Profile On: RJ Johnson!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
RJ Johnson, #71 360 Sprint
(Joanne Cram) As the 2008 season winds down, RJ Johnson’s travel plans are just getting started. As a Knoxville transplant for the season, RJ will wind his way back down south, as he will eventually head back home to Tampa, Florida. The 21 year old has called the Knoxville Raceway campgrounds home for the entire season, dedicating his time and energy to taming the famed half mile of Knoxville Raceway.
While his year didn’t exactly begin as he had hoped due to motor issues, RJ has given his time at Knoxville his all. He works on the car during the week and races Saturday night. He’s been fortunate to find Kevin and Kim De Long’s garage to rent for a shop and that’s where he spends his time working on the car.
RJ grew up watching his dad, Roland, race sprint cars around the south in his #72. When his dad decided to hang it up, he asked RJ if he was ready to jump in the seat. RJ got in his dad’s 360 for a practice night, and that was enough to get him hooked. He returned the following season of 2004 in his own #71- one number below his dad’s car number, and ran the United Sprint Car Series (USCS), which includes a schedule of over 50 races and 7 states across the southern part of the country. In RJ’s first season with the USCS, he earned Rookie of the Year=2 0honors and was 4th in overall series points. An influential racer in RJ’s career has been Terry Gray, who helped RJ out a lot in his first year of racing and RJ is very thankful for his help. RJ’s other inspirational drivers have been Jac Haudenschield and Dion Hindi over the years.
RJ would continue to race the USCS for the next three seasons, where he was 5th in points for 2005 and 2007. 2006 found RJ running a limited schedule with the USCS, so he didn’t run for points. Last season, he was also able to compete at East Bay for points because the USCS races didn’t conflict with the East Bay Schedule. RJ won the points championship there which was especially important to him because his father also won a points championship there in the 90‘s.
Next season is up in the air for RJ, as he is working towards putting together the funding to run the National ASCS series. He’s still not opposed to running Knoxville weekly again either. RJ says that racing weekly at Knoxville has made him a better driver, trying to figure out the half mile every weekend is a challenge. He hopes he can take what he’s learned here and apply it to new tracks. RJ enjoys running different tracks, and he thinks it helps him become a better driver.
RJ’s luck in figuring out Knoxville Raceway, came midseason with a new Ostrich Motor. The new motor program has helped get the JEI chassis towards20the front and has brought RJ a feature win as well. One of RJ’s two major goals for this season will come to realization. He has all but clinched the Rookie of the Year honors in the 360 class, and had hopes of making the top 10 in points overall. With his bad luck early in the season however, he hopes for a top 15.
After the season is finished at Knoxville, RJ will uproot his motor home and head south. He plans to run Devil’s Bowl and Little Rock in October, and in between now and then, will race a few races, as well as crew for drivers such as TJ Winegardner, Don Young and Kathryne Minter. After all the racing is over for the winter, RJ will settle back down in Tampa where he enjoys deep sea fishing and watching his favorite football team, the 49ers. He also keeps tabs on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays during the spring and summer baseball season.
RJ’s sponsors include Fast Wraps, Kendall Motor Oil, Simpson, Pro Shocks, JEI, Ted Williams and Dayton Andrews Dodge. Crew include dad, Roland; and Devin. RJ has been thankful for his dad’s help this season as well. Since he’s retired, Roland is able to stay out on the road with his son. RJ’s mom, Barbara, stays home in Florida- holding down the fort and teaching pre school.
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