Herm Johnson

Herman Austin Johnson (March 4, 1953 – December 10, 2016), was a driver in the CART Indy Car series, born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He raced in seven seasons (1979–1985), with 35^[1] career starts. He drove in the Indianapolis 500 in 1982 and 1984. He finished in the top ten eight times, with his best finish in 6th position in 1982 at Atlanta.

In 1976, Johnson won the SCCA National Championship at Road Atlanta and was the 1977 USAC Mini-Indy Champion. Johnson had two serious pit fires in 1981 roughly a month apart from each other. Johnson's father suffered a fatal heart attack, just days before the 1982 Indianapolis 500.^[2] Also during this race, Rick Mears bumped into the back of his car on a lap 183 pit stop. For his next race Johnson, who ran a business painting helmets, trimmed the back edge of his rear wing with the message "Rick...if you can read this, you're too close."

Johnson suffered a serious crash in practice for the 1986 Indianapolis 500. Johnson suffered injuries to his back and neck, and the crash effectively ended his Indy car driving career.

Johnson resided in Eau Claire, running a custom painting business, 'Just Herm Designs'. The shop has done work for several Indy 500 winners, IndyCar, and NHRA Champions, as well as amateur racers. The shop specializes in custom paint jobs for helmets, race cars, and motorcycles. Johnson also served as a performance driving instructor^[3] at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota.

On December 10, 2016, Johnson died from liver and renal failure.^[4]

Racing record

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Year	Track	Car	Engine	Class	Finish	Start	Status
1975	Road Atlanta	Lola T324	Volkswagen	Formula Super Vee	2	2	Running
1976	Road Atlanta	Lola T324	Volkswagen	Formula Super Vee	1	3	Running

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pos	Points
1977	Austin Johnson	TRE 16	MIL 2	MOS 3	PIR 1							1st	500
1978	Austin Johnson	PIR1 16	TRE1 5	MOS 14	MIL1 2	TEX 7	MIL2 5	OMS1 5	OMS2 22	TRE2 3	PIR2 5	4th	773
1979		TEX1	IRP	MIL1	POC	TEX2	MIL2	MIN1 19	MIN2 11			30th	24

Complete CART Indy Car Series results

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pos	Points
1979	Mergard Racing	PHX	ATL	ATL	INDY	TRT	TRT	MIC	MIC	WGL	TRT	ONT	MIC	ATL 7	PHX 13				24th	98
1980	Menard Racing	ONT Ret	INDY DNQ	MIL 17	POC 11	MDO	MIC	WGL	MIL 11	ONT 13	MIC 13	MXS Ret	PHX 8						24th	272
1981	Menard Racing	PHX	MIL 22	ATL 22		MIC 33	RIR 7	MIL 13	MIC	WTG 9	MXC 8	PHX 9							17th	38
1981	Cannon Racing				ATL 17														17th	38
1982		PHX 19	ATL 6	MIL 23	CLE 13	MIC 34	MIL 16	POC	RIV 22	ROA 17	MIC	PHX							26th	24
1983		ATL	INDY DNQ	MIL	CLE 16	MIC 24	ROA DNQ	POC	RIV	MDO 17	MIC	CPL	LAG	PHX					42nd	0
1984	Menard Racing	LBH	PHX	INDY 8	MIL 18	POR	MEA	CLE	MIC	ROA	POC								32nd	5
	Pace Racing											MDO 23
	Jet Engineering												SAN DNQ	MIC	PHX	LAG	CPL
1985	Menard Cashway Lumber	LBH	INDY DNQ	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MIC											39th	1
1985	Leader Card Racing								ROA 12	POC	MDO 24	SAN	MIC	LAG	PHX	MIA			39th	1
1986	Team Menard	PHX	LBH	INDY DNQ	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIC	POC	MDO	SAN	MIC	ROA	LAG	PHX	MIA	NC	-

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish
1980	Lightning	Offy	Failed to Qualify
1981	Lightning	Chevrolet	Failed to Qualify
1982	Eagle	Chevrolet	14th	9th
1983	March	Chevrolet	Failed to Qualify
1984	March	Cosworth	9th	8th
1985	March	Cosworth	Failed to Qualify
1986	March	Cosworth	Practice Crash

Notes

^ 35 starts do not include the 1982 Indy 500, as it was not a CART race that year.
^ Johnson Says Dad was along
^ "BIR Performance Driving School Instructors". Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
^ http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/137110-herm-johnson-1953-2016

This biographical article related to United States auto racing is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] 35 starts do not include the 1982 Indy 500, as it was not a CART race that year.

[2] Johnson Says Dad was along

[3] "BIR Performance Driving School Instructors". Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2008-12-31.

[4] ttp://www.racer.com/indycar/item/137110-herm-johnson-1953-2016

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