Hard-Driving Johnson Is Speedy Success in Race Business : Motorcycles: Chatsworth rider wins championships and corporate backing while becoming a national spokesman for the sport.
Adrenaline rushes are nothing new to Steve Johnson.
After eight years on the National Hot Rod Assn.’s Pro-Stock Motorcycle Tour, racing machines that can reach 100 miles a hour in two seconds, the Chatsworth resident has become immune to speed.
But even Johnson, a Monroe High graduate, has paused to slow down and enjoy his accomplishments in what has been the best season of his career.
Johnson is in fourth place on the NHRA motorcycle drag-racing tour, trailing John Smith by 20 points heading into Sunday’s 11 a.m. season finale at Pomona Speedway.
“Being a professional motorcycle racer has been my dream,” Johnson said. “This is why I didn’t date or go and hang out at the bars. I wanted to dedicate my time to being a pro-motorcycle guy.”
As a high school sophomore, Johnson attended his first professional motorcycle race at the Orange County Speedway. He instantly was attracted to the sport.
“I’d sit at green lights and want to race cars at the stoplights when I was growing up in the Valley,” Johnson said. “I really thought I was something on my little Suzuki 90.”
Johnson, 34, turned professional in 1987 and it didn’t take long for him to break into the winner’s circle.
He won the Drag Bike USA championships in 1987 and ’89. Although the Drag Bike series is now defunct, it was a start for Johnson. He took the $2,000 purse from his first title to fund a personal crusade to entice a sponsor.
“I bought a cheap suit and had a bunch of press kits made and went out to convince Corporate America that motorcycles are a legitimate marketing tool,” Johnson said.
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The strategy paid off.
In 1989, Slick 50, an engine oil company, began a sponsorship with Johnson that continues today. The agreement reportedly is the longest-lasting major sponsorship in the history of motorcycle drag racing.
Johnson created the Crystal Ball Program in 1993. Since then, he has spoken to more than 30,000 students across the country, stressing the importance of education and the evils of drugs and alcohol.
The program has been so successful that FBI officials and Dick Riley, the Secretary of Education, have asked Johnson to assist them with similar projects.
The biggest breakthrough for Johnson’s career was his signing this year with the Star Racing Team. Owner George Bryce is a renowned engine builder in the motorcycle racing industry, and racer John Meyers is second in the NHRA Pro-Stock points standings.
“Steve has been a great addition to our team,” Meyers said. “He’s a guy that has lot to offer motorcycle racing. He’s a great promoter, and our sport would be better if we had more guys like him.”
Johnson has not won an NHRA-sanctioned event, but he has come close several times. He finished second in races in Virginia and Pennsylvania earlier this season, and won an American Motorcycle Assn. event in Atlanta in April.
“I’ve had some luck on the East Coast, but maybe it’s time to have some luck out West at a track that is close to my home,” Johnson said. “To cash in my experience and win [near] my hometown . . . nothing could be better then that.”
