Ricky Johnson
Johnson celebrates winning the 2012 AMSOIL Cup
NationalityAmerican
BornRichard Bernard Johnson Jr.
(1964-07-06) July 6, 1964
El Cajon, California
Related toLuke Johnson
TORC: The Off Road Championship Pro 4 career
Debut season2011
Current teamVildosola Racing
Championships2011, 2012,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022,2023
Best finish1st in 2011, 2012
Finished last season1st
Previous series
2013, 2021
2009–2010		Stadium Super Trucks
TORC Pro 2
Championship titles
1984 AMA 250
1986 AMA 250 and Supercross
1987 AMA 250 and 500
1988 AMA 500 and Supercross
TORC Pro 2 (2010)
TORC Pro 4 (2011, 2012)
Awards
AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductee (1999)
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee (2012)[1]
1997 and 2003 Baja 1000 winner
1999 American Speed Association Rookie of the Year
2012 AMSOIL Cup winner
2014 Frozen Rush winner
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
12 races run over 4 years
Best finish31st (1996)
First race1995 Spears Manufacturing 200 (Mesa Marin)
Last race1997 Carquest 420K (Las Vegas)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 2 0
Last updated on: February 3, 2014.

Richard Bernard "Ricky" Johnson Jr. (born July 6, 1964) is an American former professional motocross, off-road truck and stock car racer. He competed in AMA motocross and Supercross during the 1980s and, won seven AMA national championships.[2] He later switched to off-road racing. He won the Pro 2WD Trophy Truck championship in the 1998 Championship Off-Road Racing and 2010 TORC Series.[3] He also won the Pro 4WD class at the 2011 and 2012 TORC Series. In September 2012, Johnson won the 4x4 world championship race at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway and later that day won the AMSOIL Cup pitting the two and four wheel drive trucks. Johnson won the 2014 Frozen Rush, the first short-course off-road race on snow.

Racing career

Motocross career

Johnson was born in El Cajon, California where his father was an avid motorcyclist who bought his son a mini-bike when he was 3 years old.[2] When he turned 16 in 1980, he earned his pro license.[2] He won his first 250cc class national championship in 1984 for the Yamaha factory motocross team.[4] For the 1986 season, he was offered a job with the Honda team by team manager and five time former world champion Roger De Coster.[2] He battled his Honda teammate David Bailey throughout the 1986 season, coming away with the 250 title and the Supercross crown.[5] De Coster picked Johnson, Bailey and another Honda teammate Johnny O'mara to represent the US in the Motocross des Nations in Maggiora, Italy. Team U.S.A. won with a clean sweep. Back home, he finished second to Bailey in the 500 class. The rivalry was short-lived as just prior to the start of the 1987 season Bailey was paralyzed in a practice crash.[2]

Johnson dominated the 1987 season, winning both the 250 and 500 crowns.[2] In 1987, Johnson also won what is considered one of Supercross history's greatest races in the Super Bowl of Motocross at the L.A. Coliseum. After crashing in the first corner Johnson came back from near dead last to pass Jeff Ward and eventually privateer Guy Cooper on the penultimate lap to squeeze the win. Johnson followed this performance by adding the 1988 Supercross and 500 titles to his name.

Johnson started the 1989 season strongly but suffered a serious injury when he broke his wrist in a practice session.[2] He would never fully recover from the injury. He soldiered on for a few more seasons but the injury proved too debilitating. He announced his retirement at the beginning of the 1991 season.[2]

At the time of his retirement from motocross racing at age 26, he was the all-time leader in Supercross victories. Johnson was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America[1] in 2012.

Career after motocross

Johnson went on to have success in off-road racing and stock car racing. He took wins in the famous Baja 1000 twice and was American Speed Association stock car series Rookie of the Year in 1999, driving for Herzog Motorsports as a teammate to unrelated El Cajon, CA off-road racer Jimmie Johnson.[2] Johnson ran twelve races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series from 1995 to 1997.

