How Racing Legends Inspire Future Technicians

It gave me a vision of where I wanted to go in life.

If I could work on cars, and I'm obviously snowballing into racing them and stuff, like,

gosh, how cool would that be to have a career, you know, like being involved in cars like that and have it go somewhere?

Welcome back to Beyond the Wrench.

My name is Jay Ganinen, and I am your host.

We've got a really exciting episode today because we're joined by two incredible names from the world of NHRA drag racing.

First, someone who's no stranger to the show, Steve Johnson.

Steve's been on the podcast before, and he always brings a ton of energy.

I think that's putting it lightly, a ton of energy.

He's a different level of energy insight and passion.

Insight and passion.

He's one of the standout personalities in NHRA pro stock motorcycle, and I'm pumped to have him back.

And joining him is a first timer on Beyond the Wrench three time NHRA top fuel world champion, Larry Dixon.

Larry is one of the most successful and respected drivers in top fuel history and we're thrilled to welcome him to the show for the first time.

These two have unbelievable stories, unmatched experience and a unique perspective on what it takes to compete at the highest level.

We're going to get into racing, the behind the scenes grind and how their worlds intersect with technicians in the broader automotive industry.

Now, Larry, I'm going to start with you on Steve's first podcast he did with me.

He kind of threw you under the bus about being chased around California by a helicopter.

Throw me under the bus like that.

It's never, Steve would never do that.

Steve would never do that.

Especially when I couldn't defend myself.

Right.

Steve, welcome back to the show.

How are you?

Wow.

What an introduction.

It was all in a positive light.

I think all the people about how I got arrested and getting chased by a helicopter street racing.

Yes.

Very positive.

Well, at some point it had to leave you.

It lead you to a good point, right?

It was a lot of fun to watch the helicopter chase him.

It was so much fun.

We all had fun.

That's where that line came better than me.

So Larry, you got to bring us back to those days of being chased by the helicopter.

Like how did you turn that into the career that you ultimately had?

I guess I was a trendsetter.

I was a street outlaw when actual you were an outlaw on the street.

You could get arrested.

Yeah.

Yeah, I got arrested.

Got my car impounded.

Like, yeah, I didn't get any checks from any production company for my, actually, it cost a lot.

But anyway, but to be honest with you, it's, you know, those are definitely learning moments.

I'm trying to think.

I've been like 1985, I'd be 19 years old and it's like, yeah, I can't like, I can't really,

I love racing and I am the one racetrack that we go to Palmdale at the time.

I mean, it's an hour away and it's just like, I want to, and my dad braced top fuel

cars in the 60s and 70s.

And that's the path I wanted to really go.

And it was, it was kind of a moment, you know, where you do a reality check.

Like I really need to go about this in a different direction.

So kind of parked the car and ended up at the end of 1986.

That was 85.

So the end of 86, I ended up getting a crew job on a NHRA team.

It was Larry Minerstein and I just kind of, you know, went to a couple of teams,

Frank Bradley, and then I ended up at Don Pardomes in 1988.

So that was kind of, that was my start, you know, probably a little more.

How intimidating, like you race for the snake, right?

Like how, how intimidating was that when you first started off with him?

Well, when I first started out with him, I was on the pit crew.

Like I was working on his funny cars and he's still racing.

And it's, it's funny when you say that because it was, I was in between jobs at the time.

I'm working on cars, buying cars, flipping cars, working on them and stuff in

the San Fernando Valley.

We grew up in Southern California and, and the phone rings.

My buddy Leon answers the phone and, and he says, Hey, it's Don Pardome.

And I'm like, shut the hell up.

Hey, don't make fun of me.

And then it's, and I'm like, so I pick up the phone.

Yeah, what's up?

Like, and it's like, Hey, this is snake.

You know, then it's like, Oh crap, it really is Don Pardome.

You know, and it's like they had a guy leave the team.

They're looking for a guy and my name got popped, you know, got mentioned.

And so it gave me a call and a week later of flying to Baton Rouge,

Louisiana, and that was my first race with him.

And, and, uh, and that was really that I was there 20 years, but I mean,

obviously in time, he's racing funny cars then.

So, I mean, you fast forward a couple of years.

Then he'd go, I would have never thought that he'd ever leave funny cars

because my whole life, it seemed like he was racing funny cars.

But then a couple of years later, he's in top fuel cars.

And then he's going to be, I think he's going to be racing, you

know, his whole life, but then five years later, you know, I mean,

I did some racing on the side and grooming my way towards, you

know, top fuel pro cars and all that.

And yeah, then I end up getting licensed in his car.

And then, you know, I'm abbreviating things very quickly, fast-tracking,

but then we end up going to Miller Brewing Company.

You know, they're looking to get back in the sport and signed

a deal with Miller and then, you know, drove for Snake

and Miller Brewing Company for a dozen years.

So, won a bunch of races and championships.

It was a ball.

But yeah, it all might have started from having helicopters changed.

I will say to this day, those Miller cars were some of the coolest

looking cars of all time, just beautiful, beautiful cars.

That paint scheme was on point.

That's an all-timer.

You know, obviously, with whatever company that you're representing,

you're going to have their brand.

But I think I would be praising Snake by saying,

if you look at all of Snake's cars, Army cars, Hot Wheels cars,

all his cars looked cool.

Like, if he's putting it in because he's a painter, guy,

you know, in the beginning before racing and everything

had to have a look or a style to it.

And so, you know, are you a smokeless cars?

Like, everything he did, Copenhagen, funny cars and stuff,

everything he did looked really cool.

And it's, you know, credit Don Perdom for having the, you know,

the Miller light, Miller genuine draft cars, all that stuff,

the way it looked.

So cool. Now, Steve, tell me a little bit.

Like, when did you guys meet each other?

Oh, it was, it was a, it was in, was that church?

Maybe not. Of course it was.

Well, I think that's what we call the two races was church.

Yeah.

How come you guys were out late so late?

Well, we were at church.

We were on a retreat in Tibet, building homes.

We didn't do, we didn't, we didn't get no, we weren't

troublemakers and stuff.

