Johnson is no stranger to the tremendous amount of preparation needed to campaign the full 9-month, 15 race NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle schedule. In 2025, the Alabama-based racer will be embarking on his 39th year of competition aboard his Suzuki Hayabusa. Johnson finished last season in 9th place, his 24th career appearance in the season ending Top 10 points standings.
“There’s still not a cookie cutter program and I don’t check off any boxes because I just keep learning,” Johnson said when asked how he prepares each year. “The competition keeps improving. We don’t have all the resources I’d want but we show up ready to race. We’ve won this race before and we’re going to go out and fight.”
The Gatornationals will provide the perfect setting for the loquacious Johnson to renew his quest for a championship this season. Johnson reached the winner’s circle at Gainesville Raceway in 2005, earning his second career Pro Stock Motorcycle “Wally” with a final round victory over Craig Treble.
“Gainesville is one of the coolest places to race and the bikes have always started the season there,” said Johnson. “What makes it so fun is that it’s always a sellout, the weather is always awesome, the track is very fast, and we’ve won there before! I really like that place.”
To compete at such a high level on the NHRA tour, Johnson relies on a talented all-volunteer group of friends that serve as his crew on race weekends. “My crew works without getting paid,” remarked Johnson, “but they show up to support me because we’re friends and they love the sport as much as I do. The reason we’ve been competitive is their hard work and not the dollars.”
Last year Johnson qualified a season-high 4th in Gainesville and advanced to the quarterfinals. He enters this year’s Gatornationals hoping to build on his Suzuki’s strong showing during last season’s Countdown to the Championship.
“The NHRA has opened up testing before the event, so our plan is to go down there and test on Wednesday,” revealed Johnson. “We had a really fast Suzuki at the end of last year. Our goal is to see if that bike shows up in Gainesville. And with the new VP fuel it might go even quicker.”
Last season, Johnson made drag racing history aboard his Suzuki Hayabusa by becoming the first racer in the class to compete in 500 NHRA national events. In doing so he became only the 8th active NHRA professional driver, in any class, to accomplish the feat. And the first on two wheels. Johnson has only missed 12 of the 519 total NHRA national events featuring Pro Stock Motorcycle, which became a championship class in 1987. He hasn’t missed qualifying for an NHRA national event since 2019.
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