American motorcycle racer

This article is about Ricky Johnson. For other uses, see Rick Johnson.

Ricky Johnson

Johnson celebrates winning the 2012 AMSOIL Cup

Nationality| American
Born| Richard Bernard Johnson Jr.
(1964-07-06) July 6, 1964 (age 58)
El Cajon, California
Related to| Luke Johnson
TORC: The Off Road Championship Pro 4 career
Debut season| 2011
Current team| Menzies Racing
Championships| 2011, 2012
Best finish| 1st in 2011, 2012
Finished last season| 2nd
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 driver

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
12 races run over 4 years
Best finish| 31st (1996)
First race| 1995 Spears Manufacturing 200 (Mesa Marin)
Last race| 1997 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.

## Contents

* 1 Racing career
* 1.1 Motocross career
* 1.2 Career after motocross
* 1.2.1 Off-road racing
* 2 Personal life
* 3 Images
* 4 Motorsports career results
* 4.1 NASCAR
* 4.1.1 Craftsman Truck Series
* 4.2 Stadium Super Trucks
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Racing career[edit]

### Motocross career[edit]

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,[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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[edit]

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[edit]

Pro 2 demonstration

* * *

Problems playing this file? See media help.

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[edit]

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

## Images[edit]

* Johnson after winning a Traxxas TORC Series race in 2010

* Holding US$40,000 check for winning 2012 AMSOIL Cup

* 2013 Pro 4 Trophy Truck

## Motorsports career results[edit]

### NASCAR[edit]

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

#### Craftsman Truck Series[edit]

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
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
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
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
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  | \-

### Stadium Super Trucks[edit]

(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  | [9]
2021 | STP | STP | MOH | MOH | MOH | MOH | NSH
13 | NSH
13 | LBH | LBH |  | 21st  | 16  | [10]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Ricky Johnson at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rick Johnson at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame
3. ^ a b "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. ^ "2013 SST Point Standings". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
10. ^ "2021 Overall Point Standings". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved December 9, 2021.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ricky Johnson.

* Ricky Johnson driver statistics at Racing-Reference

Sporting positions

Preceded by

none

|  Red Bull Frozen Rush Champion
2014 | Succeeded by

Bryce Menzies

* v
* t
* e

North American off-road racing

Types|

* Desert racing
* Short course off-road racing

Sanctioning
bodies|

| Current|

* BITD
* BOR
* COR
* GAS
* MAORA
* NORRA
* SCORE
* SNORE
* SST

|

Former|

* LOORRS
* CORR
* MTEG
* SODA
* TORC
* WSORR

Tracks|

* Crandon
* Lake Geneva
* Red Bud

Races|

* Baja 1000
* Baja 500
* Frozen Rush
* San Felipe 250
* Primm 300
* Mint 400
* Pikes Peak
* Baja 400
* NORRA 500
* Mexican 1000

Personalities|

* Sal Fish
* Robby Gordon
* Ricky Johnson
* Rob MacCachren
* Corky McMillin
* Ed Pearlman
* Mickey Thompson

Other|

* Baja Bug
* Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame
* Trophy truck

