Steve Johnson has made a habit of performing gestures of goodwill. 

A Mother's Day good deed recently gained the veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle racer a phone call of gratitude from Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian.

Johnson makes a lot of trips; some are for drag racing and others are for business. As far as he remembers, Johnson began giving up his First Class seats to members of the United States military as early as 2004.

Johnson doesn't pay for the seats directly, but because he holds over 3 nillion frequent flier miles, upgrades come automatically when space is available. 

“There’s just so much more in life than having money," said Johnson, whose father was a Korean War veteran. "If you don’t have a lot of it, you need to pay attention to some other things and gratitude. I’m really blessed to have gratitude from the standpoint as you know, I get to drag race, I get to fly, I get to talk and inspire people. Mother’s Day weekend was no different than any other day in an airplane for me." 

As the flight boarded, Johnson called over the flight attendant before a five-hour cross-country flight. He requested she find active female service members and when she did there were call buttons which lit up on the flight. 

In the past when determining who received his seat, Johnson would get creative in the process such as number guessing competitions. This time he narrowed his search to active military Moms. 

Only one call button dinged.

Artavia Edwards, a Chief Warrant Officer Five, and Chief Legal Administrator in the California National Guard, was the recipient of Johnson's generosity. 

"I talked her ear off, and she was very nice," said Johnson. "I’d come up in the middle of the flight and talk to her. And, actually there was a serviceman next to me, and he thanked me and the guy next to me said, ‘You’ve inspired me.'

"That’s what I really want to do because I already know what I’m going to do. I want to inspire other people to do the same thing. It’s just such a great thing because it doesn’t cost us any money. The five-hour flight you love, the Delta service, the food, the pampering, the drinks, the movies and all that stuff for free in first class, you don’t get that obviously in coach, but you get a lifetime of memories giving that to someone else. That’s what the deal really is." 

Johnson's actions caught the eye of the plane's captain who thanked him for his generosity and promised his actions would not go unnoticed.

Fast forward to the days leading up to the recently completed NHRA Summit Southern Nationals outside of Atlanta and the phone rings in Johnson's shop. 

Johnson is shocked when he hears, "Hi I’m Michelle, and I’m Ed Bastian's executive assistant. He’s the CEO of Delta Airlines."

"I’m like, ‘No way!" Johnson recalls. "My eyeballs were reading the caller ID, and my brain was challenged to compute what my eyes were seeing. I told her that she wouldn't be able to compute what the experience meant to me. This wasn’t about the money. It was about inspiring, but to be recognized, hey, I’m an ego-maniac! I love racing! But I love to be patted on the back too."

Johnson said if at least one person follows his lead, the gesture could become a trend. 

"We all do good things in society. It’s just this is my little area I work. It’s so great to represent a sport that can do great things and be recognized, but at the same time, a lot of people know about what we do. NASCAR isn’t the only thing in town baby." 

But for Johnson, his airline of choice is a different story.

"It’s the greatest airline, and I want to be safe, and Delta provides the opportunity time and time again for me to do something nice for our military.”   

And for Johnson, there's no first class perk which can equal this experience.