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Billy Johnson (racing driver)

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Billy Johnson
Johnson at Road America in 2013
NationalityUnited States American
BornWilliam Ryan Johnson
(1986-10-10) October 10, 1986 (age 38)
Torrance, California
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship career
Debut season2014
Current teamChip Ganassi Racing
Racing licence FIA Gold
Car number68
EngineFord
Starts4
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish52nd in 2015
Previous series
2013
2005–2006, 2011–2013		American Le Mans Series
Rolex Sports Car Series
NASCAR Cup Series career
1 race run over 1 year
2017 position40th
Best finish40th (2017)
First race2017 Toyota/Save Mart 350 (Sonoma)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
5 races run over 4 years
Best finish50th (2013)
First race2010 Zippo 200 at The Glen (Watkins Glen)
Last race2013 CNBC Prime's "The Profit" 200 (Loudon)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years2016–2017
TeamsChip Ganassi Racing
Best finish21st (2016)

William Ryan Johnson (born October 10, 1986) is an American professional sports car and stock car racing driver. He is the 2016 IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS champion. He currently competes part-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship, driving for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing UK in the No. 66 Ford GT.

Racing career

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Early career

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When he was 13 years old, Johnson started kart racing. In 2003 he won a scholarship to race in the series Skip Barber Racing School and a scholarship in Valencia Spain to compete in the inaugural season of Formula BMW USA as a Factory BMW "Junior" driver.[1]

In 2004 he competed in the Formula BMW USA Championship and finished 5th and received the Sportsman of the Year award.

In 2005 he finished in the top-10 of his one and only Star Mazda Pro Series race.

Sports cars

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In 2005 he made his sports car debut with Speed Source co-driving with James Hinchcliffe in the Grand-Am Cup ST class, en route to 7 top-10 finishes in 7 races. He also made his GT car debut in the Virginia round of the Rolex Sports Car Series with Team Prototype Technology Group in a BMW M3. and had 7 top-10 finishes in the Grand-Am Cup ST class driving for SpeedSource, Matt Connolly Motorsports, and Compass 360.

In 2006 he competed in one Speed World Challenge race for Tindol Motorsports as well as the Grand-Am Cup ST class for Kensai Racing, Potter Racing, and ROAR Racing.

2007 was his first full season in sports cars, finishing 2nd in the ST Championship with 3 victories under Kensai Racing. He also made his Koni Challenge GS class debut thanks to Jim Click Racing, finishing 6th as the highest placing Mustang.

In 2008, he made the progression to a full season in the GS class under Motorsport Technology Group with 4 podium finishes driving a BMW Z4 M-Coupe and Porsche 997.

In 2009, after winning at Homestead in a Porsche 997 for Motorsport Technology Group, and the team running out of funds halfway through the season, he signed with Roush Fenway Racing's Koni Challenge team, driving a Ford Mustang FR500C alongside Jack Roush Jr. A year later, the two won at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jack Roush's 400th win as a car owner.[2] They finished 3rd in the championship with a win at New Jersey and multiple podiums.

In late 2011 they finished 2nd in the championship with 3 victories, at VIR, Watkins Glen, and New Jersey. That year he also joined Turner Motorsport to drive a BMW M3 at the Rolex Sports Car Series, finishing fourth at Montreal.

In 2012 he made his Rolex Daytona Prototype debut with Doran Racing Sunday morning after illness and injury left the team short on drivers mid-race and Johnson filling in having never driven a Prototype. Driving for Roush, he claimed wins at Daytona and Mid-Ohio, and a podium finish in a one-off ST race at Lime Rock and a top-5 driving a BMW M3 for RumBum Racing.

In 2013 he made his American LeMans Series Debut driving for Aston Martin Racing in the 2013 12 Hours of Sebring, finishing ninth. He won at Daytona and Lime Rock in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS class and had a podium finish at Laguna Seca in the Turner Motorsports BMW M3 in the GT class.

In 2014 he switched to Multimatic Motorsports in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series driving the Boss 302R with Ian James winning the season finale at Road Atlanta. He also drove for Scuderia Corsa in the Ferrari 458 in the GTD class in the 24 Hours of Daytona with Ken Wilden, Dave Empringham, and Rod Randall.

In 2015 he drove with Scott Maxwell in the Boss 302R and debut the Ford Shelby GT350R-C, finishing 3rd in the Championship and winning at Lime Rock. He returned with Turner to drive a BMW Z4 at Petit Le Mans.

In 2016, he joined Chip Ganassi Racing's FIA World Endurance Championship team, driving the No. 66 Ford GT in the first three races of the season, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans; sharing the car with Olivier Pla and Stefan Mücke, he was the only American to race for Ford in the series that year.[3] They finished 4th at LeMans.

