Ronnie Johnson, seen here from one of his 2013 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series victories, was honored as the 2013 series champion at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. Photo by Photosbytrace.com
As the 2013 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN took the stage at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville, GA to accept the NeSmith Cup and a check for $20,000, he was welcomed with a standing ovation and you could feel the respect for the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductee fill the room.
In these days of big multi-bay race car shops, huge multi-car haulers with luxurious living quarters, and a plethora of fancy trick race car components that are common-place in dirt late model racing, Johnson’s presence took the sport back to a simpler time; a time that defines Ronnie Johnson – Old School.
Johnson stepped up to the podium at the NeSmith Racing Annual Awards Banquet and pulled some notes out of his shirt pocket, as well as a pair of reading glasses. As he put on the spectacles, Johnson said, “I just turned 58 a couple of weeks ago, and I gotta have ‘em.”
The reading glasses went on over blue eyes that still burn with passion and a winning desire for the sport of racing. Through the years, Johnson’s jet black hair has given way to a more salt and pepper shade. His statue is very fit for a man eligible to carry an AARP Membership card. They say the eyes are the window of a person’s soul, and that gleam in this man’s eyes still shine bright.
Johnson was thankful and appreciative in accepting his championship. He was also reflective and even emotional, especially when he thanked his wife Pat. Maybe she should have received an award too. Johnson talked about a conversation he had with his wife.
“My wife asked me if my career was going to be like Red Farmer’s, who is 83-years-old and still racing today,” Johnson said. “I looked at Pat and said well sure, what else am I going to do? This is all I know.”
Then with the same precision and timing he uses to pass a competitor on the race track, Johnson delivered the punch line: “That conversation took place 20 years ago!”
It’s not easy being a racer’s wife, especially a racer like Ronnie Johnson. Without a doubt, Johnson eats, breathes and sleeps racing. He also keeps some different hours to do all of that. He’s usually up by the crack of noon. Then he goes out to eat. After a meal, the workday begins and goes until the wee hours of the morning.
The best way to understand Ronnie Johnson is to visit his shop nestled within the urban sprawl of the north bank of the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga. After you spend a few minutes in this shop, and you will get to know where its occupant came from, and what he has accomplished in his 40-year racing career.
It’s the same shop his father Joe Lee Johnson raced out of in the 1950s and 1960s, as he made a name for himself in what was then known as the NASCAR Grand National Series that has morphed into what we know today as the Sprint Cup. The elder Johnson is best known for winning the first Charlotte World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1960 for car owner and Georgia Racing Hall of Famer Paul McDuffie.
Next to the shop is the white house that Ronnie Johnson grew up in, and still lives in today with his wife Pat. A young Ronnie Johnson probably spent more time in the shop than he did the house.
“As a boy, I couldn’t wait to get home from school and get to the shop,” Johnson said. “There were always racing people around the shop when my Dad was racing, and they all had stories to tell, and couldn’t wait until I had the opportunity to drive a race car.”
Joe Lee Johnson’s driving career wound down in the mid-1960s, and he went on to be a successful short track racing promoter. The little shop behind white house didn’t stay inactive long, as the next generation was ready to move in and start another Hall of Fame career. Through the years, the shop was added on to as Johnson advanced his career.
When one first walks into the shop, it seems like any other small race car shop. Of course, a race car in the process of being worked on fills the single bay stands out at first. But as you begin to look around, Ronnie’s Johnson’s career and mindset begins to come into focus through sight and sound.
As one looks to the left, big checks from two Dirt Track World Championship Race wins stand out among the others that hang in honor. Centered on the back wall is a television, sound muted, with The Weather Channel on, but to the right, one can look and see an evolution of exhaust headers dangling from the ceiling – from grass burner zoomies of the 70s all of the way up to the computer designed and tuned pipes of today.
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Music is another noticeable aura in Johnson’s shop. He is a connoisseur of all kinds of music. One day it could Country, the next day it might be Hip Hop, then the next day Heavy Metal, and even Show Tunes might be heard during the week. It just depends what mood he is in. As Johnson reflected on his championship, one song weighed heavy on his mind, a song that said it all.
“I can’t sing, but if I had to put into a song that best describes winning the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Championship, it would be Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”,” Johnson said. “I don’t have the newest cars or tow rig, or the biggest shop, and I don’t even own a shock dyno. As everyone knows, I get to the track late, and that’s okay because I’m not a big fan of hot laps anyway. When you spend all week working on the race car to make it as fast as you can make it go, that first lap you take on the race track should be the fastest one you make all night, and that lap is your first qualifying lap.”
Back at the banquet, prior to Johnson’s grand finale appearance, as drivers from all of the NeSmith Racing Divisions came up to accept their awards, they paid homage to Johnson.
Kyle Bronson of Brandon, FL finished second to Johnson in the point standings, and was the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Rookie of the Year. As he accepted his awards, he made it clear that he was a better racer because of the Hall of Fame driver.
“I thought I had what it took to win the championship this year, but then I met and raced against Ronnie Johnson,” Bronson said. “This man is amazing. We started parking next to him at the races and I got to know him. He really helped me this year and I learned more than I could ever dream of both on and off the track.”
NeSmith Performance Parts Street Stock driver Calvin Cook took to the stage and had a speech that he had taken the time and thought to put together. The crowd never heard it.
“Well I had one hell of a speech planned until I got to the podium, looked up, seen the legend Ronnie Johnson and then my mind went blank,” Cook said. “I was in such awe of him, and so honored to be in the same room with him, I forgot all about the speech.”
NeSmith Racing Founder and CEO Mike Vaughn said in his State of the Series address at the beginning of the Awards Banquet, “It’s an honor to have a National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductee race in our series, but it’s an extra special honor to have him as our Champion.”
And those words set the tone for the rest of the evening. Ronnie Johnson did it his way, old school, and is the 2013 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion.
Vaughn also announced in the State of the Series Address that AR Bodies will be the 2014 Presenting Sponsor of the NeSmith Performance Parts Street Stock Division Presented By AR Bodies. Vaughn also announced that Thomas McReynolds would be the Technical Director for the NeSmith Performance Parts Street Stock Division Presented By AR Bodies.
In other awards at the NeSmith Racing Awards Banquet, NeSmith Racing Public Relations Director Roby Helm received the Bob Cross Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award, and Talladega Short Track Promoters Lynn Phillips and Alfred Gurley received the NeSmith Chevrolet Old Man’s Garage Weekly Racing Series Promoter of the Year Award.
The 2012 NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series National Champion Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA received the final Ironman Award to commemorate his streak of 161 consecutive series races that he competed in since 2005, a streak that came to an end in 2013. Johnson received the Hedman Husler Hedders Husler of the Year Award.
The Crew Chief of the Year Awards were handed out to the top wrench turners in each of the four NeSmith Racing Divisions: Scott Russell for Ronnie Johnson in the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series Touring Division, Zack Kinsey for Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series Champion William Thomas, Ed Daspit for NeSmith Chevrolet Old Man’s Garage Weekly Racing Series Champion Noah Daspit, and Jonathan Thomas for NeSmith Performance Parts Street Stock Division Champion Trey Bright.
The NeSmith Racing Annual Awards Banquet brought 2013 season to a close on Saturday night. The NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series will go right into the 2014 season in one week with the season opener at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, FL. The Bubba’s Army Winternationals will have the NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS in action for five straight nights from January 28 through February 1.
For more information and rules about the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series, visit the series web site at nesmithracing.com.
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