve never felt like I was this close to being a championship contender before.”

Results:

Qualifying:

Session #1: 7.337/185.23 #13 (7.725 Bump)
Session #2: 7.058/187.11 #10 (7.181 Bump)
Session #3: 7.071/188.23 #10 (7.150 Bump) Session #4: 7.051/188.67 #11 (7.150 Bump)
 

Eliminations:

Round #1: 0.034 R.T. 7.054/189.04 defeated Karen Stoffer -0.085 R.T. 7.000/191.43
Round #2: 0.028 R.T. 7.035/190.54 defeated Craig Treble 0.037 R.T. 7.084/189.98
Round #3: 0.046 R.T. 7.057/188.52 lost to Eddie Krawiec 0.021 R.T. 7.014/189.79

Next: NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals, Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, MN., August 9-12.

As usual, Johnson has been a very busy man even if his team had a week “off.” Appearing at the biggest show in Snap-on Tool’s history in Las Vegas, Johnson, who turned wrenches on Rolls Royces and Jaguars before becoming a professional motorcycle drag racer, witnessed the introduction of new tools he wishes were available back in the day. “When you see the kind of Snap-on Tools today’s mechanics have at their disposal, you quickly realize how technical the automotive industry has become. Quality, innovative tools help those men and women get the job done, and believe me, we depend on those same tools when we’re servicing our Suzuki between rounds at the NHRA POWERade Series races,” he said.

All work and no play makes Steve a dull boy (hardly likely!), so while he was in Las Vegas he spent some time behind the wheel of a NASCAR-style car at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “Not to worry,” he said. “As cool as that ride was, I’m not about to give up straight line racing to go around in circles!” Regarding this coming weekend’s Fram/Autolite Nationals, Johnson said, “We’re sitting in eighth place in the standings right now, but we need to move up in the points if we hope to maintain our eligibility for the POWERade championship.” Following the Toyo Tires Nationals in Pennsylvania in mid-August only the top 8 points earners will remain in contention for this year’s championship. NHRA’s new points chase, called the ”Countdown to 8,” at this juncture of the season, will then become the “Countdown to 4” and ultimately the “Countdown to 1” as the field is narrowed down to the championship event, the Auto Club Finals in Pomona, California on the first weekend of November. “The pressure is really on,” Johnson admits. “Every competitor – with very few exceptions – is in the same situation we are. Right now the idea is to make that final 8. Nothing else matters. “We’ve had a pretty good season so far,” he added, “but we’re looking for more, and the Fram/Autolite Nationals this coming weekend is where that search for ‘more’ begins. We need to qualify in the top half of the field so we get lane choice in the first round of eliminations, and then we’ve got to go rounds. In other words, win each round of racing – all four or ‘em if possible – so that when the race ends we’ve earned as many points as possible. That’s the only thing that’s going to help guarantee our making that final 8.”

Crew chief Mark Peiser and the guys have gone completely through their Snap-on Tools Suzuki since their last outing at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals in Denver, and feel good about the team’s chances in California. “I think we’ve got the right engine/clutch combination in our motorcycle,” Peiser said. “If we can keep our eyes focused on the prize in Sonoma we really can strike gold. That’s our intention.” “If there’s one thing I’ve learned about drag racing,” Johnson said, “it’s that there’s more pressure to perform well with each passing race. There are no weekends off, no easy races, no opponents you just know you can beat. Every rider out here has the ability to cut great Reaction Times, and almost every motorcycle is capable of stepping up and running the quickest elapsed time of the weekend at any time. That means we can’t take a second to catch our collective breath. We’ve got to make every move, every decision, the right one. “As hard as we’re going to try and do that very thing this coming weekend, so, too, is everyone else. We’ll just have to try harder, work harder and maybe get a little lucky, too.”

On Wednesday evening Johnson will be making a personal appearance at the WyoTech Technical School campus in Sacramento, which will be followed by a Reaction Time “fun-for-all” appearance at the Jackson Rancheria Hotel & Casino in the same city. Qualifying for the Fram/Autolite Nationals begins Friday afternoon, July 27th and continues through Saturday the 28th. Eliminations begin Sunday morning, July 29th, at 11:00 AM. Television coverage includes a 90-minute qualifying show on ESPN2 on Saturday evening at 6:00PM EDT, with the eliminations telecast on ESPN2 commencing at 8:00PM EDT Sunday evening.

