Johnny Johnson Revisited

Here’s one of my favorite Slow Baja conversations --Johnny Johnson from February 2023, recorded at the Chenowth Legacy Lodge.

Sadly, he passed a few months after we made this recording. Please watch to the end for new interview footage.

Johnny Johnson was one of the early champions in off-road racing. With 112 career victories and eight Baja 1000s, he proudly claims, “I never got out of the car!”

Johnson was one of the very, very best in the dirt. Revered by his fellow racers for his fabrication and tuning skills, his friends say his humility and willingness to help anyone, anytime, is his defining trait.

Famed writer George Plimpton chose Johnson to star in his 1971 television special “Behind the Wheel.” In the feature, Plimpton interviewed Formula One racer Jackie Stewart at the Monaco Grand Prix before jumping into Johnny’s sand buggy for the Baja 1000.

Thanks to Carol Mears and Lynn Chenowth for arranging this Slow Baja conversation.

Johnny Johnson was inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2010.

Watch the Podcast on YouTube here.

Listen to the podcast on Apple here.

Listen to the podcast on Spotify here.

Need Baja Bound Insurance? Get a quote here.

Support Slow Baja with a donation here. 

Follow Slow Baja on Instagram

Join a Slow Baja Adventure here.

Check out our store for t-shirts, hats, stickers, here.

More on Johnny Johnson and the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame here.

Slow Baja Theme Music:

Los 300 Fried Neck Bones and Some Home Fries Used with permission. Listen here.