Profile On: Johnny Herrera!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Johnny Herrera Makes a Strong Return to Knoxville’s Weekly Program
by Joanne Cram
Its been 14 years since Johnny ‘Hollywood’ Herrera competed weekly at Knoxville Raceway and he’s back with a mission. Temporarily calling Mitchellville, Iowa home, Johnny helps crew chief, Troy Renfro during the week preparing the 2W sprint. The team also runs nearby races when they don’t conflict with the Knoxville weekly schedule. They initially put together a 60 to 70 race schedule for the season, including heading west to finish the Outlaw tour after Knoxville’s weekly schedule commences. Herrera got a jumpstart on the weekly schedule at Knoxville by running races in February and March in his family-owned 45x in both a 360 and 410.
Johnny has teamed up with veteran car owner, Larry Woodward out of southern California. Also looking for a change, Woodward called on Johnny over the winter to run a local venue, hoping to downsize racing expenses. Touring the country with Dollansky previously, Woodward was ready to regroup and forgo high travel expenses for a season. After teaming up with Renfro, the decision was made to house the racing operation out of Renfro’s Mitchellville shop and run their Maxim-ITI Performance sprint at Knoxville weekly for the point’s race. Tougher competition is hard to find for a weekly program, so Herrera was ready to take the challenge!
Johnny has a long history in sprint car racing. He is well known from his days traveling with the World of Outlaws, as well as the All Stars. Herrera also raced extensively across the southwest, where he is a native of Albuquerque.
Johnny grew up watching and helping his dad, Joe race in the mid 70’s. Joe started his racing career running super modifieds with NCRA. He was very competitive, although racing on a limited budget. In the 80’s, Joe moved up to a sprint car, which Johnny would eventually take over. Herrera learned a lot from working and racing with his father. He began running go-karts at the age of 13 and raced for a couple years. In 1984, Johnny traded all his go-kart parts and his dad sold all the left over super modified equipment and put Johnny in the sprint car.
That first season Johnny ran six or seven races around Albuquerque, mostly non-winged races, and even won a couple. By the next season of 1985, Joe decided Johnny was ready for a full season of racing. Johnny thought he was loading up and going to help his dad race at Devil’s Bowl, when the car rolled out of the trailer and Joe told Johnny he was racing that night. They raced the family car locally the remainder of the season and even hit a few Outlaw races in that first full year of racing.
In 1986, the Herrera team thought they were ready to head out on the road full time with the Outlaws. In the mid 80’s it didn’t take as much funding to run the series as it does today, so it was a lot more feasible for local teams to race full time with the Outlaws. Herrera had a few top ten finishes and earned Rookie of the Year honors that first full year on the Outlaw tour.
The remainder of the 80’s found Hollywood Herrera in and out of several cars and running several series and tracks. He ran the family owned car off and on, as well as Ron Pack and Kenny Jenkin’s cars. In 1989, Herrera drove the very first Maxim car for Chuck Merrill.
Over the late 80’s and early 90’s, Herrera drove at least half of the World Of Outlaw races, quickly rising as a top contender.
The early ‘90’s found Herrera driving for owners such as Red Powell of Salt Lake City, and Jeff Gillam’s 29W of Oklahoma City- in who’s car he achieved his first ever World of Outlaws win at Gillam’s home track of Oklahoma City. In ‘93, Herrera would pair up with Guy Forbrook, which would prove to be a long-standing relationship. Throughout this time, Johnny also continued to race his family’s car as well.
In the mid 90’s, Herrera drove for several other famous car owners, including Al Hamilton, Casey Luna, and again, Guy Forbrook. Again, Herrera didn’t run a full Outlaw schedule, but raced hit and miss series and tracks.
In 1995, Johnny and Guy Forbrook teamed up again to run a full season together at Knoxville Raceway, where he claimed the season championship that year. All together that season, Herrera won 34 races and won every sprint car race that I-80 Speedway held that season.
1996 brought a partnership between Herrera and the familiar Gil Sonner, #47. They ran the World of Outlaw schedule and Herrera won the King’s Royal that year.
By the next decade, Herrera again found himself driving for another team. He had partnered up with Craig Cormack and drove full time on the Outlaw Tour with his #1BK and #20 cars in 1999 and 2000. The next few seasons were spent driving a selective All Stars and World of Outlaw schedule for Billy Wilburn, and finishing the 2003 season back with Forbrook again.
The past five racing seasons brought Johnny closer to his southwest roots, racing his family’s 45x and running around New Mexico and Arizona. They had run 20-25 races a year, and won several SCOA, ASCS, and NMMRA non-wing races. Herrera also won the SCOA championship two seasons.
Being on the road is tough on a family. Johnny’s wife, Carla, works full time as an insurance agent back in Albuquerque and they have three daughters; Tyler, Tori, and Taylor. His parents, Joe and Martha are also home in New Mexico, where Johnny’s dad owns a flooring company that Johnny also works at when he’s not racing. When time allows, Hollywood Herrera likes to golf, and is always working on the sprint cars.
After this season, Johnny is unsure of his plans. He is enjoying his return to full time racing and will wait to see how it all plays out. He doesn’t rule out another World of Outlaw tour either. The goals for this season are to win as many races as the team can, and to earn the Knoxville points championship title.
The Woodward 2W is sponsored by ITI Performance, Perfect Circle Bending, Hoosier, K & N Air Filters, Butler Built, FK Rod Ends, and Simpson Racing Products. Crew includes Troy Renfro, Scott Parker, Rick Ideus, and Brian Muller.
(Pictured): Johnny is shown at the IRA show. He recorded one of his three wins this season on the night. (Ryan Northcote)
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