In Memoriam: Jason Johnson 1976-2018

The world of motor racing was brought a fresh taste of reality early Sunday morning as news broke of the passing of one of its family.

Jason Johnson was not your average driver. Hailing from the almost anti-racing hotbed of Louisiana, the dirt track racer's biography reads like so many around him. He fell in love with racing nearly as soon as he could walk and dived into the cockpit just as soon as his feet could touch the wheels.

A 12 time World of Outlaws race winner, Johnson was a refreshing breath of Cajun air on the American dirt track circuit so often overrun with Midwesternerns working their way up to NASCAR. Johnson was most at home in the dirt, throwing his sprint and World of Outlaws machines into slide after slide.

Johnson always knew what he wanted to do, and that was race Outlaws. “The real reason we wanted to race with the Outlaws is because it’s the best in the industry. The teams and drivers are so strong and are able to adapt to every track and its conditions we go to,” Johnson noted at the outset of his Outlaw career. “We go to places that some guys race at every week, and then the Outlaws come in and break the track record and dominate. To qualify myself as an Outlaw, I want to be consistently up front and win our fair share of races to carry that banner.”

Johnson may be best remembered for his epic duel in 2016 with Donny Schatz at the world famous Knoxville Nationals. With five laps to go, Johnson put in the perfect slide job, slipping around the immaculate Schatz and etching his name into the record books as a winner of the Nationals.

Like many of his well estabilished compatriots, Johnson was also a team owner, founding Jason Johnson Racing with his wife, Bobbi.

On the lower rungs of the circuit, Johnson also claimed victory in the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series championship in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Jason Johnson succumbed to injuries suffered after his World of Outlaws machine flipped over the rails at Beaver Dam Raceway. He was 41 years old. He is survived by his wife, Bobbi, and his son, Jaxx.

God Speed, Jason. God Speed.

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