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.
Yeah.
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.
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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Links are in the show notes.
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.
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.
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,
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,
we're,
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,
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
and
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
and
he'll pawn off
the
to his
to get other
yeah
for those
for those
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
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
your
grandma's
yaja's
here
and
I mean
there was
everybody
everybody
was involved
maybe
maybe
Inslee
Emma's
youngest
didn't
youngest
only
maybe
she didn't
do anything
she
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
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
at a
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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.
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.
That wraps up another episode of Beyond the Wrench.
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About this episode
Two NHRA drag racing legends, Steve Johnson and Larry Dixon, share their journeys from street racing to professional drag racing, highlighting the importance of passion, mentorship, and business savvy in motorsports. They discuss their relationships with sponsors, the challenges of maintaining partnerships, and the evolution of their careers. The conversation also covers their efforts to inspire the next generation through the BATMAN scholarship, supporting automotive education and careers. Personal stories, including early racing experiences and the significance of community, add depth to their insights on racing and life beyond the track.
Steve Johnson and Larry Dixon Jr., legendary drag racers, join us to share their paths in racing and how they’re helping inspire the next generation of automotive enthusiasts and technicians. During the episode, Steve and Larry share their racing journeys, why everyone in life needs mentors, and how the BAT-man Scholarship supports future technicians.