Johnson’s crew chief, Mark Peiser, has been successful in the rarified air of the Mile-High Nationals before, and knows what it’s going to take to get Johnson’s Snap-on Tools Suzuki into the winner’s circle for the first time in 2007. “We’ve already installed different transmission ratio pistons for Denver,” he said, “but that’s not the only changes we’ve made to our Suzuki. I could outline those changes, but then Steve would kill me! “Seriously, we’ve given this coming weekend’s race a lot of thought, and I’m confident the changes we’ve made will result in our being very competitive against the rest of the field. “The real problem with racing at Bandimere Speedway is that the Harleys and Buels are running 160 cubic inch engines and the Suzuki’s are limited to 101ci. At sea level there’s parity between the two combinations, but at 5,800 feet those V-Twin guys kill us with their bigger engines. “You’ve also got to balance the changes you make to the motorcycle. Go too far and it’s going to be gasping for air and not making enough power. Don’t go far enough with your changes and the motorcycle just won’t go down the track quick enough to make the field.”

Johnson, who is featured in Bandimere Speedway’s latest track newspaper in a major personality profile story, is looking forward to racing in Denver. “There are four or five races that everyone wants to win. Races like the Gatornationals and the U.S. Nationals are really important, but when it comes to the points they’re no more important than the Mile-High Nationals. What I like about this race is the challenge. You’ve got to make major changes to your combination, so this race is just as much about the decisions the crew chief makes as it is about what the rider does.

“The bottom line is that everyone has to pull together to win, and I think our team is doing that. We may not have the quickest motorcycle this coming weekend, but as long as we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot we’ve got a team that’s capable of winning. I think we’re more than up to the challenge of the high altitude of the Mile-High Nationals.” Qualifying for the Mopar Mile-High Nationals begins at Bandimere Speedway on Friday afternoon and continues through Saturday, with eliminations on Sunday afternoon.

Complete coverage of the event will appear on ESPN2, with the qualifying show on Saturday evening from 10:00PM to 12:00 AM, and complete race day coverage beginning at 9:00PM EDT.

Our guys really pitched in and got the swap made in plenty of time, and even though we lost that round, the engine showed promise for the future, so it’s not all bad, it’s actually kinda good.” Johnson’s second round finish kept him solidly in eighth place in the NHRA POWERade standings, which is critically important at this point in the season. Only a handful of races remain until the championship contenders will be reduced to just eight competitors in each professional category. If you’re not among the top eight going in to the U.S. Nationals over Labor Day weekend, you won’t be eligible for this year’s championship. Right now Johnson has a 10 point margin on either side. He’s 10 markers ahead of Peggy Llewellyn in ninth, and the same number of points behind Chris Rivas in seventh place. “Ten points is a half-a-round of eliminations,” he said, “so if things go our way in our next race (the Mopar Mile-High Nationals in Denver in mid-July), we could move up. But, we’re also vulnerable, because Peggy’s the same margin behind us. We have to perform up to our capabilities in Denver to improve our position. That’s really critical.”

Johnson’s team had some able assistance in Norwalk in the form of recent WyoTech Technical Schools graduate Josh Walden, 25, of Mt. Vernon, Indiana. Walden joined the Snap-on Tools team for the weekend, and although he found the work harder than he’d imagined, he termed it “an excellent experience, and something I’d like to do a lot more of. When you get inside professional drag racing you quickly realize that as exciting as it can be, it’s also a lot of work. Truthfully, Steve’s guys wore me out!”

Johnson is also still a contender for the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, which will take place at Indy during the running of the U.S. Nationals, but as he continues to say, “As much as we want to be part of the Battle, the real ‘war’ for us is getting a chance to compete for the championship. Right now, right this second, those eighth place standings look pretty darn good, but fifth or sixth would look even better, to say nothing about being Number 1. “Now, that’s a dream I can really get behind!”

