Twice each year, the NHRA’s traveling horsepower show rolls into the Mecca of stock car racing at zMax Dragway, located on the hallowed grounds of Charlotte Motor Speedway.
One of the best kept secrets in the drag racing pits focuses on how
one of the most successful tuners ever to pick up a wrench 30 years ago almost went roundy-round racing.
Alan Johnson, who has won six series championship titles as a team owner with five different drivers and another eight as a tuner for Tony Schumacher, had the opportunity to walk from drag racing for what could have been a lucrative career.
Long before he established his name on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, he nearly ended up going to work for NASCAR legend Rick Hendrick.
"I had that choice back in the mid-1980s to go to work at Hendrick Motorsports as a cylinder head guy," revealed Johnson. "We just didn't come together on the money right away. It was dragging along, and finally, I said to myself, 'You know what, if it’s going to be this hard to get what I want, I’m just going to stay here and do my own thing.”
There was a courtship time where Johnson worked briefly in the Hendrick shop and traveled to Watkins Glen with the late Randy Dorton, Hendrick's Director of Engine Operations.
"They wanted to hire me," Johnson revealed. "Eventually they agreed, [to terms] but by that time I had already made up my mind.”
Johnson focused on his drag racing career where he teamed with brother Blaine to win four NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster championships and together they finished fifth in their first full NHRA Top Fuel season. The next season he and Blaine won four races and were in a strong position to win the 1995 NHRA championship; when his brother died in a racing accident.
Johnson believes he would have done well if he had traveled the path of stock car racing, and admits he rarely thinks of what might have been. In fact, he adds, he rarely talks about it unless someone brings up the topic.
Johnson just smiles and offers, "I’m happy where I’m at.”
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Bobby Bennett is the Publisher/Editor of CompetitionPlus.com, a leading independent online drag racing magazine, since 1999. For the latest in dragster news worldwide, visit www.competitionplus.com or follow on Twitter @competitionplus
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