Pro Stock Motorcycle veteran Steve Johnson is looking for a t-shirt he cannot find. 

When he finds it, it will likely read, “Never thought I’d be qualifying No. 1, winning races, and in the points lead, but here I am KILLING IT!”

Johnson picked up his seventh career No. 1 qualifier and third of this season to extend his 17-point lead over Angelle Sampey to 23 points. 

Needless to say, Johnson is having the time of his life, t-shirt or no t-shirt. 

“It’s exciting because to start from the number one spot,” Johnson, from Birmingham, Alabama, said. “It clearly gives you a mental thought. I’m from Alabama now, so the Alabama teams are all about preparation. If you understand the preparation and you administrate that into doing your job, then the results will be everybody’s happiness because we’re preparing the right way. When you get number one, clearly you’ve prepared, maybe not the right way, but you’ve prepared the best way possible, and it’s put up a number one.

“If we prepare and we all do our job, we’ll all love the results.” 

As part of the preparation for this crucial stop on the road to a championship, Johnson has brought in longtime friend and multi-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon as a coach this weekend. Johnson believes in the value of coaches, but Dixon brings another level of guidance. 

“I’ve got coaches everywhere, but he knows how to win,” Johnson explained. “There’s four races to go; we’ve never felt like we had this opportunity. I’m a Godfather to his youngest and we’ve been best friends for a long time. So it’s really cool to have his perspective. Everybody knows that we all have a bunch of crew guys in a room, and so when you’re driving home, and you can hear some perspective about a three-time champion winning in the king of the sport of where we’re trying to race, I think it’s kind of an advantage that I really do. 

“Angelle’s had the championships, and Matt’s had the championships. I don’t have that. So, I’m falling back on three championships in another category, but it’s a good game and I think it’s going to help.” 

Johnson is balancing being stressed and focused away from the track. 

“My buddy Rusty Gil at home says, ‘You’re so tense. You’re not having any fun,” Johnson said. “As kids, we used to get in trouble hot-rodding around on the street, and then we’d go to the drag strip and not really care, but there were girls there. So, we’d race, but I mean, it was all about having a beer and, you know, chasing girls or something. It’s way, way different now. It’s so different, and it’s kind of a bummer because it’s a little stressful. 

“I’m trying to be a detail guy like the football teams, organized structure, preparation and all these things. I understand that. I see the success it gets those guys and the team. I want everything happening. Little things happen and I got upset once and Larry said, ‘Man, you got to pick your battles and just reel it back. That’s not really going to matter.” 

“I apologized to the crew guy I screamed at and I just got wound up. I have so much respect for every competitor. I’m so excited that they’re all here, that they’re all racing. They’re all trying. I’ve been 30 something years, I know what they feel like. I’ve been In there, so I’ve had never been over here. So but at the same time, my focus is on my guys, my sponsors and how and how I drive the motorcycle on Sunday.”

Johnson has been low in three of four sessions this weekend; the only one he missed was the one that paid $1500, a payday his underfunded team could have used. 

“I’m so excited because I feel like I drove really, really good today,” Johnson said. “There’s a big difference between driving a Pro Stock Motorcycle and riding. It’s two different stories. You ride a motorcycle. Yeah, I’m all about that. You ride a motorcycle. You get on a Harley and you ride. When you ride a Pro Stock bike, you go into the wall; you miss gear changes, you don’t throw your body forward on the launch, you miss shift points. That’s riding. 

“So when you drive, you’re in control, you’re proactive, and I feel like we did a good job. When the money came down, I drove bad. The driver didn’t show up, the rider did. So very depressing. I can give you 1500 reasons why. So I’m excited about how I drove for three rounds and one round is actually good. It taught me when you loosen up a little bit here; there’s plenty here to come take what you want.”

And as Johnson puts it, that’s what killing it is all about.