Dick Johnson (racing driver)
Dick Johnson | |
---|---|
![]() Johnson signing autographs in 2006 | |
Nationality | ![]() |
Born | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | 26 April 1945
Retired | 1999 |
Related to | Steven Johnson (son) |
Australian Touring Car Championship | |
Years active | 1970–1999 |
Teams | Bryan Byrt Racing Dick Johnson Racing |
Starts | 202 |
Wins | 22 |
Best finish | 1st in 1981, 1982, 1984, 1988 & 1989 Australian Touring Car Championship |
Previous series | |
1982–91 1989–90 1990 | Australian Endurance Championship NASCAR Australia NASCAR Cup Series |
Championship titles | |
1981 1981 1982 1984 1987 1988 1989 1989 1994 1994 1995 1995 | Australian Touring Car Champ. Bathurst 1000 Australian Touring Car Champ. Australian Touring Car Champ. South Pacific Touring Car Championship Australian Touring Car Champ. Australian Touring Car Champ. Bathurst 1000 Sandown 500 Bathurst 1000 Eastern Creek 12 Hour Sandown 500 |
Awards | |
2001 | V8 Supercars Hall of Fame |
Richard "Dick" Johnson (born 26 April 1945) is a part-owner of the V8 Supercar team Dick Johnson Racing and a former racing driver. As a driver, he was a five-time Australian Touring Car Champion and a three-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. As of 2008 Johnson has claimed over twenty awards and honours,[citation needed] including the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame into which he was inducted in 2001.
In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, Dick Johnson was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for his role as a "sports legend".[1]
Early life
[edit]![]() | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (July 2018) |
As a teen Johnson attended Cavendish Road State High School in Brisbane, Australia and it was in this area of Coorparoo that he first started driving with his father as a young child. Cavendish Road State High School has named one of their school houses Johnson, in his honour. The house colour is blue.
After leaving school, Johnson was drafted into the Australian Army at the age of 20 and began his two-year National Service in 1965. Although they did not know each other at the time, both Johnson and future touring car rival Peter Brock were stationed together at the Blamey Barracks near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales from 1965 to 1967.
Racing
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/D-Johnson-EH-Graham-Ruckert.jpg/220px-D-Johnson-EH-Graham-Ruckert.jpg)
Despite becoming synonymous with driving Fords, Johnson raced in his early days in a succession of Holdens. Johnson's first race car was a Holden FJ, his first race being at Lakeside International Raceway in November 1964. In 1968 and 1969 he raced his Holden EH and from there progressed to a Holden Torana GTR for 1970, scoring his first Australian Touring Car Championship points at Lakeside in that year. The GTR was upgraded to XU-1 specifications in 1971. Johnson's first drive in the Hardie Ferodo 1000 was in Bob Forbes' Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 in 1973 when they placed fifth. Johnson then had a single race for the Holden Dealer Team at the Surfers Paradise round of the 1974 ATCC where he finished 3rd driving a GTR XU-1. He later purchased the ex HDT Torana in which Peter Brock had won the Bathurst 1000 in 1972 from Barrie Nixon Smith and campaigned the car until his switch to Ford in 1977.[2] The Torana was sold to Kerry Cox who raced it in the QLD Touring car championship in a close rivalry with Dick, with Cox winning in 1977 and Dick getting the title in 1978.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Johnson-xd81.jpg/220px-Johnson-xd81.jpg)
In 1980, during the Bathurst 1000 he started 2nd and led for the first 17 laps before his car was spun off the track after hitting a football-sized rock that had been, according to an eye-witness in 2012, accidentally kicked onto the track by one of a pair of inebriated men.[3] The resulting public support where people from around Australia rang their local Channel 7 television station (the race broadcaster) and pledged money to help the team get back on its feet. Eventually the sum of A$72,000 was donated to help rebuild the car. Led by its CEO Edsel Ford II who saw the value of the goodwill in the press surrounding Johnson's crash, the Ford Motor Company of Australia provided a new car shell and promised to match the donation dollar for dollar, resulting in the team receiving $144,000 to help get back into racing.
