Johnson Flying High, but Staying Down to Earth, in Motocross

It is just past 2 p.m. Thursday, and a few sprinkles of rain are beginning to put a shine on the parking lot at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Rick Johnson has just tested the soggy motocross track, where he will ride tonight in the Coors Extra Gold Super Challenge.

Johnson’s bike is a mess, caked with dirt. He sits crouched beside it, meticulously picking the mud out of the tires’ grooves.

Remember, this is the Rick Johnson. Not your ordinary rider. This guy will probably earn more than a half million dollars this year. He is a hero to many involved with motocross racing, as one younger rider admitted somewhat sheepishly at the press conference for the San Diego event. This is a guy who, at 24, will become the all-time winningest rider in motocross history with just two more victories. He already has won the first three events of the year.

And he’s getting his hands dirty?

Success hasn’t spoiled him yet. It probably never will. Johnson, who was raised and still lives in El Cajon, hasn’t forgotten what it takes to reach the top. There are too many reminders.

“People always think you’re an overnight success,” he said. “They don’t see what it takes to get where you’re at.”

So Johnson does the little things, such as cleaning his own bike. Winning takes effort. And effort has helped him finish first in a somewhat amazing 60% of his races since 1985.

For Johnson, it has also taken some breaks. Not good ones, either. During the course of his career--which unofficially began at the age of 9 when he told his father, Dick, that he was tired of baseball and wanted to ride motorbikes--Johnson has broken one of his shins, two fingers, his collarbone and his wrist. He also has dislocated his hip and torn ligaments in his knees and ankles.

Dick Johnson estimates his son has seen half a dozen of his friends get paralyzed since he decided to turn professional at age 13. Motocross racing has caused Dick Johnson some anxious moments.

Two year ago, while Rick was competing at a race in Anaheim, he flipped over the handlebar and landed on his neck.

“I about had a heart attack,” Dick Johnson said. “By the time I got down there, he was just starting to come to. It scared the heck out of me. I didn’t even go to Anaheim this year.”

But Rick Johnson has never questioned his choice of profession. This is what he loves to do. It gives him the license to express himself in any manner he wants, and he doesn’t worry about the consequences. So he assumes the risks.

“My theory,” he said, “is you’ve got to think about tomorrow but not worry about tomorrow.”

Johnson didn’t always think that way. Because of his special ability on motorcycles, he sometimes had more money as a teen-ager than he knew what to do with. At first, Dick just let him spend.

After Johnson was well-stocked with new skateboards and Boogie boards, Dick decided to give him a dose of adulthood and told him that if he saved his money he could buy a truck by the time he was old enough to drive. So Rick set his mind to it. He paid cash for a truck when he was 15 and waited nearly a year before he could drive it. He has since bought a new house for his parents and moved into their old one.

If mastering finances was his first big obstacle, learning to win was next. Johnson has always been talented. And he has always had desire. But during much of his career, he said, he rode recklessly. Maybe the injuries have mellowed him. Maybe just the experiences.

Johnson has not only learned how to win, he has learned how to deal with all the other variables involved in competing on the motocross circuit. Given his druthers, he would probably just as soon spend his spare time listening to music by himself. He said he has always been somewhat of a loner.

But out of necessity, Johnson has changed. Sponsored by Honda, Johnson is expected to make appearances, do interviews and help motocross gain more notoriety. His phone starts ringing at 7:30 a.m. When he first started, he wasn’t good at answering questions in front of a crowd. Now he enjoys it. His answers are smooth, not canned. He speaks with sincerity. He enjoys it.

“I just relax and say what I feel,” he said. “If you try to be too cool and too fluid people look at you and say: ‘This guy’s a jerk’ ”

This guy isn’t a jerk. After an event, Johnson will often be the last one out of the stadium. He doesn’t leave until everybody who has waited has an autograph. He also has spent much of his spare time working on an anti-drug video. There’s not a better advertisement for motocross racing.

“He’s the best there is when it comes to promotion of the sport,” said Jeff Stanton, who is currently second behind Johnson in rider point standings.

Stanton, originally from Michigan, recently moved in with Johnson. He saw it as an opportunity to learn and train with the best. Among other things, Stanton has learned to balance his life. Before, Stanton said, he was one dimensional. Motocross was on his mind day in and day out. Now, with Johnson’s influence, he has other outlets and consequently has been more successful on the track.

With each achievement, Johnson has stored away a little knowledge. There was a time when all he wanted to do was get his picture in the newspaper. Then he wanted to have a sticker made with his name on it. Then a shirt.

All of this has happened, but now it doesn’t matter to him.

“I’d look like an idiot if I wore my own shirt,” he said. “Or if I put my sticker on my truck, I’d look like an egotistical pig.

“I’ve changed a lot as a person.”