He won the 2016 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Championship in the Ford Shelby GT350R-C with Scott Maxwell, winning 6 races that year - Daytona, Mosport, Lime Rock, Road America, COTA, and Road Atlanta.

He returned to run the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship, and won the opening race at Spa.[4]

Testing and coaching

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Johnson has been involved as a test driver for Ford Motor Company and Multimatic Motorsports during the development of the GT350/R, 2016 Ford GT, Ford GT GTE/GTLM, Mustang GT4, FP350S, Mustang Performance Pack 2, and the new GT500. In addition to testing and development, he has also provided road racing training for Roush drivers Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse, Darrell Wallace Jr., Aric Almirola.[5]

NASCAR

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Johnson's No. 16 at Road America in 2013

In 2010, Johnson made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Watkins Glen International, driving the No. 6 for Roush Fenway Racing as a road course ringer.[2] Despite qualifying ninth,[6] he was involved in a multi-car wreck on lap 24, finishing 36th.[6]

Johnson returned to RFR in the 2011 Nationwide Series, this time at Road America, where he topped the time charts in the first practice [7] before qualifying on second row and running in the top 5 until falling out early due to an engine problem.[8]

Running only one race in 2012, Johnson scored his first NASCAR top-ten finish at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. After running in the top 5 most of the day, multiple Green-White-Checker attempts turned it into a fuel mileage race, and he had to pit for fuel on the second attempt from P2. On the third and final GWC restart, Johnson drove from 20th to 8th in two laps.[9]

Coming off of that strong performance, Johnson led his first-ever laps at Road America in 2013. In that race, he started 7th and worked his way to the lead before a lap 14 pit road speeding penalty. He retook the lead again by lap 39 before being collected in a wreck at lap 47 while running 4th.[10] He then made his first oval start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, finishing both races in 15th place.[11]

Johnson qualifying the No. 43 for the 2017 Toyota/Save Mart 350

In 2017, Johnson joined Richard Petty Motorsports for his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut at Sonoma Raceway's Toyota/Save Mart 350, driving the No. 43 as a substitute for the injured Aric Almirola.[5] After starting 26th, he finished 22nd.[12]

Personal life

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Johnson is of Japanese descent. He graduated from Cal State Fullerton where he majored in Business.[1]

Motorsports career results

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Sports car racing

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(key)

Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge results

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Year Team Make Engine Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2006 Kensai Racing Acura RSX ST VIR
DNP 		LAG
4 		PHX
DNP 		LRP
DNP 		MDO
DNF 		BAR
26 		CTR
9 		MIL
11 		VIR
DNP
2007 Kensai Racing Acura TSX ST DAY
1 		MDO
29 		MIA
4 		IA
11 		LAG
1 		LRP
21 		MOS
1 		WAT
1 		BAR
7 		CTR
2 		MIL
7 		VIR
12 		2nd 299
2008 Motorsport Technology Group Porsche 997 GS DAY
30 		LRP
MOS
MDO
WAT
BAR
IA
CTR
NJ
MIL
VIR
7th 209
BMW Z4 (E85) DAY
LRP
14 		MOS
3 		MDO
DNP 		WAT
15 		BAR
6 		IA
CTR
NJ
2 		MIL
VIR
24
Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang FR500C DAY
LRP
MOS
MDO
WAT
BAR
IA
10 		CTR
3 		NJ
MIL
3 		VIR
2009 Motorsport Technology Group Porsche 997 GS DAY
4 		MIA
1 		NJ
3 		LAG
14 		LRP
DNP 		WAT
MDO
BAR
CTR
MIL
VIR
8th 231
Horsepower Ranch Ford Mustang FR500C DAY
MIA
NJ
LAG
LRP
DNP 		WAT
9 		MDO
16 		BAR
3 		CTR
2 		MIL
1 		VIR
9
2010 Roush Performance Ford Mustang FR500C GS DAY
1 		MIA
1 		BAR
2 		VIR
5 		LRP
2 		WAT
5 		MDO
4 		NJ
1 		CTR
2 		MIL
2 		3rd 272
2011 Roush Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302R GS DAY
DNP 		MIA
2 		BAR
3 		VIR
1 		LRP
3 		WAT
1 		ELK
2 		LAG
22 		NJ
1 		MDO
2 		2nd 267
2012 Roush Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302R GS DAY
1 		BAR
21 		MIA
5 		NJ
22 		MDO
1 		ELK
2 		WAT
21 		IMS
23 		LAG
DNP 		LRP
5 		12th 183
2013 Roush Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302R GS DAY
1 		COA
DNF 		BAR
18 		ATL
6 		MDO
19 		WAT
21 		IMS
2 		ELK
11 		KAN
16 		LAG
15 		LRP
1 		7th 219
2014 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302R GS DAY
9 		SEB
17 		LAG
10 		LRP
26 		KAN
10 		WAT
DNF 		MOS
2 		IMS
9 		ELK
9 		VIR
15 		COA
3 		ATL
1 		10th 235
2015 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302R GS DAY
5 		SEB
9 		LAG
2 		WAT
7 		MOS
DNF 		LRP
1 		ELK
12 		VIR
6 		COA
2 		ATL
4 		3rd 265
2016 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Shelby GT350R-C GS DAY
1 		SEB
2 		LAG
4 		WAT
4 		MOS
1 		LRP
1 		ELK
1 		VIR
2 		COA
1 		ATL
1 		1st 330

