Billy Johnson
Quick Facts
Biography
William Aaron "Billy" Johnson (born October 10, 1986) is an American professional sports car and stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing's Ford UK division, along with in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 43 Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports.
Racing career
When he was 13 years old, Johnson started kart racing. In 2003, he won a scholarship at the Skip Barber Racing School and began racing in Formula BMW USA.
In 2005 he entered the Virginia round of the Rolex Sports Car Series with a PTG BMW M3.
In 2009, he signed with Roush Fenway Racing's Rolex Sports Car Series team, driving a Ford Mustang GT alongside Jack Roush Jr. A year later, the two won at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Roush's 400th win as a car owner.
In late 2011 he joined Turner Motorsport to drive a BMW M3 at the Rolex Sports Car Series, finishing fourth at Montreal. In 2012 he claimed wins at Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen, and in 2013 he finished second at Laguna Seca.
He drove for Aston Martin Racing at the 2013 12 Hours of Sebring, finishing several laps behind the GT class winner. In 2014 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.
Johnson also works as a member of the Ford Performance Racing School at Miller Motorsports Park, where he has trained drivers like NASCAR's Aric Almirola.
NASCAR
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. Despite qualifying ninth, he was involved in a multi-car wreck on lap 24, also collecting Justin Allgaier, Tony Raines, Brendan Gaughan, Victor Gonzalez Jr., Alex Kennedy, Colin Braun and Boris Said; when Johnson collided with Raines, he sent the No. 34 airborne in the process. The accident resulted in a red flag that lasted half an hour; he finished 36th.
Johnson returned to RFR in the 2011 Nationwide Series, this time at Road America, where he qualified on second row and ran in the top 5 before falling out early, this time due to an engine problem.
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. 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 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. He then made his first oval start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, finishing both races in 15th place.
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. After starting 26th, he finished 22nd.
Personal life
Johnson is a Japanese descent. He attended Cal State Fullerton where he majored in Business.
Motorsports career results
Sports car racing
(key)
Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge results
Year | Team | Make | Engine | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | 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 | DAY | LRP 14 | MOS 3 | MDO DNP | WAT 15 | BAR 6 | IA | CTR | NJ 2 | MIL | VIR 24 | |||||||
Rehagen Racing | Ford Mustang | 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 |
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Stefan Mücke Olivier Pla | Ford GT | GTE Pro | 339 | 21st | 4th |
2017 | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Stefan Mücke Olivier Pla | Ford GT | GTE Pro | 332 | 27th | 10th |
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
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 | |||
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 | -* | -* |
Nationwide Series
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 | |
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 | |
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 | ||||
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 | ||||||
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 | |||||
† – Qualified for Carl Edwards. |
* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points