It is deliciously ironic that Warren Johnson, a man who playfullydisparages his own driving ability, should be honored as one of dragracing's 50 greatest drivers.
Johnson's standing as the preeminent engine developer, the predominantteam owner, and the deepest thinker in Pro Stock is unquestioned. But agreat driver? Not in Warren's world, where drivers are as disposable asspark plugs.
"Driving just comes with the territory," says the man who has won themost Pro Stock races in NHRA history. "Outthinking the competition iswhat appeals to me."
That is the essence of this most unlikely of drag racing stars, a58-year-old, silver-haired grandfather who prefers the intellectualchallenge of racing to the adrenaline rush of competition. W.J. iscomplex, calculating, and cerebral, an engineer/racer who is invariablyanalytical and occasionally controversial. Drag racing lore does notrecord who first hung the sobriquet "the Professor" on Warren Johnson,but the nickname was a perfect fit.
Despite Johnson's objections, the NHRA record book testifies to hisconsiderable skill behind the wheel. He stands at the head of the ProStock class in every statistical category: victories, final rounds, No.1 qualifying times, low elapsed times, and top speeds.
With a professional racing career that spans four decades, Johnson hasachieved the status of senior statesman in the sport. He is a racingencyclopedia who has competed in 84 percent of the Pro Stock racescontested in NHRA history. He has qualified for every race since the1987 Gatornationals - a remarkable 15-year streak. In a class wherehorsepower reigns supreme, Johnson is the undisputed king of speed,having recorded the fastest run in more than half of the races since1982.
"This isn't rocket science," Johnson declares with his characteristiccandor. "It's about racing for 1,320 feet. Drag racing is an engineeringexercise in its purest form; you either win or lose."
Johnson's steely determination and his relentless work ethic were forgedas a young man growing up on a hard-scrabble farm in Minnesota's aptlynamed Iron Range.
"What we were doing wasn't really farming; it was more like moving rocksaround," Johnson recalls. "Growing up on a farm was a great educationfor a youngster with an interest in mechanical things."
Long before he became the most prolific Pro Stock driver in NHRAhistory, Johnson was an unknown soldier in an army of weekend warriors.He drove his modified '57 Chevy hundreds of miles to race on obscuredragstrips while his wife, Arlene, cradled their son, Kurt, in her arms.The Johnsons won their first race in 1963 at Minnesota Dragway. Therewould be many more victories to come.
Johnson's Pro Stock career was an accident of geography. Insulatedfrom the fuel-racing frenzy of Southern California and isolated fromthe stock-car strongholds of the East, Johnson concentrated on enginedevelopment during the long Minnesota winters.
He took night classes in engineering while working full time in a steelfabrication shop, but his heart was in the tiny garage behind the familyhome in frigid Fridley, Minn.
Johnson made his first foray into Pro Stock in 1971 with a Camaro thathe had driven home from a dealership and stripped in his driveway. Hetowed his homebuilt race car to Indianapolis, qualified 28th in the32-car U.S. Nationals field, and was promptly defeated in the firstround of eliminations.
That experience taught "the Professor" the value of patience andpersistence. Eleven years later, Johnson finally won his firstnational event. Another decade elapsed before he won his first Winstonchampionship. It was a deliberate, thoughtful process for Johnson togather the equipment, the resources, and the knowledge to become achampion.
At first, Johnson financed his fledgling racing operation by buildingengines for rival racers. Campaigning an evil-handling big-block Vega onpoorly prepared tracks educated Johnson in the fine art of high-speeddriving. In 1975 and at age 32, Johnson made the life-changing decisionto become a professional drag racer. It was a bare-bones familybusiness: Warren, Arlene, and Kurt slept in their truck and took showersin friends' hotel rooms.
"My plan was to start at the bottom and work my way up," Johnsonremembers. "We had no sponsorship money, absolutely nothing. Inretrospect, I had no choice but to make it work."
Warren did make it work, finishing as runner-up in the 1976 Winstonchampionship with a Camaro he later christened "The Incredible Hulk"after it logged nearly 3,000 runs in six seasons of hard racing. Hefinished fifth in the standings in 1977 and seventh in 1978, but he wasstill winless on the national event tour.