* v
* t
* e

Billy Ballew Motorsports

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Personnel|

* Billy Ballew
* Christopher Beckington

NASCAR Truck Series|

| Drivers|

* (5) Erik Jones

|

Crew chiefs|

* (5) TBA

Former drivers|

* Aric Almirola
* John Andretti
* Rick Beebe
* Johnny Benson Jr.
* Robby Benton
* Rich Bickle
* Mike Bliss
* Barry Bodine
* Geoff Bodine
* Jason Bowles
* Colin Braun
* James Buescher
* Kurt Busch
* Kyle Busch
* Mike Cope
* Dusty Davis
* Shane Doles
* Kerry Earnhardt
* Blake Feese
* Chris Fontaine
* Mark Gibson
* Derrick Gilchrist
* Bobby Gill
* David Gilliland
* Kevin Grubb
* Denny Hamlin
* Scott Hansen
* Ryan Hemphill
* Kenny Hendrick
* Shane Hmiel
* Lance Hooper
* Andy Houston
* Brian Ickler
* Justin Johnson
* Ricky Johnson
* Kyle Krisiloff
* Travis Kvapil
* Patrick Lawler
* Ryan Lawler
* Buddy Lazier
* Anthony Lazzaro
* Bill Lester
* Johanna Long
* Steadman Marlin
* Jeremy Mayfield
* Paul Menard
* Marc Mitchell
* Nate Monteith
* Rob Morgan
* Ted Musgrave
* Andrew Myers
* J. R. Norris
* Trent Owens
* Nelson Piquet Jr.
* Josh Richards
* Brian Rose
* Johnny Sauter
* Todd Shafer
* Shane Sieg
* Mike Skinner
* David Stremme
* Kelly Sutton
* John Wes Townley
* Martin Truex Jr.
* Kenny Wallace
* Mike Wallace
* Steve Wallace
* Michael Waltrip
* Jason White
* Jon Wood

Other incarnations|

* Fasscore Motorsports

Partnerships and affiliations|

* Phoenix Racing
* Wauters Motorsports

Buyouts and mergers|

* Vision Aviation Racing

* v
* t
* e

Team Penske

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Personnel|

* Roger Penske
* Tim Cindric
* Walter Czarnecki
* Travis Geisler

IndyCar Series|

| Drivers|

* (2) Josef Newgarden
* (3) Scott McLaughlin
* (12) Will Power

|

Race engineers|

* (2) Eric Leichtle
* (3) Ben Bretzman
* (12) David Faustino

NASCAR Cup Series|

| Drivers|

* (2) Austin Cindric
* (12) Ryan Blaney
* (22) Joey Logano

|

Crew chiefs|

* (2) Jeremy Bullins / Grant Hutchens
* (12) Jonathan Hassler / Miles Stanley
* (22) Paul Wolfe

FIA World Endurance Championship|

| Drivers|

* (5) Dane Cameron / Emmanuel Collard / Felipe Nasr

|

Former drivers|

| Formula One|

* Mark Donohue
* John Watson

|

IndyCar|

* Bobby Allison
* A. J. Allmendinger
* Bill Alsup
* Mario Andretti
* Alex Barron
* Gary Bettenhausen
* Geoff Brabham
* Ryan Briscoe
* Hélio Castroneves
* Kevin Cogan
* Mark Donohue
* Gil de Ferran
* Emerson Fittipaldi
* David Hobbs
* Sam Hornish Jr.
* Gordon Johncock
* Jan Magnussen
* Tarso Marques
* Rick Mears
* Juan Pablo Montoya
* Simon Pagenaud
* Max Papis
* André Ribeiro
* Gonzalo Rodríguez
* Johnny Rutherford
* Oriol Servià
* Tom Sneva
* Danny Sullivan
* Mike Thackwell
* Paul Tracy
* Al Unser
* Al Unser Jr.
* Bobby Unser

NASCAR|

* Justin Allgaier
* Bobby Allison
* Donnie Allison
* A. J. Allmendinger
* Dave Blaney
* Chad Blount
* Neil Bonnett
* Kurt Busch
* Mark Donohue
* George Follmer
* Brendan Gaughan
* Sam Hornish Jr.
* Ricky Johnson
* Brad Keselowski
* Parker Kligerman
* Travis Kvapil
* Dave Marcis
* Jeremy Mayfield
* Michael McDowell
* Paul Menard
* Juan Pablo Montoya
* Ryan Newman
* Kyle Petty
* David Stremme
* Alex Tagliani
* Jacques Villeneuve
* Mike Wallace
* Rusty Wallace

ARCA|

* Austin Cindric
* Sam Hornish Jr.
* Travis Kvapil
* Ryan Newman
* Rusty Wallace
* Steve Wallace
* Billy Wease