We just, we just loved racing.

So, you know, there was a place that everybody's got

to hang out. They call it cars and coffee nowadays,

but our cars and coffee usually started around 11 o'clock

at night at Winchals.

So that's a,

and I never, and I never, I didn't drink coffee then either.

I just hung out.

Yeah. No street, streetcars.

He was, he had the motorcycle, the bike crowd that he hung

out with at the street races in Southern, you know,

San Fernando Valley, Southern California.

He had the bike crowd.

So like, I knew of him, we weren't friends, you know,

but, but we were acquaintances.

We, like we knew each other and, and I hung out with the car

crowd and then it literally 1988, 1987, that would have

ended up being my first full season on tour pit crewing was

his first full season racing pro stock motorcycles.

So, but then like, so you're out.

I mean, cheese, we're on the other side of the country

and I know like six people, you know, but I know,

like, I know Steve from the street races and so like,

Beckman, what he wasn't out there then was he, you know,

but, but the, yeah, it's still, it's snowballed,

but then Jack Beckman knew him from the street races.

Gary Sofer, which his street race, which his wife Karen,

you know, had a great, you know, pro stock motorcycle career

as well, knew them from the street races in the valley.

It's just, you know, like, I don't, I don't look

everybody comes from somewhere and you don't have to stay

where you're at.

It's like, if you got a path and it's like, you know, cars

was my path.

I love, you know, I think you and my dad racing top fuel

cars really gave me the vision, you know, long term

where you could connect the dots and have it go to.

But man, the car thing, the car thing aside from

the helicopters, it really got me out of trouble, you

know, like it really, it really did.

It gave me a vision of where I wanted to go in life.

I just, if I, if I could work on cars and, and I'm

obviously snowballed into racing them and stuff like,

gosh, how cool would that be to have a career, you

know, a trade, you know, like being involved in cars

like that and have it go somewhere.

So, and, and, and that could snowball into his deal,

like where he's, you know, taught, you know,

he goes to so many schools and he's, you know,

to give, give kids, you know, teens a vision of where

you can go with, with your passion.

And it's like, I mean, you can get paid for your passion.

It's your cheat in the system.

Yeah, 100%.

Steve, like talk to me about that side.

I mean, that's going from the streets in Southern

California to both of you then kind of going on

that national scene.

I know you and I have talked about that in the past,

but, you know, when you're looking at that,

just having some familiar face on the trail has to help,

doesn't it?

Yeah, it's, well, what, you know, you unfold the story a

little bit more and, and, you know, then, then we,

we're, we see each other at the racetrack.

We have a, we have a friend that's, you know, a good

friend of both of ours, Torch.

And so we just start hanging out and talking and,

you know, then you relate everything back to,

you know, growing up and, oh, you remember the,

you know, he's, they're going, he's racing with

Don Perdone, but, you know, when you get in, in eating

dinner or something like that.

Oh, remember when, when, when Mike raced the, the bottle

Bob and it's like, oh, bottle Bob.

Yeah.

The guy with the Corvette and the nitrous oxide back

when nobody had nitrous oxide.

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

I remember that.

Yeah.

So that was, that's what fired you up.

And I think that's what, that's what we try to do

at our school programs is try to wind up everybody.

And there's so many girls in auto shop now that.

Oh yeah.

That it's, it's fun relating all that stuff to

them, but I think, um, when, when that all unfolded

and then, and then, uh, I don't know, I had some kind

of girl issue and, and I moved out or I ran away

or whatever.

And then I ended up staying at his place and people

talk about staying in a closet.

Mine technically was the closet.

Yeah.

Well, it's the deal.

It's like you just, you know, you need a, you

need a base, but you're not camped out there

because it's like you're going to spend nine months

of the year on the, on the road racing, right?

So it's just kind of renting a room and my dad had

a duplex, uh, and, and so I rented out one side

and yeah, he, he, uh, he, he, he needed a place

to hide for a while.

So he did.

And then, then my dad ends up selling the duplex

and then he's got this house that he's not

using and it's like, wow.

So then gets the house, you know, to where I

could rent a room from him.

So it was like, you know, a couple of years later.

So that that's

and let me tell you the little side thing is, is I,

I, I had rented out to somebody that was destroying

it, but so we move, I moved back in, I tell him

about it and he comes over and there's no lawn.

There's just, it's, it's kind of a, it's kind of

a little bit, it's rough.

It's, it's a little bit.

It was a house they couldn't use on hoarders.

Cause it was ordered too much, but they did

a whole back when NHRA today was a big show.

They came and it was the number, it was the number

one rated show watched by the most amount of people

and they just followed us around for the day

and John Myers was there.

He came by as a, as a special guest, but

where I was going was he was a top fuel driver

and he had cash and, and I had less, less cash.

And so when he come in, he's like, yeah, yeah,

yeah, but we got to do a, we got to do

some, some grass and you got to have sprinklers

and stuff like that.

And bam, I come off and there's grass.

It's all freighted.

It's all pay, pay, pay.

And it's like, you know, I learned, like, I learned

this term later in life that I didn't know back then

that would be called tenant upgrades.

What a concept.

He had so much stuff in a garage and I needed

a garage and there wasn't so like, so I built

this custom shed and did all this stuff.

But yeah, I needed a lawn and then like, we ain't there

to water it.

So you got to have automatic sprinklers and yeah.

So like, yeah, yeah, tenant upgrades.

He did good.

And then, and then you'd come in and it's when you,

when you come in after work, we both got speed forward

a little bit.

We both got Pontiac deals.

Snake had a Pontiac deal.

So he had a black firebird.

Was it?

No, it was a white fire.

Was it a white transom?

I don't know.

And so, and then, and I had a black one and then,

and I shamed Pontiac into doing it.

There wasn't really a marketing deal.

It was just the guy I had back in the old days.

So, but I, I was a motorcycle guy with a Pontiac deal

and I loved it.

And so, but the point to the story is, is when we get

home from work, I'd always look at trophies, his trophy.

He had a Wally on the, on the mantle.

So that was my motivation.

Motorcycle guy getting a Pontiac car.