Johnson took a sabbatical from NHRA competition from 1979 to 1981.During these "lost years," Warren won back-to-back IHRA Pro Stockchampionships and barnstormed his big-block Camaro on the match racingcircuit, where he perfected his racecraft.
"You have to understand how to win; winning doesn't happen by accident,"he explains. "I needed to learn how to race."
The Johnson family migrated to Georgia in 1981 to take advantage of theSouth's year-round racing weather. When NHRA replaced its complex systemof Pro Stock weight breaks with a straightforward 500-cid, 2,350-poundformula at the start of the 1982 season, W.J. returned with a vengeance.
Johnson scored his first NHRA national event victory at the 1982Summernationals in Englishtown, defeating reigning champion Lee Shepherdin the final round. Once he tasted victory, Johnson's appetite forwinning became insatiable. He has won at least one national event for20 consecutive years - the longest active winning streak in NHRA dragracing.
Johnson utterly dominated Pro Stock in the 1990s, winning championshipsin 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, and 1999. When he didn't win thechampionship, he finished second or third. He won 30 percent of theraces and appeared in 44 percent of the final rounds. He claimed fourconsecutive U.S. Nationals crowns from 1992 to 1995 and ended the decadewith his sixth career Indy title in 1999. W.J. reached drag racing'slast great milestone with his barrier-breaking 200-mph run in April1997, and in 1999 he made history again by running the top speed atevery event on the calendar.
Mechanical wizardry and technical innovation are the hallmarks ofJohnson's career. He introduced the Funny Car-style roll cage to ProStock and perfected the five-speed planetary transmission, but internalcombustion has always been W.J.'s specialty. He still prepares thecylinder heads and intake manifolds for his record-setting engines.
When Oldsmobile engineers launched a serious drag racing program toshowcase the resurrected Hurst/Oldsmobile in 1983, W.J. was the man theycalled. Johnson reworked the venerable big-block Chevrolet V-8 to createa purpose-built powerplant: the invincible Drag Race Competition Engine(DRCE). After nearly 20 years, the Johnson-designed DRCE remains thefoundation of GM's Pro Stock engine program.
"The Professor's" most successful student is his son, Kurt, a 22-timenational event winner and the first Pro Stock driver to run a six-secondelapsed time. Arlene has stood by her man for 39 years, and she is thethread that binds the tightly knit family enterprise.
With a sixth championship in sight, W.J. shows no sign of slowing down.He dismisses talk of retirement: "I enjoy what I'm doing," he declares."I'm having more fun than one person should be allowed to have."
With his steel-blue eyes fixed on the future, "the Professor" willcontinue to write the book on Pro Stock as one of drag racing's greatestdrivers.
NHRA's Top 50 Drivers are being unveiled on NHRA.com and through thepages of National DRAGSTER, in reverse order throughout the 2001 season,with a schedule leading up to the naming of the top driver at theAutomobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Pomona Raceway onNov. 11.
As NHRA celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2001, it has emerged as oneof the most popular spectator sports, highlighted by a $50 million,24-event, nationally televised tour. The NHRA has developed into theworld's largest motorsports sanctioning body, with more than 80,000members nationwide, and more than 140 member tracks.<pre>
NHRA's 50 GREATEST DRIVERS50. Elmer Trett49. Richard Tharp48. Malcolm Durham47. Billy Meyer46. Ken Veney45. Scotty Richardson44. Dave Schultz43. Frank Hawley42. David Rampy41. John Mulligan 40. Frank Manzo 39. Danny Ongais 38. James Warren 37. Edmond Richardson 36. Blaine Johnson 35. Terry Vance 34. Willie Borsch 33. Brad Anderson 32. Darrell Gwynn 31. Dick LaHaie 30. Chris Karamesines 29. Art Chrisman 28. George Montgomery 27. Jim Dunn 26. Gene Snow 25. Tommy Ivo 24. Gary Beck 23. Jack Chrisman 22. Pete Robinson 21. Connie Kalitta 20. Raymond Beadle 19. Ed McCulloch 18. Don Nicholson 17. Jim Liberman 16. Tom McEwen 15. Ronnie Sox 14. Eddie Hill 13. Pat Austin 12. Lee Shepherd 11. Mickey Thompson 10. Dale Armstrong 9. Joe Amato 8. Bill Jenkins 7. Warren Johnson
-NHRA-