Results:

Qualifying:

Session #1: 7.122/188.10 #15 (7.133 Bump)
Session #2: 7.050/189.36 #11 (7.093 Bump)
Session #3: 7.121/188.94 #11 (7.084 Bump)
Session #4: 7.126/188.70 #11 (7.084 Bump)

Eliminations:

Round #1: 0.039 R.T. 7.125/186.36 defeated Antron Brown 0.040 R.T. 7.144/177.25
Round #2: 0.033 R.T. 7.051/188.82 lost to Andrew Hines 0.048 R.T. 6.978/191.08

Next: NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals, Bandimere Speedway, Morrison (Denver), CO, July 13-15

“This will be our first appearance at SREMP,” Johnson said as he hastily packed a bag before heading to the airport. “I’ve talked to a lot of the racers, and everyone’s in the same mode: Winning the first-ever NHRA national event at a track like this one is going to be huge, and darn it, I want us to be the first team to do it! “This is also the first time that the NHRA POWERade Series will be making a direct impact on the Detroit market, which is not that far from Norwalk. We’re also going to be racing closer to Cleveland than ever before, so I’m hoping we get a lot of new fans out to see us compete for the first time. “After the race, if I can possibly manage it, I’m not leaving Cleveland until I take the full tour of the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame. It’s something I’ve always wanted to see, and I won’t have a better opportunity before next year at this time.”

Johnson’s team will be participating in the Thunder In The Streets promotion in downtown Norwalk on Wednesday, when his Snap-on Tools Suzuki will be on display with numerous other professional competitor’s cars for most of the day. “I wish I could be there with the rig, but I have some other media obligations that I’d previously committed to,” he said. “Having our Pro Stock Suzuki on the street is a real kick. It’s a chance to show this market what a two-wheeled missile looks like up close. It’s also an opportunity to make new friends for drag racing while we’re also supporting the track for their inaugural NHRA race. “Everything about this coming weekend is going to be a ‘first’ for us. I’m just hoping that, when it’s over, we go into the record books as the first Pro Stock Motorcycle winners at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park!

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Johnson says with his typical wide-eyed grin as he tries to juggle his schedule for the next month. “There’s a lot more to ‘racing’ than just throwing my leg over our Snap-on Tools Suzuki and heading for the finish line. Everything we do, from prepping the motorcycle, to traveling to the races, to making our personal appearances is a part of who we are and what we do.              “At one time,” he acknowledges, “racing meant nothing more than what went on at the track, but times have changed.  NHRA POWERade drag racing has ‘grown up,’ I guess you could say, and we’re growing with it.

“I don’t think many of us thought about testing before the national events when I first started, but you can’t do without it now.  That’s why, before we head to New Jersey this week, we’ll be testing at O’Reilly Motorsports Park in Indianapolis on Tuesday. “On Thursday I’m going on a ride-along with a Snap-on Tools franchisee, and to me that’s just as important as the first qualifying session’s going to be on Friday afternoon at the ProCare Rx SuperNationals in Englishtown (New Jersey).  The first’s important because I sincerely believe that every Snap-on Tools franchisee needs to understand the role NHRA POWERade drag racing plays in his business.  When those men and women see professional competitors relying on the quality of Snap-on products in motorsports, it translates right down the line to the guy who’s adjusting the brakes on your Chevrolet.

“If I have to explain how important that first – heck, every qualifying session’s going to be in Englishtown – well, you know where I’m going, don’t you?” As he’s done all season long, Johnson will also be hosting newly enrolled WyoTech Technical School students in his pit area at Englishtown, and will continue to be welcoming them at all of his national event appearances this season. “I get a real kick out of interacting with the new students,” he admits.  “After giving them the full tour of our operation we try to do a little Reaction Time testing, and that’s lots of fun for everyone.  I think it gives them at least a little idea of what it’s like to race, too.”

Johnson’s Pro Stock Motorcycle career began at Englishtown 21-years ago, and he hasn’t forgotten.  “Let’s just say that, when I look back on it now, I’m almost embarrassed at how ill-prepared we were to race that weekend, but by the same token, I have no regrets about that, or about where my career’s taken me since then.” One place it’s taken him to is the winners circle of drag racing’s most important and prestigious race, the NHRA U.S. Nationals over Labor Day at Indianapolis. As Johnson fights for a position among the Top 8 points earners, which will keep him a contender for this year’s NHRA POWERade championship, he’s got a difficult schedule ahead.  The week following the ProCare Rx SuperNationals he’ll head west to Norwalk, Ohio for the Inaugural Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. “This track has an exceptional reputation,” Johnson says.  “I’m really anxious to get there because everyone says the place is fantastic. Besides, it’s the only track I know of where you can get a full pound of ice cream for a buck! “I don’t think Mark Peiser, our crew chief, is going to be happy if he sees me chowing down on four or five pounds of the it, but what the heck, maybe I can sneak a couple in when he’s not looking!”

