Allen Johnson didn’t walk completely away from drag racing.

Johnson, the 2012 NHRA Pro Stock world champion, will be competing in the Factory Stock Showdown during the Fitzgerald USA NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., June 15-17.

“This is something to do,” Johnson said. “This something to keep the fires burning a little bit for my dad and I.”

Roy Johnson, Allen’s father, tuned his son’s Pro Stock cars and will be doing the same for the 2015 Dodge Challenger he will be driving in the Factory Stock Showdown this weekend.

“Jeff Teuton and Kevin Helms have run this car before and they gave it to us to run,” Allen said. “We are driving it, supplying the engines and tuning it.”

Johnson said he will also be racing in the Factory Stock Showdown at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, June 21-24.

As Johnson prepares to compete in the Factory Stock Showdown for the first time, he knows it will not be an easy transition.

“This is just a totally different package and learning just what it wants is going to be a challenge in its own,” he said. “We’ve never done this before (Factory Stock Showdown), but back several years ago we raced Sportsman. I’m looking forward to the challenge. The biggest challenge will be learning what everything wants because it is all brand new.”

Johnson did say he took part in a test session at Bristol Dragway to get ready for his new venture.

“Last week we made about 15 runs, so we should have a good baseline.” Johnson said.

Although Johnson reached the world championship pinnacle in his Pro Stock career, he has a simple goal for his inaugural foray into the Factory Stock Showdown.

“We would like to qualify, that would be the first one (goal),” Johnson said. “There are a lot of tough people who are running in the class. It’s a very popular class. We don’t have big expectations.”

Johnson competed in the NHRA Pro Stock ranks from 1996-2017. He competed in 504 career races, winning 27 times and claiming 32 runner-up finishes.

Johnson’s last win came in 2016 at the Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Denver. He finished in the top 10 in the points every year from 2006-2017, highlighted by his 2012 championship.

“It will be nice to see a lot of old friends and just be back at the track,” Johnson said. “After we race at Bristol and Norwalk, we will see how we do and go from there. I’m looking forward to racing again and this quenches a thirst for my dad and I.”