The substitute driver looked like the savvy veteran that he is.

Tommy Johnson Jr., filling in for Matt Hagan who is recovering from COVID-19, powered the Don Schumacher Racing nitro Funny Car to the title at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil Sunday in Reading, Pa.

“Q1, I thought we had a pretty good chance of winning this race,” Johnson Jr., said. “It is hard to sit out that long, and these cars accelerate so fast. To keep up and keep ahead of the car you can drive them, but to be able to drive them good you have to be ahead of the car and each run it just got more comfortable, more comfortable, and more comfortable and as the day went on, I kept getting more relaxed and more relaxed. By the final round, there’s nothing to it. It was pretty cool. I was astonished.

“When I threw the chutes and saw the win light come on, I just burst out laughing because I couldn’t believe it happened. I thought 'you have to be kidding me. I have come a long way in a week.'” 

Johnson Jr. clocked a 3.926-second elapsed time at 330.23 mph to oust legendary competitor John Force, who recorded a 3.946-second run at 328.54 mph.

This was the second week in a row Johnson Jr. filled in for reigning world champion Hagan. He jumped in the seat for Q1 at the U.S. Nationals, Sept. 3 in Indianapolis, but failed to make a run when there was a part failure. The remainder of qualifying for the U.S. Nationals was rained out Sept. 4, thus Johnson didn’t make the 16-car field.

It was a different story in Maple Grove. Johnson qualified fourth at 3.895 seconds and then beat Jim Campbell, Ron Capps, J.R. Todd, and Force.

“I know John’s game, I knew what he was going to do, and I know he likes to roll it way in on the final, he will stick it way in there,” Johnson Jr. said. “I’m surprised the top bulb didn’t go out as slow as his 60-foot was. I thought, OK, I’m going to go in here and stick it way in deep because if you’re going to beat him you have to play the game with him. Fortunately, it was just enough to get the win. I knew it was close. He may be old, but he’s pretty good still. To race Force in the final, that just made it even more special. He’s the best the class ever had.”

The points Johnson accumulated during the race weekend will be awarded to Hagan.

Johnson Jr., who finished second in the points standings a year ago, won his 23rd NHRA career national event. Johnson Jr. drove a nitro Funny Car for DSR from 2014-20 but lost his ride at the end of the 2020 season when his team lost its financial backing.

“This is a really good car and a really good team,” Johnson Jr. said. “It makes it easier for a driver to jump in that thing, and I had known the guys from the shop. It was about as smooth of a transition possible to make this thing happen. This race will mean a ton to me later on.”

Johnson Jr.’s first career NHRA national event win in the nitro Funny Car ranks came in 1999 when he beat Ron Capps in the finals.

“This has always been a special track for me,” Johnson Jr. said. “To come here and win your first Funny Car race I didn’t want it to be the last one. I wanted a shot at it again. It was very cool. I kept thinking of my dad all day. He and I had our Top Fuel team and raced together for three years. A lot of memories and I talked about them with my wife all weekend. I told how my dad yelled at me for scratching the truck driving in here with all the trees.

“The sport of drag racing is my whole life. All my memories are from drag racing. To be able to come out here today and win this thing for these guys. They worked really hard to make all this happen and make adjustments and working with a new guy and learning their techniques. (Crew chief) Dickie Venables told me 'you drive the race how you drive, and we will tune it how we tune it, and we will come out OK'. I’m still astonished”