Sports cars|

* Timo Bernhard
* Ryan Briscoe
* Kurt Busch
* Dane Cameron
* Hélio Castroneves
* Mark Donohue
* Romain Dumas
* Patrick Long
* Lucas Luhr
* Sascha Maassen
* Juan Pablo Montoya
* Simon Pagenaud
* Graham Rahal
* Alexander Rossi
* Ricky Taylor

Supercars|

* Marcos Ambrose
* Scott Pye
* Fabian Coulthard
* Scott McLaughlin

Indianapolis 500 wins|

* 1972 (Donohue)
* 1979 (Mears)
* 1981 (B. Unser)
* 1984 (Mears)
* 1985 (Sullivan)
* 1987 (A. Unser)
* 1988 (Mears)
* 1991 (Mears)
* 1993 (Fittipaldi)
* 1994 (Unser Jr.)
* 2001 (Castroneves)
* 2002 (Castroneves)
* 2003 (de Ferran)
* 2006 (Hornish)
* 2009 (Castroneves)
* 2015 (Montoya)
* 2018 (Power)
* 2019 (Pagenaud)

National Championships|

* 1977 (Sneva)
* 1978 (Sneva)
* 1979 (Mears)
* 1981 (Mears)
* 1982 (Mears)
* 1983 (A. Unser)
* 1985 (A. Unser)
* 1988 (Sullivan)
* 1994 (Unser Jr.)
* 2000 (de Ferran)
* 2001 (de Ferran)
* 2006 (Hornish)
* 2014 (Power)
* 2016 (Pagenaud)
* 2017 (Newgarden)
* 2019 (Newgarden)
* 2022 (Power)

NASCAR Hall of Fame|

* Bobby Allison (2011)
* Rusty Wallace (2013)
* Roger Penske (2019)

NASCAR Cup Series Championships|

* 2012 (Keselowski)
* 2018 (Logano)

NASCAR Xfinity Series Championships|

| Drivers' Championship|

* 2010 (Keselowski)
* 2020 (A. Cindric)

|

Owners' Championship|

* 2010 (No. 22)
* 2013 (No. 22)
* 2014 (No. 22)
* 2015 (No. 22)
* 2017 (No. 22)
* 2020 (No. 22)
* 2021 (No. 22)

Daytona 500 wins|

* 2008 (Newman)
* 2015 (Logano)
* 2022 (A. Cindric)

Coca-Cola 600 wins|

* 2010 (Busch)
* 2020 (Keselowski)

Brickyard 400 wins|

* 2018 (Keselowski)

Southern 500 wins|

* 1975 (Allison)
* 2018 (Keselowski)

GEICO 500 wins|

* 2012 (Keselowski)
* 2016 (Keselowski)
* 2018 (Logano)
* 2020 (R. Blaney)
* 2021 (Keselowski)

All-Star Race wins|

* 2002 (Newman)
* 2010 (Busch)
* 2016 (Logano)
* 2022 (R. Blaney)

Busch Clash wins|

* 1998 (Wallace)
* 2011 (Busch)
* 2017 (Logano)
* 2018 (Keselowski)
* 2022 (Logano)

Supercars Drivers' championships|

* 2018 (McLaughlin)
* 2019 (McLaughlin)
* 2020 (McLaughlin)

Supercars Teams' championships|

* 2017
* 2019
* 2020

Bathurst 1000 wins|

* 2019 (McLaughlin / Prémat)

Partnerships and affiliations|

* Ford Performance / Roush-Yates Engines / Wood Brothers Racing / (NASCAR)
* Ilmor / Chevrolet Performance (IndyCar)
* Porsche / Multimatic (IMSA)

Related|

* NASCAR operations of Team Penske
* Penske Corporation (Indianapolis Motor Speedway / INDYCAR, LLC)
* Greg Moore
* Dick Johnson Racing

Authority control

General|

* ISNI
* 1
* VIAF
* 1
* WorldCat

National libraries|

* Japan

*[Best finish]: Best finish in the championship
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template