That lets himself snow to the Eskimo.

I think we all know that Steve, Steve could sell anything

to anybody.

That's for sure.

Yeah.

That, that's not a problem.

How Larry, when was your first win?

1995.

Yeah, had Steve moved out by that point or vice versa?

Had you moved out of Steve's house?

No, no, I, I, well, so what happened?

I mean, to a little back story.

So in 1994, we had that Northridge earthquake.

And, and so it, it, it did a lot of damage in that town,

but that, that set the, the bait for Don Perdon, my boss

at the time, he wanted to get out of the, the San Fernando

Valley.

So at the end of 95, they ended up buying some property

down towards San Diego.

Carl's bad actually and built a shop down there.

So when the shop got done at the end of 96, I had, I moved

down there.

So the end of 96, yeah, that, that was, I had to give

my, my renters notice that I was moving out.

How, how was that first win?

I just, and I know that's a long time ago, but Steve,

I don't know from your perspective, if you recall

him winning that first race, I mean, that's got to be

a pretty big deal, that, that first big win.

It was, it, the house that I grew up in with my dad

and stuff.

It was just his second race.

So it didn't take long.

It didn't take long.

Okay.

With that being said, like my dad raised his whole

life, it ran a bunch of races and stuff, but like

on the NHRA national event level, he won one race.

So it goes his whole life, one's one race.

And so then like, and then I worked for Don, Don Perdon,

like he's won all the races, you know, like a fun.

And then, but then I hop into his car phase, I get

licensed and then same crew, crew chief.

I mean, we didn't, I don't even know if we added the

crew.

I was still doing the cylinder heads between rounds

and stuff.

So we had a great car.

We finished second in the points with snake driving.

So then yeah, the second race that we go to, I

end up winning, but like my, my, my mental, like my

thought process was it's like, if I don't do anything

dumb, like this car can win the car can win, right?

It's, it's number two, like it just finished.

So we go to the second race.

We end up, I don't do anything dumb.

We win the second race.

Like, so, I mean that, that, that's for that.

But I was so like thankful and like I still feel

lucky because like there's not, everybody goes there to

win only one person is going to go out of there winning.

So like, and you don't know when your last one is.

So you better enjoy it when it did.

So then it was like, yeah, I won the second one.

Like, wow, okay.

I don't have to wonder when it's going to happen for

sure.

I figure you just got out.

But Don Perdom's got high standards.

If he's giving you secretariat to ride, don't screw it up.

You know, like otherwise, otherwise he's going to get a new

jockey.

I'm surprised you didn't get out and like you're just like,

you guys talk about this being that hard.

I like, I just second race.

I just won this.

This is easy.

Oh my gosh.

I'm so, I'm so, I'm so scared of karma.

You know, like I don't say anything.

I let everybody else through the talking, you know, like

I just, I'll show up for the winter circle pictures.

You know, like it was fun.

It was a ball.

It just, I mean, we, we won a few races.

We won Indy that year, which was like, gosh, you know, like

that was such that, you know, Indy's, it seems in today's

era, Indy isn't as, they don't make it as big a deal as it

is, but to me, it is absolutely like winning the Indy 500

or Daytona, like winning that race.

And I just, I felt really, really lucky for, and we

wanted to butt shoot out at the end of the year.

We were just talking about that.

I was, where's Lana?

Lana has his, his daughter has a Dalmatian and so, and I

like dogs and so the dogs running around.

We're at his place in Florida and the families all

together and my gals here and her daughter and we're

just hanging out.

And I still had to cook the ham.

You think that all the prepared for you, but I still had

to labor over part of the meal, you know, and deviled eggs.

I mean, boiling the water, I mean, there was a lot of

effort, but the point is, is I asked him on the Dalmatian.

I'm like, Hey, that was so cool to be a Miller guy on

the Clydesdales beer wagon and have the Dalmatian there.

It, it was, it was, it was gosh, you know, but the Budweiser

shootout, you know, putting up $100,000 for a win and

a hundred grand's obviously a lot of money now, but in

1995, that's huge, that's huge.

Exactly.

And so the Miller car, Miller genuine draft, my first

year driving end up winning the Budweiser shootout and

so like, and you're paying more attention now to the

beer rivalry, right? Beer wars and all that stuff.

And, and yeah, I'm sure that was a marketing, you know,

gig.

Oh, they loved it.

Budweiser didn't plan on, but then you got all this, the

entire Miller crew, Miller genuine draft shirts and

everything, and we're riding on the Budweiser Clydesdale

wagon down the, like that.

And I'm, and I'm sitting up front with a guy that's

you know, running the horses and stuff.

And I said, man, I, I, I bet they didn't plan on in the

Miller guys and to his credit, he says, well, then they

shouldn't have put the money up, you know, like, I mean,

he was just right back with it.

But, but yeah, it was a blast.

It was, it was a blast that year.

And it's just, we had, we had a great 12 seasons

with Miller.

It was a, it was a ball.

How do you manage a relationship like that, Larry?

Steve, you and I have talked about how well you

manage relationships through the years.

Larry, that's a big relationship.

Like how, you know, I think maybe that's the part that

doesn't get talked about enough in racing is the need

to manage those relationships and make sure that, you

know, it truly is a partnership.

You've got to put work into it.

How much of a challenge is it with a, with maybe a

sponsor of that magnitude?

It's a partnership as you get old, like all the

stuff that you learn as you go through life and

then you get too old.

And then it's like, dang, I wish I knew that when

I was younger kind of thing, you know, it's more

than a partnership.

You need to make it a friendship, but, but a relationship

no different than a, you know, a husband and wife

and it's a long term relationship.

Both sides got, got to be getting something out

of the deal, you know, it can't be one sided.

Otherwise the marriage ain't going to last or

the, or the sponsorship isn't going to last.

So you really have to make sure that you're, you

know, whatever company that you're with that

they're extremely vested and motivated and you're,

you're producing for them and, and they're obviously

likewise, you know, if they're right in your check,

they're producing for you on that side of things.

And so it's, it's hard because, you know, a big

corporation like that, they, they cycle through

people like constantly.

