| April 26, 2022
Steve Johnson officially announced that he is indeed a title contender in this year’s NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship after going up against World Champ Matt Smith at Houston Raceway Park and winning.
By Kevin McKenna | Photos by Matt Polito
Slick 50 Suzuki’s Steve Johnson has been racing in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class for nearly 40 years, but he’s never been a threat to win a championship, until now.
Johnson flexed his muscles with a dominating win at the NHRA Spring Nationals, April 22-24, the final event to be held at historic Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas. Johnson clearly had the best bike in the field for most of the event and managed to claim the 10th win of his career when he beat reigning World Champ Matt Smith in the final round.
Johnson powered to a 6.72 elapsed time in the final, easily covering Smith’s 6.81. After an early loss at the season-opener in Gainesville last month, Johnson is clearly one of the favorites to contend for the title.
“I love this sport,” Johnson said. “I tell people, if I had 10 million dollars, I’d still be doing the same thing. Find what you love and chase it. Do not stop, and beat Matt Smith, no matter what bike he brings.”
Johnson is one of several riders who has reaped the benefits of the new rules that allow Suzuki engines to use four-valve engine technology. He won three events in 2021 but has taken his performance to an entirely new level this season. Johnson qualified in the in the number two spot behind Big St. Charles Suzuki’s Karen Stoffer, and then worked his way through the field with wins against Michael Ray, Jimmy Underdahl, and four-time champion Eddie Krawiec.
Johnson ran 6.718 and 6.711 in the first two rounds and also cracked the 200-mph barrier for the first time in his career with a 201.55 top speed in his win against Underdahl.
“It’s taken a long time to get here,” said Johnson, who owns his own team and does much of the mechanical work himself. “I have a shop in Alabama, and I spend most of my time there building engines and working on the bike. I do it because it’s what I want to do. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”
Smith did just about everything he could to win the race and that included a final-round bike swap, trading his new Suzuki for last year’s Denso Buell. NHRA rules allow for a vehicle to be swapped once during an event and Smith took full advantage of the rule after he felt that he’d hurt an engine in his Suzuki. Most riders would not have considered such a move, but Smith isn’t like most riders.
“Something isn’t right with this bike, and we don’t have time to fix it,” Smith said following his semifinal win against Stoffer. “I’ve got to do something. I know our Denso Buell is a great bike. It won the championship last year and I haven’t touched it. I just don’t have much data to find a tune-up for it.”
Smith parked his Buell V-twin shortly after winning the final event of the 2021 season in Pomona, California, and he admitted that he hadn’t touched the bike since then. That was not a deterrent, and he made the most of it with a competitive run in the final.
Johnson and Smith weren’t the only two riders that had a reason to leave Houston full of optimism. The same could be said for Karen Stoffer and Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Eddie Krawiec.
Stoffer set the record in Gainesville last month with a 6.66 elapsed time, the quickest run in the history of the class. She also qualified number one in Houston with a 6.73. Her bid for a second-straight win ended when her bike drifted toward the centerline in the semifinal round. Despite the loss, Stoffer remains the championship leader after two of 15 rounds.
Krawiec has also made steady progress as he continues the transition from V-twin to Suzuki. Krawiec qualified third in the quick field and rode to wins over Ryan Oehler and Joey Gladstone, but he had very little for Johnson when they met in the other half of the semifinals.
For more information, visit NHRA.com