A Little History From the Man Himself .......

          My name is Kenny Johnson and I am 42 years old. Racing has been my life ever since I can remember. My mom and dad were taking me to the races before I could even walk. Racing sure is a great sport to grow up in.

        I have been driving racecars since I was 16 years old. I drove my dad’s car in a feature once when I was 13 and then I drove another guy’s Hobby Stock twice when I was 15. For my 16^th birthday mom and dad asked me if I wanted a street car or a racecar? I said, “definitely a racecar!” Well, after totaling 2 of mom’s cars within 6 months of one another, I bet you they wished they had gotten me my own vehicle.

        My dad (Gene Johnson) drove for 10 years prior to giving up the seat for me to take over. Now, that is a very unselfish dad and I owe this all to him or I could even say blame this on him. Dad’s career had some success, but he may have not reached his prime, for he was only 39 years old when he stepped down. Family obligations kept his racing on a limited budget. So when I started racing he had done many things from putting enduro races on to establishing a well known auction that went on for many years under his name to help raise money for my racing.

        When I become of age to work and provide money for the car, we learned real quick that money helps, but it sure doesn’t automatically put you in the winner’s circle. Winning takes luck and experience and a lot of help from the right people. There are many people that have helped me over the years, but I’d like to mention a few key people other than the obvious mom and dad. Over the 23 years Shirley Paul Keffer and I have teamed up over numerous years and he has turned many a wrench on my cars and has provided me some great set ups. A few of those off years former driver Steve Armentrout came to my rescue and built a few of my engines. Allen Siers spent many a nights tuning on my cars the last few years running late model. When I needed a ride in 1999 Jimmy Simmons and his dad put me in their late model for a year. Then in 2000 Tommy Powell and his dad Tom came to my rescue and put me in their brand new Throw’n Dirt modified. It was the best season anyone could have asked for with 24 feature wins and an AMRA International Championship. I eventually started my own modified team and that’s when I found Tim Cooper and Jason Canepari who are still with me today! Today, I’m in my own Larry Shaw Modified.

        Over the years I have been very blessed with some good sponsors, such as Randy Rapp of Rapp’s Chevron, Keith Emrick of K-Graphics, Dotty Dalton of Belt Transfer, Gene & Ann Casto of Gene’s Trailer Sales, Steve Eddy of Eddy Chiropractic Clinic, Billy Joe & Wanda Hammett, Chris Dickson of Dickson Racing Shocks just to name a few.

        Three other gentlemen and their families that have helped me in many ways over the early years of my racing and even some recent years were Tom Willoughby, Bill Shortridge and Mike “Bubba” Whited. They are dearly missed!

        In my opinion there is no better sport than circle track dirt racing. Thanks for visiting the site and for those interested in having a site created contact the Wayne Cornell the web site administrator.