And so, you know, a new person comes in and they

don't like drag racing.

You got to make sure that they like drag racing,

you know, or, or whatever it is you're doing,

you know, because, you know, it seems like any

company could fall back on golf, you know, like

and you want them to love drag racing.

So really that's it.

And I think, you know, like looking back that,

you know, the hard part, you know, obviously they

left after 12 years, but you know, a lot of things

happened.

I mean, the Miller, Miller Brewing Company got sold

the company itself got sold a couple times,

big company.

And then now like InBev owns them, which is this

huge European company.

The same one that bought Budweiser, you know, like,

so when people talk about like, gosh, why isn't,

you know, the beer company is involved?

Well, it's because, because that's the same company

else, Budweiser and Miller.

100% market share.

They don't really care what beer you buy because

it's going to be one of them is there's no,

there's still, there's no rivalry on the track

anymore.

So it makes it tough and you have to have,

I believe you have to have whatever it is to

keep that company vested in if they're,

if their competition is their brother now,

then they don't, they don't need to compete and save

those millions of dollars.

One of our, one of our mentors, John Asher,

he was editor of CarCraft.

He's probably one of the most esteemed photographers

in, in NHRA history.

He's, he always talked about, hey, you know,

either have a friend,

a relative or a very strong point to a business

deal to get a sponsorship.

And that's what racers all want a sponsorship.

And, and when you, when you can show a value,

you know, there, there, anybody in business is

going to say, okay, it shouldn't matter what

it is.

I just want to make money.

I want to sell more product.

I want to show my services, whatever it is.

But with a friend or, or you're, you know, the lucky

club, you know, that you're an ally.

Yeah.

It's like, that's, that's a low hanging fruit, man.

So it just takes some effort.

And I talk a little bit about that in our, in our

presentations with, with young people, but you

have to, now I got so involved in engine

building that I just, that, that part of my

life has kind of escaped me a little bit.

So I, I need to pay attention to that because

we got to have, got to have money to, I remember a

long time ago, their class is always the coolest

class, but there was a thing in National Dragster

where Eddie Hill wrote a letter to Kenny

Bernstein and said, man, how'd you go 300 miles

an hour?

That's the coolest thing ever.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And then the letter back was with a picture of

a hundred dollar bill and Bernstein says, get

as many of these as you can possibly find and

throw them at the car.

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Steve, how did that come to you, the business

side of it?

Because when you're starting off on the street,

so you just do it because you've got a love for

racing.

But when was there kind of a light bulb moment

or something where it clicks on?

Obviously, you know, you need money for this.

But I think a lot of people when they start

off in racing, regardless of what form of

racing, maybe don't fully understand the

business element to that.

Like for you, when did it click that?

Hey, in order to do this, I need to find

people that are going to help us fund this.

Yeah.

George Bryce says everybody's good at something.

And I was, I was a street racer and my, you know,

I had a turbocharger on my motorcycle in 86.

I didn't really know what it did, but I knew

it was fast as hell, man.

And the motorcycle was a rocket ship.

So I just, John Asher told me what I needed to do

and he went with me.

I went to, I knew I needed money.

So I was teaching myself and I was getting some

advice.

And then I think in, in 88, I, yeah, and I think

in 88, I ran around and, and yeah, I was so engulfed

in going to the SEMA show and, and writing letters

and I paid a lady to write letters in DOS.

You know, we didn't have word back then.

So I constantly sent these out and, and I got

somebody to, I went to the SEMA show and, and

I talked to the person and everybody said, all

the racers said, how do you go to the SEMA

show when you, when we're so busy?

And I'm like, I don't know how you don't go

to the SEMA show if you want to sponsor.

So, you know, that, that helped me and I met

Slick 50 and, and I really feel like back in

those early days, I had, you know, probably one

of the best deals financially in, in, in our

category.

So, but it was, it had lots of depth.

I was doing Walmarts every Wednesday with

a motorcycle and a reaction timer with John

Force.

John Force did, did, did Walmarts back in

those days.

Not as many as I did, but he would show

up for Castrol for a grand opening and, and

I was obviously there for Slick 50.

So, but I was engulfed into it.

I just loved it.

Well, I remember calling him on the phone and

telling him, man, I, I'm at the SEMA show

and I met these people and it's Dura Lube

and, and he's testing, he's on his first

test with, with Don Pradoam.

And I'm like, oh, and I signed autographs

and I was over at this booth and, and I

think I got this deal going on and blah,

blah, it's all me, me, me, me.

And this is a pay phone days, I think.

And I'm like, oh, what about your day at,

at, at Bakersfield?

You guys were testing your first top fuel

test and he's like, the weekend before our

first race, Pomona.

Yeah.

And he's like, oh, well, you know, the first

run, spun the tires or something.

And then the second run, they did this

and the third run or whatever it was,

it, it, it, I got in high.

It was, it was near the finish line

and it got air under it and it flipped

over and it completely did a blow over

and it destroyed the car and everything

like that.

And I'm like, oh, you're not very excited

about my days.

Then you crashed the car at 300 miles.

Are you?

Yeah.

I'm a little more low key than Steve.

We all are Larry.

Who we all are.

Exactly.

Larry, I'll go ahead and see the part

of the sport, the marketing, the

business side.

A lot of people were, were, were mad

or hated Kenny Bernstein.

I, you know, he was very successful.

Don Prado was very successful.

Force was, was getting more successful.

It's, it's like, you got to have money,

man.

And it's just, it's, it's a lot of effort.

These relationships, Denzo's involved in

our sport and Angie Smith does an

incredible job of, of doing exactly

what Larry said, you know, I even

talked to Lisa and I said how

impressed I am with, with, with,

you know, it's the, it's the model of,

of, of racing, I think.

So, um, you have a great relationship

and do a fantastic job and win,

but, but also be an extension of the

company out in the world,

whether it's a trade show, a grand

opening, an event with the,

with the corporation or your partners

and, and, uh, you know,

it's taught highly.

Keep watering the lawn.

Just, like, just because when you

get the lawn, don't mean it's

going to stay alive unless you

keep after it.

