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<\/p>\nVeteran Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson and the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series shifts to St. Louis this weekend for the NHRA Midwest Nationals, the third consecutive weekend of spectacular competition during the pressure filled Countdown to the Championship.<\/p>\n
Johnson will be competing in the record-setting 530th NHRA national event of his career at the NHRA Midwest Nationals, as he continues to celebrate his 40th year of NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle competition. World Wide Technology Raceway holds a special place in Johnson\u2019s heart as the site of his first NHRA national event win back in 2004.<\/p>\n
\u201cSt. Louis will always be special to me,\u201d said Johnson recalling his first win. \u201cGoing four rounds and winning the race on Sunday will always be a fun and cherished memory. It was a long wait, about 17 years to be exact. I remember my mom always saying, \u2018You know this racing thing doesn\u2019t seem to be working out, maybe you could get a job at a local grocery store or become a carpenter.\u2019 She was happy to see me finally start winning races.\u201d<\/p>\n
After six runner-up finishes, Johnson\u2019s break through victory at St. Louis meant more than finally collecting his first Wally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I was part of the NHRA fraternity. It was just one race, but after 17 years, everything came together. I remember thinking, we got by the big guns today with luck and a little bit of skill and no matter how it happened I\u2019ll take it. I rode really good in the finals; I was very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The independent racer will have some much-needed support at the NHRA Midwest Nationals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLocal motorcycle and ATV dealer, Big St. Charles, is a staple in the St. Louis community and they\u2019ll be sponsoring us this weekend,\u201d Johnson said enthusiastically. \u201cIf you like motorcycles or ATV\u2019s, they have the biggest selection you could possibly imagine and they\u2019re famous for their customer service after the sale. It will be fun to wave their flag at the racetrack.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the first three events of the six-race Countdown to the Championship being run on consecutive weekends, it presented a unique challenge for the 12-time NHRA national event winner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI really like this format,\u201d said Johnson from his Alabama-based shop. \u201cOur Suzuki is running much better, but we haven\u2019t done well on race day. When you don\u2019t do well, you\u2019re eager for another chance and back-to-back races allow you to do that right away. We\u2019re hoping all of our preparation will allow us to have a good race in St. Louis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson enters the NHRA Midwest Nationals coming off of one of his best qualifying efforts of the season, which produced his quickest and fastest runs of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been four years since our Suzuki ran 199 mph like it did in Rockingham last week,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cI\u2019m very proud of our team and the effort we\u2019re putting into the Countdown.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story was originally published on September 30, 2026. <\/p>\n
The post Steve Johnson Seeking a Second St. Louis Victory In Pro Stock Motorcycle<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson and the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series shifts to St. Louis this weekend for the NHRA Midwest Nationals, the third consecutive weekend of spectacular competition during the pressure filled Countdown to the Championship. Johnson will be competing in the record-setting 530th NHRA national event of his career […]<\/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-104923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104923","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=104923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104923\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}