Steve Johnson doesn’t hesitate to describe Pro Stock Motorcycle racing as more a rollercoaster ride than a shot down the quarter-mile.

And that’s the voice of experience with 35 years of NHRA competition in that class speaking.

The 62-year-old native of Granada Hills, California, enters this weekend’s NHRA season opener in Gainesville, Florida, on the heels of two very good campaigns. He won three events in 2021 – the most wins he’s had in any single campaign – and his third-place standing at season’s end tied his career-best points finish.

Last year, he won a pair of races, and he led the points heading into the Western swing in mid-July. Then all that momentum was lost, and he didn’t reach another final round en route to a fifth-place finish in the points, 203 markers behind champ and rival Matt Smith.

Obviously, he would like nothing better than to reverse the back-half 2022 season with a strong start at the Gatornationals this weekend. It’s the first time that the Pro Stock Motorcycles have been included in the season’s first event.

“I told everybody that because we're so popular, the sanctioning body has finally decided to start the cars with us. And I'm dead serious,” said Johnson, a longtime resident of Birmingham, Alabama. “We always thought we needed to start in Pomona, and those of us that were trying to make parts and spending the money on the parts, we're like, ‘No, no, no, no. We need to postpone it to Gainesville.’

“And now, for whatever reason, now everybody's starting in Gainesville. And I think it's awesome.”

Johnson’s performance in 2021-22 was undoubtedly satisfying, given that he enjoyed success with an in-house engine program. That’s not necessarily saying that the challenges have gotten easier; that’s dependent on one’s perspective.

“There's a lot of things that are harder because I see further now. … And I can see now with experience after these two years, I have just so much respect for people that do their own engines,” he said.

“And from that standpoint, having a little understanding of it, it's made it easier, but at the same ... it's made it easier because I feel like I have a roadmap. But, wow, for the racers that think renting is too expensive, whew, it's an awesome program.”

The dividends of Johnson’s in-house program began to pay off early in 2021. He won the Four-Wide Nationals at Charlotte to notch his first victory since 2014, and he returned to the winners’ circle in the fall at Maple Grove and Las Vegas.

Last year, he came out of the gate strong, winning at Houston and Charlotte in consecutive outings. He lost in the finals at the next race in Virginia, and he hung on to the points lead for two more starts before Smith and Joey Gladstone took the spotlight most of the rest of the way.

Johnson will enter the Gatornationals with 11 national-event victories. When he made his NHRA debut in 1987 at Englishtown, New Jersey, he did so on a bike he shipped to the track in a crate. 

Now, 35 years later, he’s a Pro Stock Motorcycle fixture and shows no signs of slowing down – on or off the track.

The secret to his longevity?

“Tony Robbins says, ‘It’s my state of mind.’ I have an attitude towards drag racing. I have a state, and my attitude towards drag racing is I really love it,” Johnson said. “There’s tons and tons of challenges, and I had it really good for a period of time, and I’ve had it really rough for a period of time.

“But it’s … it’s the entire menu. It’s appetizer to dessert, and a lot of people just want to eat the dessert. And I get that there’s a lot of it. … 

“I’m trying to think of an analogy that encompasses everything. I love that it gives me a platform to talk to young people about skilled traits, especially about being a technician in the automotive industry. … Each year there’s something new that I find – how you get money, how you get help, how you learn about engines, how you find deals at hotels. Everything inspires you to say, ‘Man, I’ve almost got all the pieces to the puzzle.’ And it just never seems like the puzzle’s done.”

He added, “You can go, you’re way up and you’re happy, you’re euphoric and all these exciting things. Man, you just made the most power on the dyno and you’re riding good and you’re going to the races with a really great opportunity. Get a chance to talk to the students. All the things that I want to be able to do are at my grasp.

“And then other times the engine broke, the guy calls in sick, sponsor money didn’t unfold like you had planned.”

One of Johnson’s passions is helping to develop students with automotive skills, and that serves as the impetus to what he called a BATman scholarship (Be A Technician). A brief questionnaire on Johnson’s website is all that’s needed to enter a drawing for the assistance, whether it’s tools or funds to help pay for an education in the automotive field. The first one was announced last October at the NHRA race in Las Vegas.

“I got to present it with SEMA and automotivescholarships.com and Harbor Freight. I got to present it on a webinar with all these million-dollar scholarship deals. So, yeah, it’s pretty cool,” he said. “And what makes it so unique is I go to the actual school and present the scholarship at the school as opposed to just mailing them in the mail or UPS or something like that.

“So I do a presentation at the school about marketing your brand after the diploma and talk to them about opportunities. Most human beings see opportunities when they’re gone. And if you saw the opportunity about the scholarship and filled it out, there’s obviously a chance to win.”