So you've got to keep that,

that relationship they talks

about.

You keep feeding it all the time

for the whole length and,

and ride it for as long as you can.

I always ask everybody,

what do you think the first thing

you do as a business,

as a team owner,

what's the first meeting that you

have?

What's the directive of the company?

Uh, when you sign your first contract.

So what would it be for Jay?

I, you've already quizzed me on this.

It's how you get the next one,

right?

That's exactly right.

Yeah.

I remember you teaching me that.

You taught me that before.

Brand new contract is how do we

get them to sign an extension?

Yeah, I see on that.

Yeah.

Yes.

That's, uh, I've,

I've learned that lesson.

And I think it's,

it's, uh,

it's really valuable.

I think.

Personality has so much to do with

it as well.

Right.

You look at like somebody like a

John force who has just a,

a great personality.

I think very relatable to the

general public.

You don't maintain a sponsor for

as long as he did or like all

those partners that he had over

the years,

as you guys have as well,

but like,

like you look at what force was

able to do on the business side

of things over the years and

you're like,

that guy knows how to maintain

relationships.

Right.

Like that's impressive.

Yeah.

It's and,

and,

and we were young and we got

to watch it in its heyday.

And,

you know,

arguably one of the best

sponsors,

motorsports in general has

ever had has been Winston.

We got to watch.

We got to know Teenway

Robertson,

uh,

Rick Hoosier,

really Bob Mastin.

We got to know all these

people.

You know,

they were,

they sponsored to Angel.

So I,

I got to learn.

I talked to George Rice

about it all the time

about those early days

and stuff.

So the sport was not

the sport that motorsports

was extremely healthy back

in those days.

And,

and for us to be able to

kind of watch it at

early age,

the Bernstein's a motto.

You know,

we got this.

I got to stand on a starting

line when a motto raised

arms be for the championship

and Pomona.

I mean,

that's it.

Nobody knows what we're

talking about.

It doesn't matter what I'm

saying,

but it would be like the

bulls playing,

uh,

Celtics,

right?

And the,

in the final,

the final game or something.

Yeah.

And it was winter takeoff

whoever won that round

on the championship.

Yeah.

So it's wild.

But,

but see,

we get to learn.

And that's,

that's what kind of stems

the Batman scholarship is,

is I've learned a little

bit,

you know,

and,

and I try to share that

with young people.

And so,

um,

just getting them to,

to have some energy.

Gosh darn,

some of them are just

like so low key.

You got to have some energy

and that's what

people see.

Uh,

hopefully it's the right energy,

but

taking what we've learned

and being able to pass it on,

you know,

we're,

we're here at Larry's place

in,

uh,

in Florida,

like I said.

And so,

um,

the rental,

the rental

buildings

is a good deal.

You don't have to rely on

drag racing

your entire life.

But,

just be diversified.

You're right.

Right.

Larry,

same kind of question

for you.

I mean,

with the,

the business side of it.

I mean,

I'm assuming

you were lucky in that,

not lucky.

You made your own luck

in a lot of ways,

but with that

Don Prudhomme

relationship,

I'm assuming Don

probably had a pretty good idea

of how that,

that side of the business

worked too.

Right.

Like he had a head start

on a lot of people

in terms of being able to,

to build those

relationships early.

Have to imagine

on top of the racing

that business side

had a pretty,

pretty big impact on you.

If you have,

I,

God gave us

two eyes

and,

and

one mouth,

you know,

like two ears,

you know,

like you watch,

you listen,

you know,

I,

I worked,

I,

I worked for Snake

for six years

and sat on the tailgate

towing back after a run

and

listen to him,

you know,

listen to the crew talk

on the way up to pick him up

and listen to him on the way back

and you're watching

every single run

down the racetrack.

So you're getting

schooled on driving

and,

but,

but also

a way off track,

you know,

you're watching

how he does business,

you know,

how he does,

works with his employees,

you know,

how he works with his sponsorships.

So you're,

you're watching that stuff

and if you're,

if you're paying attention

and not just Don Pradome,

but

John Forth

or Steve

or anybody else,

you pay attention

to what's going on,

you know,

see the path,

see where things are heading.

Yeah,

you're,

you're going to pick things up.

I mean,

I,

you know,

if,

if I could have had my way,

I probably would have raised my entire life,

but like life,

it didn't work that way.

So you got to be able to

land on your feet

wherever you're landing,

you know,

and make sure

that you do have a plan,

plan B,

you know,

the,

to circle back that,

you know,

that the education,

you know,

the scholarship program

that Steve does.

I mean,

dang,

how about,

I mean,

literally writing checks,

you know,

to,

to young people,

you know,

to help kickstart them in their careers

or where they want to go.

That's not,

that's not bad.

You know,

like,

you,

you could either

get with Steve

and have him write you check,

or I've learned on this interview,

you could write a letter

to Kenny Bernstein.

You could get a hundred dollar bill back,

which,

which is exactly what I'm thinking

I'm going to do after we're done.

Get a write a letter to Kenny.

I could get a hundred dollar bill.

Because Steve ain't going to give me

no scholarship.

I'm too old.

Well,

Steve,

let's talk about that,

that right?

The,

the current day Batman scholarship

for those that don't know Batman,

the BAT,

a part of the acronym

stands for be a technician.

What's the latest with everything

with the Batman scholarship?

We do them all over the United States.

You can go online to

SteveJohnsonRacing.com

go into the scholarship tab.

There's an application there

about five or six questions.

And if you fill it out

really, really fast

and you can do it probably in

maybe you could probably do it

in like three minutes.

It's perfect

because we take all of those

and we throw them in the trash can

because people don't care,

you know,

and we don't want that.

So

we love the honesty as always.

Yeah.

Emma goes,

Emma goes over all those scholarships

they get put in

and there's an automatic email

that goes back to them

saying we've got it

and we go through those

and we look at

we're just trying to find

somebody that's a rock star,

you know,

they're in school.

They have a part-time job.

There's some kind of passion.

