The downturn in the economy has left several high-profile NHRA drivers out of work this season.

Drivers like Top Fuel Funny Car pilot Tommy Johnson Jr. who raced full-time in the Funny Car ranks from 2001-2008, was 18th in the points standings a year ago. Today, he's not even in the points standings.

“It’s frustrating if you look at only drag racing and think that’s just drag racing right now,” Johnson said. “But, if you step back and look at the whole thing, we’re no different than any other thing in the world right now, everything is struggling with the economy the way that it is. All forms of racing are struggling to some degree and it’s kind of a double-edge sword. You think boy, I hate that our sport is struggling so bad and you look at it and you see that you’re not the only one who is having these problems. When you look at the quality of people who are unemployed this season in drag racing, you can’t be too disappointed.”

The downturn in the economy has left several high-profile NHRA drivers out of work this season.

Drivers like Top Fuel Funny Car pilot Tommy Johnson Jr. who raced full-time in the Funny Car ranks from 2001-2008, was 18th in the points standings a year ago. Today, he's not even in the points standings.

“It’s frustrating if you look at only drag racing and think that’s just drag racing right now,” Johnson said. “But, if you step back and look at the whole thing, we’re no different than any other thing in the world right now, everything is struggling with the economy the way that it is. All forms of racing are struggling to some degree and it’s kind of a double-edge sword. You think boy, I hate that our sport is struggling so bad and you look at it and you see that you’re not the only one who is having these problems. When you look at the quality of people who are unemployed this season in drag racing, you can’t be too disappointed.”

Fortunately for Johnson Jr., he has been able to return to action this season, driving Bill Evans’ Top Alcohol Dragster at divisional races in Columbus, Ohio (July 24-26)  and at Cordova, Ill. (Aug. 7-8).

Johnson also will be competing  through Labor Day as he’s driving Evans’ dragster at the 55th running of the prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. The event takes place Wednesday through Monday.

“Unfortunately, the tour has been tough this year and I wasn’t really looking forward to Indy,” said Johnson, who finished a career-best eighth in the Top Fuel Dragster points chase in 1995. “Bill Evans said if you want to run Indy, you’re more than welcome to run my car and I’m pretty excited about it. It’s obviously not the car I wanted to be driving that weekend, but it sure beats staying at home and watching the race. Plus, driving for Bill (Evans) has been a good experience so far and I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Since Johnson has had more free time on his hands, he has done plenty of traveling to different races, Recently, during a vacation to Europe with his wife and fellow racer Melanie Troxel, they attended the Nitrolympx event while they were in Germany.

“That was really cool,” Johnson Jr. said. “I’ve been to the drags races in New Zealand, and growing up as a kid in the sport, I’ve watched drag racing everywhere and it was always kind of the thing to experience drag racing outside of the United States. So, it was great to have that opportunity to go to Germany and get to experience what they do and how they do it over there. I came away really shocked and surprised by how up to speed that they are. Drag racing in other countries is not far behind us. Our cars (in the United States) still may go a little quicker because we have a little bit better technology than what they have over there, but for the most part, they’re pretty close to us.”

Johnson also admitted that he tries to digest as much as possible when he’s attending races all over the world.

“You look at things differently when you’re not so wrapped up in them,” Johnson Jr. said. “It’s easy to step away and take a new, fresh look at things. Not only to see how they do things in other countries and the different ideas they may have, but also take a different look at what we do and see something that you may be able to do better when you come back (to driving). You have to get over the frustration part of not being behind the wheel and on the (NHRA) tour and after that’s gone, you may be able to take a step back and look at things differently. It definitely gives you a sense of appreciation for the sport. I told somebody the other day that when I do get back behind the wheel, they better look out because I have a lot of motivation now.”

Still, Johnson’s come to realize that finding a full-time ride in 2010 will not easy.

“You definitely would like several opportunities to pick from, but at this point I just have a couple of things that are in the works for next year, and  they’re in the preliminary stages,” Johnson said. “I would have certainly liked to have things further along than they’re now, but I’m still pretty confident that something will happen for next year. In the meantime, I decided it was time to make a little money and I went to work for a company called Sterling Productions. They’re a graphics and design and printing company and they do a lot of work in the NASCAR world and they pretty much print anything under the sun. I’m introducing them to the world of drag racing and we’re going to see if we can’t help out the world of drag racing by getting them a little better deal on printing.”

While Johnson is competing on a limited basis for Evans, Troxel is competing in the Pro Mod Class and she also will be racing at Indy.

“I would drive anything that has a steering wheel  and wheels on it,” Johnson said. “I’m not too good to get behind the wheel of anything. Everything is kind of a challenge. I would drive a Pro Mod and she (Melanie) has done extremely well in the class. She has also told me how tough those cars are to drive.”

 

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