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"When I chose this as my vocation, I pretty much established that I had to be successful," said Johnson. "Otherwise I wouldn't be able to survive. Obviously, the wins had to be a part of it, but we never envisioned how many we would get. In fact, when I started in 1976, only Bob Glidden had more than five or six at that point in time. When Glidden ultimately hit 85, he established the precedent that if you kept your nose to the grindstone, those wins will come as long as you have a strong work ethic and a solid program. A solid program consists of the knowledge of what it takes to put it all together, consistent sponsor support and employees that are as dedicated as Kurt (Johnson) and myself." Johnson's most recent victory was marked by little if no fanfare at his bustling race shop northeast of metro Atlanta. Instead, it was back to the engine dyno for more testing in a never-ending quest to stay ahead of the competition. The six-time NHRA champion's win over Greg Anderson at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, and Kurt's recent surge to the top of the points standings is just further evidence that the team's long-term goals and objectives are right on target. With 116 total victories in 184 final rounds, the Johnson's are the most successful Pro Stock tandem in NHRA history.
The Johnson Enterprises' current road map has ably guided both Warren and Kurt through an impressive two-car victory rampage dating back to last season's NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif. Over the course of the last nine events, the pair have banded together for six victories and two runner-up finishes. The 40-year-old ACDelco Chevy Cavalier driver has captured four of those races while the elder Johnson has won two. Since last November's ACDelco Nationals in Las Vegas, either Kurt's Chevy Cavalier or Warren's Pontiac Grand Am have raced in every championship heat with the exception of the CSK Nationals last February. And even though Kurt runs the 2003 Chevrolet, and Warren competes in an SC/T Grand Am, a fluid transfer of technology and information exists between the two camps. "Both of these cars are prepared with the idea that one of them is going to win the race," said Johnson. "We don't care which car wins the race or the championship as long as it's either Kurt's Cavalier or my Grand Am. Our approach is that we have two equally prepared racecars and nearly everything we have is identical between the two. We can take the engine from one car, put it in the other, and everything is the same - rear ends, axles, everything is interchangeable. The idea behind that is that we do a lot of research and development to find the best parts. Once we arrive at a particular configuration of a part, then that part is applied to both cars. That's the reason for the success of our two-car program. "Because I did all of the aero work on both the Cavalier and the Grand Am, I understand the differences between the two cars and it's not that significant. We know that the Cavalier will run a little bit more speed, but the Grand Am was an excellent car to start with and is tremendous overall." Although approaching his 60th birthday later this year in July, Warren Johnson still maintains a rigorous schedule that out performs individuals half his age. But its that kind of tempo that has set the tone for his success as an engine builder and a Pro Stock competitor. "I've always been blessed with good health and I stay pretty physically fit compared to most people my age," said Johnson. "I also do so much work that it's almost like physical conditioning. Some people go to the gym and lift weights and I just lift a lot of parts all day. I've always been able to work 16, 18, 24 hours if I have to, ever since I could remember. Long hours really don't bother me. That's probably because I've learned to pace myself over long periods. It also helps that I'm doing something that I really enjoy. If I didn't, then it would become a job. Now what I have is the opportunity to succeed and there's a significant difference."
"When I was able to get the support of Oldsmobile starting in 1983, and then later with GM Performance Parts and Pontiac, that certainly set our program on sail," said Johnson. "Since then I've had the backing of great sponsors and the resources to do things I couldn't do before. At the same time it was a huge a boost of confidence in our program knowing that other people had faith in what we were doing. We've been extremely fortunate to be associated with GM now for over 20 years. "Kurt (Johnson), Greg (Anderson), myself and Jeggie (Coughlin) on occasion, there have been about three to five cars that have shown the potential to make a championship run. Now it's a matter of Kurt and I staying consistent to get the job done. At the same time, we've been working extremely hard on the performance side of both cars since the end of the last third of last year. It's been a slow process, but now that we've got the performance end of it established with our existing equipment, we're starting to work on new parts and pieces. Hopefully that we'll enable us to pick up the pace even more as we approach midyear."
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