You know, the dad

they're either the last girl,

Amelia, her her her mom,

her her dad's a truck driver,

but her mom

where her mom's a Delta, right?

No, Delta air,

Delta air plane mechanics.

So that was her.

That's her mom.

So, you know,

very unique stories

and Eric Shaw

they they won up in

it's Weber State

in Salt Lake City.

So we did a couple of scholarships up there.

We just did one at the Good Guys show.

Good Guys has a program

called Hot Rodding

Careers in Hot Rodding

Scottsdale

and Scottsdale.

Yeah, we just did one over there

and it was just

it's so heartwarming

to to to

we gave a bunch of runner-ups

but when the scholarship

comes in,

we review those

and then we send an email

to the the students

that are rock stars

as a finalist

and then the finalist

sends us a one minute video

on you know

how they are

what they're doing

so you can learn

a little bit more

and then I try to follow up

a little bit

on their on their references

and things like that

but that's a

it's unfolding

and it just never stops.

It just keeps going

so when we announce one

we just go for another one

so we're going to do

one up at Wiotek.

Cindy we've had

a couple of it

in Indianapolis.

My godson Larry's youngest

you know,

he worked at

area 31

is it called area 31

in Indianapolis

an incredible instructor

Danny over there

just teaching young

he's got to

he has a sponsor

at the

his class has a sponsor

from a local dealership

so teaches him

just

it's just such a

great environment

to add to

skilled trades

and specifically supporting

our initiative

in life

to help people

understand

the value

and the career

of the automotive industry

and and in diesel

and motorcycle

as well as gasoline.

Yeah and I

Oh sorry Larry

go ahead.

Now I just say

you know just from

watching my son

go through

that program

and

there

if you have your eyes

and ears open

there's plenty of careers

in the automotive industry

and there's company

I mean the dealership

would come in there

literally looking to recruit

you know

young guys

and stuff like that.

So Larry

you were saying

your son is an instructor?