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2016 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK LMGTE Pro Ford GT Ford 3.5 L Turbo V6 SIL
5 		SPA
Ret 		LMS
4 		NÜR
 MEX
 COA
 FUJ
 SHA
 BHR
 9th 60
2017 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK LMGTE Pro Ford GT Ford 3.5 L Turbo V6 SIL
4 		SPA
3 		LMS
10 		NÜR
 MEX
 COA
 FUJ
 SHA
 BHR
 12th 43
2018–19 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK LMGTE Pro Ford GT Ford 3.5 L Turbo V6 SPA
1 		LMS
3 		SIL FUJ
 SHA
 SEB
18 		SPA
 LMS
4 		7th 67

* Season still in progress.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2016 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Germany Stefan Mücke
France Olivier Pla 		Ford GT GTE
Pro 		339 21st 4th
2017 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Germany Stefan Mücke
France Olivier Pla 		Ford GT GTE
Pro 		332 27th 10th
2018 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Germany Stefan Mücke
France Olivier Pla 		Ford GT GTE
Pro 		340 21st 6th
2019 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Germany Stefan Mücke
France Olivier Pla 		Ford GT GTE
Pro 		340 25th 6th

NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Monster Energy Cup Series

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Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 MENCC Pts Ref
2017 Richard Petty Motorsports 43 Ford DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL KAN CLT DOV POC MCH SON
22 		DAY KEN NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH CHI NHA DOV CLT TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 40th 15 [13]

Nationwide Series

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NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 NNSC Pts Ref
2010 Roush Fenway Racing 6 Ford DAY CAL LVS BRI NSH PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT NSH KEN ROA NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP IOW GLN
36 		MCH BRI CGV ATL RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT GTY TEX PHO HOM 137th 55 [14]
2011 60 DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX TAL NSH RCH DAR DOV IOW CLT CHI MCH ROA
33 		DAY KEN NHA NSH IRP IOW GLN CGV
QL† 		BRI ATL RCH CHI DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 84th 11 [15]
2012 DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN CGV
8 		BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 70th 36 [16]
2013 16 DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR CLT DOV IOW MCH ROA
15 		KEN DAY NHA
15 		CHI IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 54th 59 [17]
† – Qualified for Carl Edwards.

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

Complete British GT Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points
2019 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 GT4 OUL
1 		OUL
2 		SNE
1 		SNE
2 		SIL DON
18 		SPA BRH DON 17th 18

References

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  1. ^ a b "Bio". Billy Johnson Racing. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Dottore, Damian (August 6, 2010). "Local race car driver to debut in NASCAR Saturday". Orange County Register. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  3. ^ Dagys, John (March 25, 2016). "Johnson: "Being the Only American Driver with Ford WEC is Special"". SportsCar365. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  4. ^ Jaina, Rob (2018-06-07). "#66 Ford GT team sets goal of winning 24 Hours of Le Mans - The Checkered Flag". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  5. ^ a b "Richard Petty Motorsports secures road course ringer in No. 43 for Sonoma". NASCAR. June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  6. ^ a b "2010 Zippo 200 at the Glen". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  7. ^ "first practice". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  8. ^ "2011 Bucyrus 200 Presented by Menards". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  9. ^ "2012 NAPA Auto Parts 200 Pres. by Dodge". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  10. ^ "AJ Allemdinger wins NASCAR Nationwide in Wisconsin". 23 June 2013.
  11. ^ "2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  12. ^ "2017 Toyota / Save Mart 350". Racing-Reference. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  13. ^ "Billy Johnson – 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  14. ^ "Billy Johnson – 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  15. ^ "Billy Johnson – 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  16. ^ "Billy Johnson – 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  17. ^ "Billy Johnson – 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
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