The Tina Johnson Story

Tina racing in Charolette, NC

Raised around the sights and sounds of the local dirt track, dreams of driving a race car were planted deep into a young Georgia girl’s heart. Idolizing her father, who competed for 13 years, Tina Johnson desired to jump into the driver’s seat. This childhood dream, unfortunately, never bloomed. Motorsports at the time was a one gender sport and Tina was fearful her aspirations to race would not ever become reality.

It wasn’t until later in her life when she shared her desire to race to her husband, Drew Johnson, who encouraged her to take on new challenges. In 2001, they purchased a Bandolero, and she competed in 19 races that summer. In her very first start, she scored her first victory and was hooked on racing. She went on to become the first woman to win at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Senoia Speedway, and Albany Speedway. With a very successful rookie season, Drew and Tina’s passion for the checkered flag was as intense as ever.

In their next several years, 2002 through 2005, Tina started 70 races at eight different venues, including Atlanta Motor Speedway, Albany Speedway, Senoia Speedway, Watermelon Capital Speedway, Sunny South Speedway, Lanier National Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and Bristol Motor Speedway. She captured an incredible 37 wins, 17 second place finishes, and 7 top five finishes. Possibly the most impressive stat of those 70 races, Tina never crashed out of a race; zero DNF’s. She was crowned the 2002 Senoia Speedway Champion, and in 2004 was the Georgia State Champion, 3rd in National points, and was the fastest qualifier at the National Championship race.

Tina flipping during the 2010 Thursday Thunder season. (Tom Francisco)

In 2005, TJ Racing decided to upgrade to the highly competitive Semi-Pro Legends car series. Competing in over 100 races through 2008, she made it to victory lane three times, and had 25 top five finishes. In the summer of 2008, Tina began driving Joe Armstrong’s #83 Legend in the extremely competitive Pro Division. She performed well finishing 5th in the 2008 and 6th in the 2009 Thursday Thunder series at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 2010 season was a challenge to say the least for Tina Johnson as she was involved in a serious crash that catapulted her car into the air and rolled three times down the backstretch. Thanks to Drew Johnson’s focus on safety equipment, Tina was not hurt. The car was totaled but Tina was okay to race another day.

All throughout Drew and Tina’s journey in racing, they have always been very supportive of young drivers. Many parents have turned to TJ Racing for guidance for their young drivers. Drew and Tina are very proud of the drivers they have provided guidance to in the past and are impressed with the development of these drivers. Names like Taylor Hull, Tyler Armstrong, Jake Armstrong, Jacob Wallace, Garrett Smithley, Taylor Jorgensen, Jensen Jorgensen, Jayme Dickerson, and Abby Marin have developed into excellent drivers.