No

my son

went to school

at the school

when you went

you went to

a bond high school

but they have a

a magnet program

that would

because

there's not as

you know

because of budget cuts

and everything like that

it's harder to go into

the shop classes

so one of

one of the schools

across town

Ben Davis High School

they've got a great

automotive program there

and and he was able

to go to school

classes

for for a couple of seasons

you know

and and just

like

anybody's wondering

if we were able to

circumvent

hustle the

the system

to see if

he could get a scholarship

he didn't

year after

he graduated

but but he ended up

he ended up

you literally

ended up cutting

the check

like scholarship

to two students

that went to Ben Davis there

I think I mean

and they got

insane

stuff

it's

it's free

you just

but again

it's like

like how Steve's

talked about

you could go on there

but

you're going to get out

of life

and out of Steve Johnson

racing

what you put into it

and it's like

if you want something

really bad

show it

prove it

you know

and we love

associating with

number one brand

so when we say

I write a check

it

I do

I guess technically

I do do that

but but peak

don't jump

work

sponsor

he

he's

the peak

brand

and

Tom

Hervest

his dad

had an automotive shop

so he's very partial

to that industry

just like I'm

saying

but

his

his wallet

is it

is a different

size

than

than mine

so he

he knows

but he knows

people

it still works

this day

don't matter

whose

whose names

at the bottom

of the check

just that it's got

your name

at the bay too

yeah

and so he

he writes a check

for $1500

and then the student

we give him

about

4000

or $5000

in tools

snap on

tools

the best

and

they're all covered up

and everything

we pull it off

and

pull a cover

over it

and stuff

like

my buddy

resty west

is

he was

he's been very fortunate

in the automotive industry

he has a

charity now

along with his buddy

Tim

that's called

wings and warrior

and he's

extreme

they're both very

extremely passionate

about the automotive industry

so

I get some help

but it's just gotten

to be really

expensive

so

it's a lot

of

it's very

it's time-consuming

and

and all these things

but

between

snap on

and wings

and warrior

probably going to have

a couple

maybe a couple

other people

we're going to be able

to do more

next year

so

point of the story is

is

if you're excited

about the automotive

industry

and you're

in tech school

or you're

an automotive

program

consider

and especially

well anytime

so

go online

and fill that out

and if you get a

brought in

as a

finalist

then you can

make sure you do

a good

do

good video

because

you can tell

the difference

between

oh my goodness

yes

yeah

so

yeah

get some advice

on how to do it

you know

if

if you haven't

heard

my

quick little tips

on how to get there

or

kind of understand

what we've talked

about here

it's

it's not hard

to stand out

it really is

everybody in life

needs a mentor

mentors

he calls it

like

almost a

board of directors

for your own

personal brand

you know

like

I mean

that you have a group

of people

like

that you can

you're go

to people

to like

ask for advice

and guidance

because

it's like

nobody

maybe Christopher

Columbus did it

on his own

but

on that

you know

like

everybody has

guidance

and

getting

getting up

and getting going

and just

use the system

to

I didn't have the

I have some guidance

and I knew that

I really wasn't

involved so much

in preparing

an entire

turkey

dinner

and I

I brought

Emma down here

to

see all this going

but I

I didn't realize

that I would have

to be

involved

at the level

that I was

I had to cook

the whole

I had to do

the ham

okay

the whole

ham

I had

kind of

I mean the

the coding

on top

of it

the freedom

of the oven

and the

so

yes

yesterday

so I

like

my

my annual

tradition

I deep fry

birds

right

so I go through

the whole process

deep fry

the bird

and then you

have to

like

you got a

babysit

it

the whole time

it's in there

make sure

the temperature

still stays

the same

and then

I'm like

dang

like

I'm watching

see

like

warm up

a ham

you know

like

and

warming up

a ham

must be

exhausting

because he was like

asleep

for the whole time

and then

because I'm really like

damn

I want to do

the ham

that's here

you know

but then

because then

I'm thinking

like

is it

it's not really

hard work

but then

I'm thinking

it must be

mental

exhausting

because it

forces them

to have to

take naps

while this

ham is

warming

it's not cooking

it's warming up

you know

like

so

well

I guess

we'll just stay

in

in our own

corners

I'll keep doing

to do

the ham

and

he'll pawn off

the

to his

to get other

yeah

for those

that are listening

right now

this

you can probably

get the gist

but this

we're recording

this

on Black Friday

the

the day

after Thanksgiving

so

the smack

talk

about

cooking

Thanksgiving

dinner

is

great

I can only

imagine

how that

translated

from like

the track

back in the days

or

back in street racing

maybe there's

a little bit

of smack talk

but

one of the

best things

about having friends

is the ability

to smack talk

with them

over something

like

Thanksgiving

dinner

can continually

30 years

of smack

40 years

of smack

talking

yeah

ultimately

we all know

that the girls

the girls

the wives

the

girlfriends

the

ma

the

your

grandma's

yaja's

here

and

I mean

there was

everybody

was involved

maybe

Inslee

Emma's

youngest

didn't

youngest

only

maybe

she didn't

do anything

she

lots of

pecan

pie

she had

lots of

pecan

pie

and was

on the

rev limiter

the whole time

you know

so good

but it was

it's

it's like everybody

else's

Thanksgiving

it's no different

it's the same thing

what

we were

trying to

I was

comparing

yesterday

thinking of

Thanksgiving

in the past

and

that we

we've done

a few Thanksgiving's

at a

Awesome.

Now I know.

The things he learned.

The things he learned over the years.

Yeah.

Oh my goodness.

It just doesn't come in a camp already, where?

It actually like.

You gotta do something.

Whip.

Yeah.

Oh, that's awesome.

Do you see the table everybody's loaded up on?

Yeah.

That,

It was a big table.

There was a lot going on there yesterday.

It was a fun day and trying to take advantage of the day to,

like just to time out on life and dinos and cars and all that

and be thankful for your family, thankful your friends.

What do your travel schedules look like right now in general

as we go through the holidays?

And, you know, Steve, I know you on top of everything,

you were just at the good guys event.

You were at SEMA.

I missed you at SEMA, but it feels like you guys

are on the road.

Whenever I'm complaining about traveling,

you guys have a different level of travel.

Yeah.

I think I'm going to a big presentation

with the North Texas Dealers Association.

Brent?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brent Franks and I'm doing that next.

I'm doing that, I think on the third through the fifth

and then we have the PRI show.

And then I do a commencement speech

where we're going to present a Batman scholarship

in Laramie, Wyoming.

You know, I have some miles on Delta.

So yeah.

How many miles are you at, Steve?

Oh my gosh.

4.2 million.

That is wild.

You've got one goddess in pilot.

That is wild.

Yeah, never stop, never stop.

That's the energy to travel 4.2 million miles.

That's impressive.

It's fine.

And Kelly Klont says, when we announced

that it's going to be our 500th race,

she got down to Indy one last year and she says,

I have no idea how you could do 500 races.

And unlike her, if you're listening

or you're obviously listening,

but it's like, if you go to all the races

and do it for 39 years, you'll have 500 races too.

I don't think Kelly's 39.

What a bit hard for Larry.

How about you?

How does your travel schedule typically look?

And I would be interested for you, Larry.

I want to hear a race weekend,

what a race weekend looks like for you.

It's, well, for me, it's a lot.

It's been softer, though.

I'm going to say the last 10 years

since I'm not on the NHRA tour.

So it's just small portions, I guess.

I've been running the two-seater, still do that.

So we give rides.

And it's kind of like a June through September program

with that where we're kind of once a month

go to a track during that and run the two-seater.

I'll run the top fuel car either at exhibition races.

It's been, I've mentored younger drivers,

got them licensed in the car

and then go to the NHRA events.

We actually did an NHRA event with the car

where I drove the car in September.

So a little bit of that stuff,

I've got some street car stuff that I play with.

I got a Chevy 2 that, okay, listen to this.

So the rest of the story of getting arrested with the 55,

that was the last time I ever street-raced at 55.

But then right after that,

I bought a 66 Chevy 2 from a friend right then.

Well, I've kept that Chevy 2 this whole time

and parked it, didn't do a lot with it.

And then maybe 10 years ago, got with General Motors,

put a late model like LT4,

kind of they call it a Connect and Cruise system.

So it was an LT4 with automatic transmission

and then went to Drag Week

in some of those drag and drive events.

So I've been doing that for almost the last 10 years,

working on that, pulled the LT4 out, put an LT5,

doing that again with General Motors on that

and a magazine build that it'll end up on

in Chevy hard-core, so kind of stay in tune with that.

And then the motor that's coming out of the Nova

is going into an El Camino

that if I can ever get it out of paint jail,

it will actually go in there.

And that's not a jab, it's total love.

So if my painter hears this interview-

We love you.

We love you, you still have my El Camino.

So I wanna get it out.

I'll bail it out anytime you say it's done enough time.

So the LT4 is going out,

but the thing that I love about,

I love the old cars, but I love modern technology too.

That LT4 that I drove to do Drag Week and Midwest Rags,

I've run as quick as 980s with the car.

It gets 22 miles to the gallon on pumped gas

and I could drive it to California and back.

It's such a nice package.

But that's what the modern technology

is letting things do now.

So it's like now the LT4 is out going to LT5,

so more power, trying to keep the mileage around

the same area and then that's going to El Camino.

But the modern technology with the small blowers

that fit under the hood and the fuel injection

and all the electronics that go into these packages

are so efficient, it makes so much power.

I get excited about it.

Now my son, my youngest son's 19,

starting to get into cars, get into racing,

started racing Super Comp earlier this year,

got a Super Comp license last year,

went through Frank Holley School.

So doing a little bit of that as well too.

So kind of almost, I'm getting to the point in my life

where I'm like basically passing the baton off,

doing a little, not a lot.

I want him to do more and me do less.

And kind of, you know, pay it forward,

pass it on to the next generation.

That is so cool.

Not as busy as him, but still busy.

It's still plenty busy.

I've got a few kind of rapid fire questions

I've got for you guys.

And as we kind of get close to concluding this episode,

first question is what was your first car?

Oh, that's a good one.

Mine was a 69 Cougar.

That's awesome.

Mine was a 55 Chevy.