Off-road racing

Johnson's 2010 truck

Johnson founded the Traxxas TORC Series for the 2009 season. He sold the series after the season to the United States Auto Club (USAC) and he concentrated on being a driver. Johnson won the TORC Series Pro2wd Championship in 2010 after a season long battle with Rob MacCachren, the defending champ. This championship came down to the last race of the season at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway with Johnson securing a second-place finish to win the championship.[3]

In 2012, Johnson won the Pro 4x4 World Championship race on Sunday at Crandon's second race weekend. Later that day, he won the AMSOIL Cup pitting the Pro 4x4 and Pro 2 drivers against each other.

In 2013, Johnson joined some Stadium Super Trucks races, with sponsorship from Jegs High Performance.[6] He did not return to the series until 2021 at the Music City Grand Prix.[7]

Johnson started 2014 early by competing in the Red Bull-sponsored Frozen Rush race. This inaugural event featured Pro 4 trucks racing with studded tires on snowy mountain slopes at Sunday River in Maine. Eight drivers from the two national series (TORC and LOORRS) were selected to compete head to head with the victory advancing to the next round. Johnson beat Johnny Greaves in the final round for the win.[8]

In addition to short course truck racing, Johnson has competed in desert off-road races. In 2009 and 2010 he was 3rd in the Unlimited Truck class of the SNORE Mint 400.

Personal life

Johnson now lives in Southern California with his wife, Stephanie, and their children.

Images

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 NCTC Pts Ref
1995 Vestar Motorsports 01 Chevy PHO TUS SGS MMR POR EVG I70 LVL BRI MLW CNS HPT IRP FLM RCH MAR NWS SON MMR
25		 PHO 93rd 88 [9]
1996 Penske Racing 22 Ford HOM PHO POR
25		 EVG
15		 TUS CNS
DNQ		 HPT BRI NZH MLW LVL I70 IRP FLM GLN
30		 NSV RCH NHA MAR 31st 786 [10]
Billy Ballew Motorsports 15 Ford NWS
27		 SON
23		 MMR
21		 PHO
15		 LVS
38
1997 Prime Performance Motorsports 63 Chevy WDW TUS HOM PHO POR EVG I70 NHA TEX BRI NZH MLW LVL CNS HPT IRP FLM NSV GLN
8		 RCH MAR SON
4		 MMR CAL
DNQ		 PHO LVS
17		 48th 414 [11]
1998 WDW
DNQ		 HOM PHO POR EVG I70 GLN TEX BRI MLW NZH CAL PPR IRP NHA FLM NSV HPT LVL RCH MEM GTY MAR SON MMR PHO LVS NA - [12]

Stadium Super Trucks

(key) (Bold – Pole position. Italics – Fastest qualifier. * – Most laps led.)

Stadium Super Trucks results
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 SSTC Pts Ref
2013 PHO LBH
4		 LAN
13		 SDG
2*		 SDG
5		 STL TOR TOR CRA CRA OCF OCF OCF CPL 8th 123 [13]
2021 STP STP MOH MOH MOH MOH NSH
13		 NSH
13		 LBH LBH 21st 16 [14]

References

  1. 1 2 Ricky Johnson at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rick Johnson at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame
  3. 1 2 "Greaves, Johnson, Currie Crowned 2010 TORC Series PRO Champs; Douglas Wins AMSOIL Cup". Race Dezert. 5 September 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
  4. ↑ AMA motocross champions
  5. ↑ Motocross Action Every champ
  6. ↑ "Ricky Johnson joins Robby Gordon's stadium truck series". Racer. 20 March 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "SST Added To Nashville IndyCar Weekend". Stadium Super Trucks. July 14, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  8. ↑ Jung, Carter. "Frozen Rush: Ricky Johnson Wins Inaugural Race". Red Bull. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Rick Johnson – 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series By Craftsman Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Rick Johnson – 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Rick Johnson – 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Rick Johnson – 1998 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  13. ↑ "2013 SST Point Standings". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  14. ↑ "2021 Overall Point Standings". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
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