William Ryan Johnson (born October 10, 1986) is an American professional

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

and

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

driver. He is the 2016 IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS champion. He currently competes part-time in the

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...

and

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

, driving for

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization competing in the NTT IndyCar Series. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rally ...

UK in the No. 66

Ford GT The Ford GT is a Mid-engine design, mid-engine two-seater sports car manufactured and marketed by American automobile manufacturer Ford Motor Company, Ford for the 2005 model year in conjunction with the company's 2003 centenary. The second gene ...

Racing career

Early career

When he was 13 years old, Johnson started

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

. In 2003 he won a scholarship to race in the series

Skip Barber Racing School The Skip Barber Racing School is an American racing and driving school. Skip Barber founded the school in 1975. History In 1975, Skip Barber started the Skip Barber School of High Performance Driving at Riverside International Raceway. In 19 ...

and a scholarship in Valencia Spain to compete in the inaugural season of Formula BMW USA as a Factory BMW "Junior" driver. 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 The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy la ...

Pro Series race.

Sports cars

In 2005 he made his sports car debut with Speed Source co-driving with

James Hinchcliffe James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship driving the No. 9 Lamborghini for Pfaff Motorsports. He is also a commentator for Fox Sports, FOX Sp ...

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 The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

with Team Prototype Technology Group in a

BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mod ...

. 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 The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the SRO Motorsports Group since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club since 20 ...

race for Tindol Motorsports as well as the

Grand-Am Cup The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become 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 The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cup ...

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 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, doing business as RFK Racing, is an American professional stock car organization that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. One of NASCAR's largest racing teams in the 2000s and early 2010s, Roush formerly ...

'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. 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 Turner Motorsport (Also known as TMS Racing, Turner motorsport(s) or Turner racing) is a professional sports car racing team located in Newton, NH, and is the most prolific BMW race team in the world. As of May 2024 Turner motorsport has compet ...

to drive a BMW M3 at the

, finishing fourth at Montreal. In 2012 he made his Rolex

Daytona Prototype A Daytona Prototype was a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the Grand-Am Road Racing, Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series as their top class of car, which replaced their main prototype rac ...

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 Roush is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Politics *Glenn Roush (1934–2020), American politician in Montana * J. Edward Roush (1920–2004), United States Representative for Indiana, namesake of: ** J. Edward Roush Lake, a re ...

, 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 The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

Debut driving for

Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...

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 Multimatic Motorsports is the competition arm of Multimatic's Special Vehicle Operations division. Founded in 1992, the team has competed in numerous sports car racing series, including the Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA SportsCar Championship, a ...

in the

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cup ...

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 __NOTOC__ Scott Maxwell (born January 20, 1964), is a Canadian auto racing driver. Scott has competed and won titles in Formula Vee (1984), Formula Ford 1600 (1985 and 1986), Canadian National Showroom Stock (1992 and 1993) and Grand-Am/Continen ...

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 Petit Le Mans (French language, French for ''Little Le Mans'') is a sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a durat ...

. In 2016, he joined

team, driving the No. 66

in the first three races of the season, including the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

; sharing the car with

Olivier Pla Olivier Pla (born 21 October 1981) is a French racing driver who competed in the Asian Le Mans Series for AF Corse. Career French Formula Campus and Formula Three Born in Toulouse, Pla started his career in 2000 in French Formula Campus befor ...

and

Stefan Mücke Stefan Mücke (born 22 November 1981) is a German racing driver. Racing career Born in Berlin, Mücke started his racing career in 1998, when he won the Formula BMW ADAC series, with his father's Mücke Motorsport team, also making their debut. ...

, he was the only American to race for Ford in the series that year. They finished 4th at LeMans. He won the 2016

Championship in the Ford Shelby GT350R-C with

, 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 The 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship was the seventh season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO ...

, and won the opening race at Spa.

Testing and coaching

Johnson has been involved as a test driver for

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

and

during the development of the GT350/R, 2016

, 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 Carl Michael Edwards Jr. (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and a current analyst for ''NASCAR on Prime Video''. He last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No ...

Greg Biffle Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969), nicknamed "the Biff", is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. After racing in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series in the mid-1990s, he was recommended to Jack Roush by former race ...

Joey Logano Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No.22 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for NASCAR operations of Tea ...

Brad Keselowski Bradley Aaron Keselowski (; born February 12, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and entrepreneur. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing, a te ...

Chris Buescher Christopher William Buescher (born October 29, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 17 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing ...

, Ricky Stenhouse, Darrell Wallace Jr.,

Aric Almirola Aric Michael Almirola (born March 14, 1984) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Almirola previously compete ...

NASCAR

Road America 2013 Nationwide 16 Billy Johnson

In 2010, Johnson made his

NASCAR Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

debut at

Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track in the Northeastern United States, northeastern United States, located in Dix, New York, just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, Watkins Glen, at the ...

, driving the No. 6 for Roush Fenway Racing as a

road course ringer In NASCAR, a road course ringer, also known as road course specialist, road course expert, or a road runner, is a non-NASCAR driver who is hired by a NASCAR Cup Series or NASCAR Xfinity Series team to race specifically on road courses. , current ...

. Despite qualifying ninth, he was involved in a multi-car wreck on lap 24, finishing 36th. Johnson returned to RFR in the 2011 Nationwide Series, this time at

Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

, where he topped the time charts in the first practice before qualifying on second row and running in the top 5 until falling out early due to an engine problem. Running only one race in 2012, Johnson scored his first NASCAR top-ten finish at

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, also spelled ''Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve'' (), is a motor racing Race track, circuit on Notre Dame Island in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the venue for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Form ...

. 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. Coming off of that strong performance, Johnson led his first-ever laps at

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. He then made his first oval start at

New Hampshire Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway (formerly known as the New Hampshire International Speedway from 1989 to 2007, the Bryar Motorsports Park from 1965 to 1989, and as the 106 Midway Raceway from 1961 to 1964) is a oval track in Loudon, New Hampshir ...

, finishing both races in 15th place. Billy Johnson 2017 Toyota Save Mart 350 qualifying

In 2017, Johnson joined

Richard Petty Motorsports Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) ...

for his

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

debut at

Sonoma Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway, Golden State International Raceway and Infineon Technologies, Infineon Raceway) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, Cal ...

Toyota/Save Mart 350 The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is a stock car racing event in the NASCAR Cup Series that has been held annually at Sonoma Raceway at Sears Point in Sonoma, California since 1989. The race has been known as the Toyota/Save Mart 350 since 2007. The r ...

, driving the No. 43 as a substitute for the injured

. After starting 26th, he finished 22nd.

Personal life

Johnson is of Japanese descent. He graduated from

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

where he majored in Business.

Motorsports career results

Sports car racing

( key)

Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

NASCAR

( 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

Nationwide Series

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points

Complete British GT Championship results

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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Billy Living people 1986 births Sportspeople from Torrance, California Racing drivers from California NASCAR drivers American sportspeople of Japanese descent 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers British GT Championship drivers GT World Challenge America drivers Multimatic Motorsports drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers RFK Racing drivers Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers Lamborghini Super Trofeo drivers