Johnson's close friend Ross Palmer, the owner of Palmer Tube Mills of Brisbane, became his primary sponsor in 1981 (with Bryan Byrt Ford also still a major sponsor), and with the donated money allowed him to return the next year to win both the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) and the Bathurst 1000 (with John French). Johnson won the ATCC in a famous race-long duel with Peter Brock at the Lakeside International Raceway round.[4] He won the ATCC again in 1982 (the Tru Blu XD Falcon), 1984 (Greens Tuff XE Falcon), 1988 (Ford Sierra RS500) and 1989 (Sierra RS500). He also won Bathurst in 1989 (in a Ford Sierra with John Bowe) and 1994 (in an EB Falcon, also with Bowe). The names Tru Blu, and Greens Tuff, as well as Red Roo (seen in late 1982 only), were product names of Palmer Tube Mills.
With much larger budgets required in the racing industry, Ross Palmer helped negotiate for Shell to be the team's primary sponsor from 1987. The larger budget allowed the team to expand from just one car for Dick, to a second Ford Sierra RS Cosworth for his then teammate Gregg Hansford.
NASCAR
[edit]In 1989 and 1990, prompted by Palmer Tube Mills who assisted him in receiving multiple sources of sponsorship and through the company's American offshoot Redkote, Johnson made a brief foray into the NASCAR Cup Series driving a Ford Thunderbird, entering a total of seven races with a best start of 11th at Sears Point Raceway in his first race, and a best finish of 22nd at Pocono Raceway.[5] Johnson also drove a Thunderbird in the first NASCAR race held in Australia, the 1988 Goodyear NASCAR 500 at the Calder Park Thunderdome in Melbourne. Unfortunately for Johnson he was involved in an early race crash which put him out of the event.
Retirement
[edit]Dick Johnson retired from racing at the end of the 1999 season, though he remains in charge of DJR. He did however make a one-off final appearance in front of his home crowd at the Queensland 500 in 2000 with his son Steven who had taken over driving Dick's famous Number 17 and continued to for over a decade after.[6] Johnson has twice written his autobiography as well as contributing to a third biography.[2][7][8]
In 2014, DJR announced that 51% of the team was sold to legendary team owner Roger Penske establishing DJR-Team Penske, which fields two cars in V8 Supercar racing. In 2019 Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Premat scored Johnson his first Bathurst 1000 win in any capacity since 1994. Penske later sold his share in the team back to Johnson at the end of the 2020 Supercars Championship and the team reverted to Dick Johnson Racing.[9]
Racecam
[edit]Johnson's laconic nature and quick wit were put to good use by longtime Bathurst 1000 TV broadcaster Channel 7 when they first put one of their racecam units in his Tru-Blu Ford Falcon for the 1982 James Hardie 1000. Johnson and co-driver John French were also wired for sound so the commentary team could talk to the drivers while racing around the track. From then on Johnson's cars were rarely without a TV camera sitting where the passenger seat usually was, especially when Seven was televising the race. His laconic commentary and a seemingly endless list of one-liners quickly became a favourite with Australian race fans, even those who normally followed Holden drivers such as Peter Brock and Allan Grice, both of whom also became exponents of using racecam.
Some of Johnson's quotes while on racecam were:
- "I've got one black BMW in front of me, one behind me. Frank Gardner and his All Blacks" – 1985 ATCC, Round 5 at the Adelaide International Raceway while he was sandwiched between the black JPS Team BMW's of New Zealanders Jim Richards and Neville Crichton. Gardner was the JPS team manager.
- "The old Volvo must have its truck suspension in" – 1986 ATCC, Round 4 at Adelaide International. Ironically Robbie Francevic's Volvo emerged as the race winner.
- "This race is like the Irishman who won the Tour de France I tell ya. He had to go on a lap of honour" – 1986 James Hardie 1000
- "This is where I lose so much time. I mean, this part of the track is just so boring" – 1986 Bathurst referring to his V8 Ford Mustang's lack of grunt compared to his competitors on the run up Mountain Straight.
- "It's missing and carrying on like an old sheila" – 1988 ATCC, Grand Finale at Oran Park Raceway after turbo boost problems with his championship winning Ford Sierra RS500 saw him relinquish the lead mid-race to teammate John Bowe. With the opposition nowhere in sight, Bowe later slowed enough to allow Dick to win the race and followed him across the line in a 1–2 form finish.
- "Winton? Its like running a marathon around your clothesline" – 1990 ATCC, Round 4 at Winton after Channel 7 commentator Mike Raymond asked him what the definition of Winton was.