Following a week off for the Pro Stock Motorcycle contingent the series will move to Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, CO just outside Denver for the Mopar Mile-High Nationals. “The altitude in Denver makes it tough on everyone,” Johnson says.  “That’s why we’re going to be making some serious changes to our motorcycle just for that weekend, because I love that track, and we really want to perform well up there. “Yeah, there’s no question about it, the next few weeks are going to be tough on everyone.  There’s a lot that we need to accomplish, but so do the other teams out there.  Our plan is to first out-work those other teams between races, and then out-run ‘em on the track when we do race.  A couple of good finishes in those races will have us right where we need to be, and that’s well up in the Top 8 in the standings.”

That’s an indication that you’ve got the horsepower you need to succeed. We thought at that point that a few minor adjustments would make the front half quicker, and we’d be right in the thick of things. “We made those adjustments, but our Suzuki didn’t come around like it should have. “Somewhere, some way, there’s a gremlin in this motorcycle, and we’ve got to find it if we hope to become contenders for this year’s POWERade Series championship.” After a first round loss in eliminations Johnson dropped out of the Top 8 in the standings, and is now 28 important points behind the cut-off position for this year’s title, with just six races remaining before all the professional fields will be cut to the Top 8 contenders. “We still have plenty of time to improve our position,” he said, “but we need to make our move sooner rather than later. We’re looking for just two or three hundredths of a second – about the time it takes to snap your fingers a couple of times, but we need to be qualifying in the top half of the fields to earn more points for the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle at Indy. We also need to have lane choice for the first round of eliminations in every race. That’s important stuff.” Johnson is holding on to the eighth and final qualifying position for the Pro Bike Battle, but as he acknowledges, “Right now that’s of secondary importance. We definitely want to be in the Battle, but in all honesty, contending for the POWERade title is what this is all about.”

With that in mind Peiser and the rest of Johnson’s crew are already back in Alabama, and have disassembled their engines in search of any little thing that isn’t perfect internally. They’ve also scheduled a test session at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis for next Tuesday in preparation for the ProCare Rx SuperNationals in Englishtown, New Jersey on the weekend of June 22-24. Johnson played a key role in the Snap-on Tool Show and Day At The Races for Snap-on franchisees at Route 66 Raceway, and also hosted a number of WyoTech Technical School enrollees, who got a complete “tour” of Johnson’s pit area on Saturday. Johnson also led the students through a relaxed and humorous Reaction Time seminar. Saturday’s final qualifying session netted another 7.03-second elapsed time, this one ultimately seven thousandths of a second slower than his Friday best, but it was already too late, as he’d been bumped down to the 11th starting position. “As I said earlier, that isn’t where we want or need to be. When qualifying ends we need to be eighth or better to get lane choice for Sunday,” he said. “We’re going to keep digging,” he added. “It’s incredibly frustrating to know that we’re this close to being as competitive as anyone out there, but when seven riders qualify in the six second range, and we’re not among ‘em, well, that tells you we’ve got to keep working to solve our problems.”

Results:

Qualifying:

Session #1: 7.030/193.00 #7 (7.108 Bump)
Session #2: 7.090/188.60 #7 (7.082 Bump)
Session #3: 7.065/189.04 #10 (7.079 Bump)
Session #4: 7.037/189.95 #11 (7.075 Bump)

Eliminations:

Round #1: 0.051 R.T. 7.084/187.44 Lost to Peggy Llewellyn 0.031 R.T. 7.034/187.94

POWERade Points Position: #10 (28 points out of 8th)

Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle Points Position: #8 (115 points out of 7th)

Next: Testing at ORP, Indianapolis, Tuesday, June 19th. NHRA ProCare Rx SuperNationlals, Englishtown, NJ June 22-24

The first is the AC Delco Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL in March. That one’s particularly important because it’s the first race of the year for Pro Stock Motorcycles, and performing well at that event can set the tone for your whole season. “The s