Sports

Published: Thursday, Jul. 16, 2009

MOTOR SPORTS: YOUNG RACER ON THE MOVE

San Luis Obispo High senior Dallas Johnson is a Rookie of the Year candidate on pro truck tour

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It’s not uncommon for children to learn how to drive by practicing in the parking lots of grocery stores, but Dallas Johnson started when he was 4 years old.

A decade later, he had become the youngest person ever approved to start in the West Coast Pro Trucks racing series.

Today, the 17-year-old Johnson, entering his senior year at San Luis Obispo High, is a potential Southwest Tour Trucks series Rookie of the Year candidate.

“He could drive before he could ride a two-wheel bike,” said his father, Larry Johnson. “He doesn’t talk it up much at school. I doubt if his friends at school even know he races.”

Dallas Johnson, who began driving with a sprint car and then an electric jeep, is a third-generation racer, following in the footsteps of his father, whose career lasted from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s.

“It’s sort of been a family legacy, in a way,” Johnson said. “I’ve been around (racing) all my life.”

When he was 8, Johnson was racing quarter-midget cars against teenagers. Before long, he was ready for West Coast Pro Trucks.

“We picked that series so I could start running at 14,” he explained. “Everywhere else, we would’ve had to wait until I was 16 or 18.”

Johnson placed 31st in 2007, tallying 158 points in his only start. On Nov. 29, 2008 at Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway in Blythe, Johnson finished fifth in his only start that year, with 362 points — a performance good enough by itself for 20th place in the year’s overall standings. The quarter- to three-quarters of a mile, pro-level competition eventually became the Southwest Tour Trucks series.

Most of his competitors are in their 30s. While up-and-comers like Johnson and their elders share camaraderie, it has its limits.

“They take care of the rookies,” Larry Johnson said, “but it’s competitive and they’re racing for money. They’re not going to lead you by the hand through the darkness.”

As with all racers, Johnson said, much of his son’s future is dependent upon gaining sustained sponsorships — an effort that has been hindered by the economy of late.

“It’s a little more difficult than last year,” Dallas Johnson said. “Everyone seems to be trying to cover their own bases and not spending too much money to advertise.”

Johnson plans to compete in five to 10 races this year. If he stops at five, which the family is considering, his rookie status would be preserved for next year. At that point in time, the family has contemplated, the economy could be improved to an extent that more sponsorships would open up, enabling higher-quality truck maintenance and enhancing his chances to win the series’ Rookie of the Year honors.

“We have some help from companies in SLO,” Larry Johnson said of maximizing the truck’s caliber, “but it might not be quite enough to get over the hump. My feeling is, if you can’t race right, don’t race at all.”

With that reasoning, the family is pondering whether to sit out the tour’s next race, Aug. 1 at the Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino.

That is followed by four races at the Toyota Speedway in Irwindale from August to October, before another date at the Orange Show Speedway on Oct. 17 and the season finale Nov. 28 at Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway.

In the future, Dallas Johnson said, he’d like to join a renowned nationwide series, but he could spend more time on the regional circuit.

“I’d like to take it as far as I possibly can,” he said.