{"id":33832,"date":"2016-12-13T10:28:18","date_gmt":"2016-12-13T18:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=33832"},"modified":"2018-08-16T12:35:15","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T19:35:15","slug":"best-three-year-average-in-funny-car-tommy-johnson-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/best-three-year-average-in-funny-car-tommy-johnson-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Three-Year Average in Funny Car \u2013 Tommy Johnson, Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Best<\/p>\n

Nothing in NHRA drag racing can compare to the level of competition we\u2019ve seen in the Funny Car category over the last three years.\u00a0 The class has had three different champions during that span, but look at a cumulative phase of who been nearest the top all that time and you’ll see only one name – Tommy Johnson, Jr. Oddly enough, he doesn’t yet have a championship of his own.<\/p>\n

The Make-A-Wish Dodge driver finished second in 2016 and made two thirds in 2014-15.\u00a0 That\u2019s an average of 2.66; right behind him is his fellow Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Matt Hagan, who averaged a third over that same period.\u00a0 It\u2019s a tie for third, with current champion and DSR driver Ron Capps and John Force sharing an average of 4.33.\u00a0 Last year\u2019s champ, Del Worsham, was right behind in fifth on that list with a 4.66.<\/p>\n

\"Best<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s been good,\u201d said Johnson, winner of 13 Funny Car and two Top Fuel events.\u00a0 \u201cWe haven\u2019t won a championship, but I guess consistency is a pretty good thing.\u00a0 It definitely gives us a good base to work from each season and that is what has been the key.\u00a0 We haven\u2019t had a lot of changes trying to catch up, like having a bad season, having to make some wholesale changes to gain that ground back.\u00a0 We keep picking at it and we keep seeing improvement each year.\u00a0 Having that kind of an average for three years in a row means there are only a few more small changes to make, and hopefully it will result in a higher place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starting in seventh in the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown, Johnson soared to the front with three consecutive final rounds, winning in Reading, but stumbling at the next two races with a quarterfinal in Texas and first round loss in Las Vegas. He then proved his championship status by winning at the NHRA Finals at Pomona.<\/p>\n

\"Best<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows you just how important the Countdown and those six races are and how hard it is to put together six good races together in a row,” said Johnson.\u00a0 \u201cWe had a great start the first three into it, with three final round finishes.\u00a0 In Dallas, we had a second round loss and in Vegas, we have a first round loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just can\u2019t afford to have a first round loss in the Countdown with only six races.\u00a0 If you had told me at the beginning of the Countdown we would have four final rounds and two wins and you\u2019re not going to win it, I would have said, \u2018no way.\u2019\u00a0 That\u2019s a recipe for success.\u00a0 (Ron) Capps did a good job of being real consistent, not having any early exits.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t win a race but they were very consistent.\u00a0 You know, we learn from it each season.\u00a0 One thing we learned this year is we have to be in a higher position at the start and that\u2019s what basically cost us.\u00a0 I won more rounds (15 to 13 over Capps) than anybody in the Countdown and started seventh.\u00a0 You just can\u2019t start seventh.\u00a0 If I would have started fourth in the Countdown, I would have probably been your champion.\u00a0 So, we\u2019ll focus on that.\u00a0 The year we concentrated on peaking at the Countdown and we did.\u00a0 I think we learned something this year before the Countdown and continue to carry it because you have to start it at a higher position.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Best<\/p>\n

Johnson, a veteran in the sport having won his first race in Seattle in 1993, is now more determined than ever to keep up that competitive level, but he knows it won\u2019t be easy to duplicate what he\u2019s built in the last three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you learn every year,\u201d said Johnson.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve been doing it for a long time, and you make mistakes and you correct them.\u00a0 There\u2019s no guarantees, there is always going to be a bad season when things just don\u2019t seem to go right for you; even though you\u2019re trying to do everything in a correct way, it just doesn\u2019t happen.\u00a0 Sometimes you make these plans but it doesn\u2019t work out.\u00a0 I think we\u2019ve learned the last few years on what we need to do and we have gotten better at it.\u00a0 This team has only been together for three years.\u00a0 To have that kind of average in the first three is pretty impressive.\u00a0 If we continue to do what we\u2019re doing and not vary too far in trying to reinvent the wheel, we\u2019ll be all right.”<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s support on his Make-A-Wish team is possible through Terry Chandler, and her association with DSR brings together the best of two worlds by incorporating one of the best charitable organizations into the sport of the NHRA. This is all possible through her benevolent gifts in picking up the team after her brother Johnny Gray left the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t even be out here without Terry,\u201d smiled Johnson.\u00a0 \u201cFirst, of course, if we win or we lose, her support is still the same and that\u2019s very important to not have to worry.\u00a0 You want to focus on trying to do the best that you can.\u00a0 If you worried about what happens if you don\u2019t, then you\u2019re probably going to make mistakes.\u00a0 Having her support is wonderful and she\u2019s the biggest cheerleader we have.\u00a0 We were happy to finish second, but bummed at the same time.\u00a0 She was the first one to tell us how proud she was and what a great job we did.\u00a0 You can\u2019t replace that kind of support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Best<\/p>\n

The same foundation can be found with his crew chief John Collins, who is from the same hometown of Ottumwa, Iowa as Johnson. This pair of Hawkeyes have become quite the formidable tandem up and down the dragstrip, directing the Dodge Funny Car team\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to see him grow as a crew chief,\u201d said Johnson, \u201cfrom being there at the very first run seeing how nervous he was.\u00a0 Now seeing his confidence level grow and seeing him breakout as a crew chief.\u00a0 When you first start, you don\u2019t want to make mistakes – you just want to try to go out there and do the best you can and not vary too far.\u00a0 It\u2019s been fun to watch him now have the confidence where he can say, \u2018I have an idea and I want to try it.\u2019\u00a0 To see him now venturing out trying his own ideas, not just sticking to a basic tune up; he worked with Rahn Tobler (Capps\u2019 crew chief) for a long time and brought that process over to our team.<\/p>\n

\"Best<\/p>\n

\u201cNow you can see him with the confidence in the things he\u2019s learned, trying some stuff on his own. \u00a0Stuff maybe some of other crew chiefs haven\u2019t tried and he wants to venture down this road and see where it goes.\u00a0 It\u2019s been fun to watch him do that.\u00a0 The biggest thing I enjoy with him is he\u2019s a racer.\u00a0 We may not set low ET every run, but we\u2019re going to go out and go down the racetrack and we\u2019re going to race really well on Sunday.\u00a0 There\u2019s a big difference between crew chiefs that run the big numbers, but aren\u2019t the most consistent.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t win you a lot of races.\u00a0 So, I would just as soon good numbers and be really consistent, and go down the racetrack and be tough to beat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Make-A-Wish team will head into the off-season with great accomplishments and can carry their heads high coming into 2017 when the season starts on Valentine\u2019s Day, Feb.14, for the running of the Circle K Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.<\/p>\n

\"Best<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NHRA’s Funny Car category has had three different champions over the last three years, but look at a cumulative phase of who been nearest the top all that time and you’ll see only one name – Tommy Johnson, Jr.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":33840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,5029,3399],"tags":[2,38,547,41,7,956],"class_list":["post-33832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-racing","category-nhra","tag-drag-racing","tag-funny-car","tag-jay-wells","tag-news","tag-nhra","tag-tommy-johnson-jr"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/lead-5.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-8NG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33832"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33841,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33832\/revisions\/33841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}