- "Then Brock got past me would you believe, unfortunately, and that thing of his like, I nearly choked to death on Mobil 1. It looks like the last train to Ferny Grove" – 1990 ATCC, Grand Finale at Oran Park after problems with the Sierra saw him drop out of race winning and championship contention. He was referring to the Peter Brock Sierra's habit of belching black oil smoke out of its exhaust whenever he lifted off the accelerator.
- "The Sierra on one cylinder has got as much grunt as the Commodore" – 1991 ATCC, Round 5 at Winton after his misfiring Sierra had been passed by the V8 Holden Commodore of Larry Perkins.
- "You've got to be joking" – 1995 ATCC, Round 3 at Bathurst. Channel 7 had just crossed to Johnson with Mike Raymond asking "Are you lonely?". Johnson's quote came just seconds before he spun his Ford EF Falcon into Caltex Chase, seemingly distracted by Raymond's interruption. However, as the TV camera's soon picked up, the rear wing of the Falcon had collapsed at over 280 km/h (174 mph) as he was turning into the fastest corner on any Australian race circuit, at the same moment that Seven crossed to talk to him.[10]
Career results
[edit]Season | Series | Position | Car | Team |
---|---|---|---|---|
1970 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 16th | Holden LC Torana GTR | |
1971 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 13th | Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 | |
1972 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 7th | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | Dick Johnson[11] |
1973 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 42nd | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | Holden Dealer Team |
1974 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 13th | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | |
1975 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 23rd | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | |
1976 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 28th | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | |
1977 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 22nd | Ford XB Falcon GT | Bryan Byrt Ford |
1977 | Australian Sports Sedan Championship | 10th | Ford XB Falcon GT | Dick Johnson |
1978 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 10th | Ford XC Falcon GS500 | Bryan Byrt Ford |
1979 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 29th | Ford XC Falcon Cobra | Bryan Byrt Ford |
1981 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 1st | Ford XD Falcon | Palmer Tube Mills |
1982 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 1st | Ford XD Falcon | Palmer Tube Mills |
1982 | Australian Endurance Championship | 6th | Ford XE Falcon | Palmer Tube Mills |
1983 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 6th | Ford XE Falcon | Palmer Tube Mills |
1983 | Better Brakes AMSCAR Series | 11th | Ford XE Falcon | Palmer Tube Mills |
1983 | Australian Endurance Championship | 11th | Ford XE Falcon | Palmer Tube Mills |
1984 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 1st | Ford XE Falcon | Palmer Tube Mills |
1984 | Australian Endurance Championship | NC | Ford XE Falcon | Palmer Tube Mills |
1984 | World Sportscar Championship | NC | Chevrolet Monza | Re-Car Racing |
1985 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 2nd | Ford Mustang GT | Palmer Tube Mills |
1985 | Australian Endurance Championship | 8th | Ford Mustang GT | Palmer Tube Mills |
1986 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 6th | Ford Mustang GT | Palmer Tube Mills |
1986 | Australian Endurance Championship | 14th | Ford Mustang GT | Palmer Tube Mills |
1987 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 6th | Ford Sierra RS Cosworth | Shell Ultra Hi-Tech Racing Team |
1988 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 1st | Ford Sierra RS500 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing |
1988 | European Touring Car Championship | NC | Ford Sierra RS500 | Redkote Racing |
1988 | Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship | NC | Ford Sierra RS500 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing |
1988 | World Sportscar Championship | NC | Veskanda Chevrolet | Bernie van Elsen |
1989 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 1st | Ford Sierra RS500 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing |
1989 | NASCAR Cup Series | 47th | Ford Thunderbird | Dick Johnson Racing |
1990 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 4th | Ford Sierra RS500 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing |
1990 | NASCAR Winston Cup Series | 63rd | Ford Thunderbird | Dick Johnson Racing |
1990 | Australian Endurance Championship | NC | Ford Sierra RS500 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing |
1991 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 8th | Ford Sierra RS500 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing |
1991 | Australian Endurance Championship | NC | Ford Sierra RS500 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing |
1992 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 8th | Ford Sierra RS500 | Shell Ultra Hi Racing |
1993 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 5th | Ford EB Falcon | Shell Racing |
1994 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 8th | Ford EB Falcon | Shell FAI Racing |
1995 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 7th | Ford EF Falcon | Shell FAI Racing |
1995 | Australian GT Production Car Series | 12th | Mazda RX-7 SP | |
1996 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 10th | Ford EF Falcon | Shell FAI Racing |
1996 | Mobil New Zealand Sprints | 5th | Ford EF Falcon | Shell FAI Racing |
1997 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 7th | Ford EL Falcon | Shell Helix Racing |
1998 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 10th | Ford EL Falcon | Shell Helix Racing |
1999 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 10th | Ford AU Falcon | Shell Helix Racing |
Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results
[edit](key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
[edit](key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1987 | ![]() |
Ford Sierra RS500 | MNZ | JAR | DIJ | NUR | SPA | BNO | SIL | BAT Ret |
CLD ovr:13 cls:9 |
WEL Ret |
FJI | NC | 0 |
† Not registered for series & points
Complete World Sportscar Championship results
[edit](key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1984 | ![]() |
Chevrolet Monza | MON | SIL | LMS | NUR | BHT | MOS | SPA | IMO | FJI | KYL | SAN DSQ |
NC | 0 |
1988 | ![]() |
Veskanda C1 Chevrolet | JRZ | JAR | MON | SIL | LMS | BRN | BHT | NUR | SPA | FJI | SAN DSQ |
NC | 0 |
Complete European Touring Car Championship results
[edit](key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | ![]() |
Ford Sierra RS500 | MNZ | DON | EST | JAR | DIJ | VAL | NUR | SPA | ZOL | SIL 21 |
NOG | NC | 0 |
Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results
[edit](key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | ![]() |
Ford Sierra RS500 | BAT 2 |
WEL Ret |
PUK | FJI | K.A. | 15 |
NASCAR
[edit](key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
[edit]NASCAR Winston Cup 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 | 28 | 29 | NWCC | Pts | Ref | |||||||||
1989 | Dick Johnson Racing | 38 | Ford | DAY | CAR | ATL | RCH | DAR | BRI | NWS | MAR | TAL | CLT | DOV | SON 32 |
POC | MCH | DAY | POC 22 |
TAL 24 |
GLN 32 |
MCH DNQ |
BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | CLT | NWS | CAR | PHO | ATL | 47th | 322 | [12] | |||||||||
1990 | DAY | RCH | CAR | ATL | DAR 34 |
BRI | NWS | MAR | TAL | CLT DNQ |
DOV | SON | POC | MCH | DAY | POC 39 |
TAL | GLN 27 |
MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | NWS | CLT | CAR | PHO | ATL | 63rd | 189 | [13] |
Complete Bathurst 1000 results
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Bligh, Anna (10 June 2009). "PREMIER UNVEILS QUEENSLAND'S 150 ICONS". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
- ^ a b Johnson, Dick (2000). Don't Tell Me I Can't Do That. Pan Macmillan. pp. 243 pages. ISBN 9780732910464. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ "Eyewitness reveals how a rock changed Dick Johnson's life". Speedcafe.com. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ Fogarty, Mark (6 October 2016). "High-flying Falcons: The magic moments in almost 50 years of racing". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ "Dick Johnson". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 4 May 2005. Retrieved 15 July 2006.
- ^ "Steven Johnson Out of Driver's Seat at DJR". speedcafe.com. 24 February 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ Johnson, Dick (2013). Dick Johnson: The autobiography of a true-blue Aussie sporting legend. Random House. pp. 432 pages. ISBN 9781742759777. Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ Tuckey, Bill (1984). The Unforgiving Minute. Dick Johnson: The Real story of a Folk Hero. Berghouse Floyd Tuckey. pp. 160 pages. ISBN 9780959037807. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ "Team Penske confirms departure from Supercars". Supercars. Supercars. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
- ^ Dick Johnson rear wing snap – 1995 ATCC Bathurst
- ^ Results, Australian Touring Car Championship Rd. 8, Racing Car News Championship Yearbook No. 1, (1972), page 71
- ^ "Dick Johnson – 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ "Dick Johnson – 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
External links
[edit]- Dick Johnson Racing official website
- Dick Johnson's Elaborated Biography
- Dick Johnson driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- Dick Johnson career summary at DriverDB.com
- 1945 births
- Australian Touring Car Championship drivers
- Bathurst 1000 winners
- Living people
- NASCAR drivers
- Racing drivers from Brisbane
- Sportsmen from Queensland
- Supercars Championship drivers
- World Touring Car Championship drivers
- World Sportscar Championship drivers
- Australian Endurance Championship drivers
- Dick Johnson Racing drivers
- Racing drivers from Queensland
- Australian National Servicemen
- Q150 Icons