Steve Johnson\u00a0will\u00a0storm into\u00a0fabled Route 66 Raceway aboard his 200-mph Suzuki for the\u00a0Gerber Collision & Glass\u00a0Route 66\u00a0NHRA\u00a0Nationals, May 14-17, seeking to find some redemption after an early exit at the\u00a0NHRA\u00a0Southern Nationals, two weeks ago. It\u2019s the fourth\u00a0of 14\u00a0races\u00a0this\u00a0season for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class as the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series heats up\u00a0in the Midwest.<\/p>\n
As Johnson continues to celebrate his historic 40th season of NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle competition, the NHRA resumes their yearlong 75th anniversary party in Chicago, with tremendous side by side racing action and festivities galore. Johnson is the only racer competing in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class today to have qualified at the inaugural Route 66 Nationals in 1998. The lanky veteran has run well at Route 66 Raceway, with runner-up finishes in the money round in 1999 and again in 2010. Last year he used a second round holeshot victory to ride his red and white Suzuki to a solid semifinal finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery track has its own personality, but I remember rolling out of the tunnel into this stadium-like arena for the first time in 1998 and it was awesome.\u201d Johnson said, looking back fondly. \u201cThe giant grandstands were full, and the track was fast and it was very thrilling. There\u2019s no other track in the series built that way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember racing Matt Hines in the final round in 1999 too. I\u2019ve also spent some time huddling in the bathrooms under the grandstands during tornado warnings,\u201d Johnson added with a laugh.<\/p>\n
With the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycles competing for the third time in four weeks, Johnson reveals that there is a strategy developed inside the process of his race preparation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a process after every race involving everything from unloading the motorcycle and engines off of the truck and trailer, to evaluating our performance from the last event,\u201d said Johnson from his Alabama-based shop. \u201cThen we developed a strategy that helps us get everything ready and loaded back on the trailer and prepared in time to travel to the next race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson will thunder into his all-time, class leading 523rd career race at the Route 66 Nationals tied for 8th in the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series points standings, with one quarter of the season schedule already in the books.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like our Suzuki is faster than the scoreboard shows,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cOur bike is very difficult to ride perfectly and some of my competitors use such good technique that they make it look very easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Headed into the Route 66 Nationals, Johnson will be striving to find that riding perfection aboard his Suzuki this weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe traction is so good on that starting line, especially during that Friday evening session,\u201d Johnson added with anticipation. \u201cThey call it Chicagoland, but in the pits we call it Disneyland.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to racing, Johnson will also be busy during the week presenting 10 BATman scholarships, along with George Arrants of the ASE Education Foundation, to students from Wisconsin and Illinois. All the winners and runner-up will be at the Route 66 Nationals on Friday as guests of the Mopar Career Automotive Program and the NHRA Youth Education System events.<\/p>\n
The post Steve Johnson Racing Storms Into Chicago for NHRA Route 66 Nationals<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Steve Johnson\u00a0will\u00a0storm into\u00a0fabled Route 66 Raceway aboard his 200-mph Suzuki for the\u00a0Gerber Collision & Glass\u00a0Route 66\u00a0NHRA\u00a0Nationals, May 14-17, seeking to find some redemption after an early exit at the\u00a0NHRA\u00a0Southern Nationals, two weeks ago. It\u2019s the fourth\u00a0of 14\u00a0races\u00a0this\u00a0season for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class as the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series heats up\u00a0in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103591\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}