That's the one, that's the one.

That's the one, yeah.

I think I was too terrified to race anything

that was my primary driving vehicle when I was 16

because I know my dad would have killed me

had I wrecked it.

So I,

That's a part of that story.

So like when the helicopter's chasing me, right?

Literally.

And I'm like, as I'm driving

and I've got the skinny tires on the front,

I can go 150 in a straightaway,

but I gotta go like 12 miles an hour around the corner with it.

So I stop and then go down.

I end up under the underpass under the San Diego

or the 405 freeway.

I'm underneath and I'm like,

and the spotlight is going like this,

like on both sides.

And I'm like, what the heck am I gonna do?

You know, right around the corner from my house

where I and my dad's there.

And I'm like, I can't go home.

My dad will kill me, right?

So like, so I literally ended up driving down the street.

And then I just, I gave up,

shut the car off, get out of the car instead.

You know, put my hands on the,

waited for the Calvary to arrive.

And I would have much rather dealt with the police

than my dad.

So I'm right with you.

We all stood there and watched his car get loaded on.

He says, hey, would you guys mind

putting it on a flat bed and we're like,

oh yeah, this is the back of the days

when the cops might have beat you up,

but they were cool to hit and cool.

Is that correct?

Got a flat bed ride to Fox Motors in Van Nuys

where I had to go pick it up the next day from impound.

Oh my goodness.

This is great.

Next question is, what would you be doing

if you weren't, if you wouldn't have been a drag racer?

That goes for both of you.

Wow.

I think I've had that question before.

I probably, we had, we have Del Taco out here

in California, so maybe Del Taco, you know,

I would be a burger technician.

That doesn't sound terrible some days.

I've said this before, my last job away from cars

was at working at Jack in a Box, like literally.

So yeah, maybe I'd make my way all the way up to,

I don't, maybe assistant manager, hopefully by now

I could make it up to.

I would definitely, I'd definitely be doing something fun.

I'd be corporate America, I'd be working on cars.

You'd be selling something.

I'd be doing, I'd be doing something.

There's, I wouldn't be a burger technician.

I'd be doing something cool and fun

and probably make a heck of a lot more money.

I'd be lost without cars.

Gosh, I have no vision, none.

We're on motorcycles too.

Yeah, I think that once it gets in your blood,

like a lot of us were just raised with that.

I don't know that you ever get rid of that, right?

Like it's just kind of in you.

No, no.

Last question of the hard-hitting questions

that our marketing team put together,

what time do you get up in the morning?

And this actually, you guys could hold each other

accountable here because when Steve,

you apparently were very well rested all day yesterday,

so I would assume that you were a pretty good time today.

I'm usually a seven o'clock guy,

but I do a lot of early morning flights and...

Those are brutal.

Yeah, but before Emma, I would just work the night

before every race.

I'd just work all the way through the night

and then I'd just go to, I'd leave to go to the airport

and then when I went from Burma, from Atlanta,

fly from Birmingham to Atlanta,

and then Atlanta to wherever you went

and I'd always shower in the clubs.

So I was rested, you know?

Nice.

In between flights, yeah, in between flights.

So I'd always, so it's still seven o'clock,

but there's lots of days where there was neither no sleep

or a 330.

Yeah, I'm not crying when I say this.

I'm reporting.

I think my oldest son is 25

and I don't think I've been able to sleep in

since we've ever had, since we've had kids.

So again, not crying, just reporting, you know?

Like it's just now, I took a picture of the sunrise

and it was 6.03 and I was already up.

So like it's, we're going, you know?

We're up and, I'm up and going early now.

We've got to be careful with what we're saying here

because we've got some stray ears,

maybe from the family in the background

that we don't want to get you guys in trouble

during Thanksgiving season here.

That would be bad.

Yeah, yeah.

No, no, we're good.

I ain't, I'm safe.

Yeah, yeah.

You're safe, we're all safe.

All right, so this has been an absolute pleasure.

Been able to really, Steve, over the years

get to know you a little bit, Larry.

It's been an absolute pleasure getting to know you.

Likewise.

Larry, where can people follow you around and online

and kind of track, track what you're up to?

Yeah, social media, the, it'd be in Instagram and X.

I still don't like the word X, but Twitter.

Yeah, at Dickson Top Fuel.

I don't have, I am my own social media manager.

So, and then I think on Facebook it's Larry Dickson Racing.

So, cool.

And then when something's going on, I'll post about it.

You know, I went, last month went to Bakersfield

with one of my dad's old race cars

and did the Hot Rod Reunion, the NHRA deal

and fired the car up.

So it's like, it's, you know, all my,

most of them are always car related.

But yeah, social media, you get me up.

And then the same thing, if people's got questions on anything,

you can DM me and you're going to get an answer back.

So.

That is so cool.

And Steve, how about you?

We talk a lot about the Batman scholarship.

Oh, hold on.

You got to come this way just a little bit to your left,

I believe, and down.

Oh, there it is.

There it is.

Yeah, I don't know if that's going to work, but I don't either.

But we'll try it today.

First time on the podcast, we've got a QR code coming across.

If you're listening to this,

you can go on to YouTube and be able to find this QR code.

Steve, if they don't have access to YouTube right now,

where do they go to?

They go to SteveJohnsonRacing.com.

Where else do we, where else can we find you at?

I'm on Facebook and X and Instagram.

And it's Steve Johnson Racing.

I do a wonderful job.

Emma handles that really good.

Thank you, Emma.

This QR code, but yeah, not quite as fluid,

but you can definitely find a,

I'm going to do a lot better job with that in 2026.

My 40th year racing, it's going to be our 40th year.

Congratulations.

Look forward to following both of you along.

If for those of you listening,

get out there and check out that Batman scholarship.

They're doing some phenomenal things with that.

And the more we can paint a light on that

or shine a light on that,

I think the more people are going to get opportunities

for these scholarships.

So I can't thank the both of you enough

for joining us on the day after Thanksgiving.

Hope you're able to enjoy the rest of your time in Florida.

Yeah.

Thanks for having us on your show.

Thank you.

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