Championship Drag Racing

Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals
Sonoma, CA
(July 28-30)

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Driver Profile

Steve Johnson Steve Johnson Racing Suzuki

Sonoma, Sunday: “This was one heck of a weekend,” said Steve Johnson in a classic understatement following his outing in the Fram Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway just north of San Francisco.  “First came the announcement that WyoTech has been named the Official Technical School of the NHRA, and then we run our best elapsed time ever in qualifying for the quickest field in Pro Stock Motorcycle history.  The only thing that could have been better was the driver, ‘cause he red-lighted in the second round.

“Oh, man, that’s me, isn’t it?

“I hate making excuses, but I did make a tactical error in changing the face shield on my helmet.  I went to a little darker color, and that slightly altered how the lights appeared to me.  I thought I left on a solid yellow light, but it came up red, so that’s all there is to say.

“But, let me quickly add that our new crew chief, Mark Peiser, was the key to everything we did this weekend.  He did an awesome job in tuning our Suzuki for the conditions, and the proof’s right there in our time slips.  We ran a career best in qualifying and then ran an even quicker number in the first round (7.063 seconds).  Just to be a part of the quickest field in Pro Stock Motorcycle history was a big honor for me personally, and the way things have been going, believe me, I can’t wait for our next race in Minnesota on August 10th.”

Prior to the Fram Autolite Nationals Johnson’s quickest elapsed time of 7.077 seconds was notched at last year’s Gatornationals, where he scored his second major POWERade Series victory.  His personal best speed mark of 192.91 mph, recorded at last year’s U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, where he was also victorious, remains on the books, but as he said, “I’d like nothing better than to break that record in Minnesota.  If not there, then why not at Indy?  That would be really cool.”

Johnson was present last Tuesday for the joint announcement naming WyoTech the Official Technical School of the NHRA, terming the press conference “a home run.  We had lots of media present, and I think everyone came away with a very good feeling about this new relationship between drag racing’s largest sanctioning organization and WyoTech.  Each is an obvious leader in their respective fields, so I’m looking forward to their working together in the months ahead.”

Although obviously disappointed by his foul start in the second round, Johnson was also philosophical about the outcome.  “Based on the numbers, my only hope of beating Antron (Brown) was to have had at least a double zero Reaction Time, or better yet, a perfect light, but that doesn’t happen very often.  Next time it’s my turn!”

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