Billy Johnson

William Ryan Johnson (born October 10, 1986) is an American professional sports car and stock car racing driver. He competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2016 to 2019, driving the No. 66 Ford GT for Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK. Johnson was crowned Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge champion in 2016, and made one NASCAR Cup Series start in 2017.

Racing career

Early career When he was thirteen years old, Johnson started kart racing. In 2003, he won a scholarship to race in the series Skip Barber Racing School and a scholarship in Valencia, Spain to compete in the inaugural season of Formula BMW USA as a Factory BMW "Junior" driver.

In 2004, Johnson competed in the Formula BMW USA Championship and finished fifth and received the Sportsman of the Year award.

In 2005, Johnson finished in the top-ten of his one and only Star Mazda Pro Series race.

Sports cars In 2005, Johnson made his sports car debut with Speed Source co-driving with James Hinchcliffe in the Grand-Am Cup ST class, en route to seven top-ten finishes in seven races. He also made his GT car debut in the Virginia round of the Rolex Sports Car Series with Team Prototype Technology Group in a BMW M3. and had seven top-ten finishes in the Grand-Am Cup ST class driving for SpeedSource, Matt Connolly Motorsports, and Compass 360.

In 2006, Johnson competed in one Speed World Challenge race for Tindol Motorsports as well as the Grand-Am Cup ST class for Kensai Racing, Potter Racing, and ROAR Racing.

2007 was Johnson first full season in sports cars, finishing second in the ST Championship with three victories under Kensai Racing. He also made his Koni Challenge GS class debut thanks to Jim Click Racing, finishing sixth as the highest placing Mustang.

In 2008, Johnson made the progression to a full season in the GS class under Motorsport Technology Group with four 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, Johnson signed with Roush Fenway Racing'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 third in the championship with a win at New Jersey and multiple podiums.

In late 2011, Johnson finished second in the championship with three victories, at VIR, Watkins Glen, and New Jersey. That year he also joined Turner Motorsport to drive a BMW M3 at the Rolex Sports Car Series, finishing fourth at Montreal.

In 2012, Johnson made his Rolex Daytona Prototype 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, he claimed wins at Daytona and Mid-Ohio, and a podium finish in a one-off ST race at Lime Rock and a top-five driving a BMW M3 for RumBum Racing.

In 2013, Johnson made his American Le Mans Series Debut driving for Aston Martin Racing 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, Johnson switched to Multimatic Motorsports in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge 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, Johnson drove with Scott Maxwell in the Boss 302R and debut the Ford Shelby GT350R-C, finishing third in the Championship and winning at Lime Rock. He returned with Turner to drive a BMW Z4 at Petit Le Mans.

In 2016, Johnson 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. They finished fourth at LeMans.

Johnson won the 2016 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Championship in the Ford Shelby GT350R-C with Scott Maxwell, winning six races that year - Daytona, Mosport, Lime Rock, Road America, COTA, and Road Atlanta.

Johnson returned to run the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship, and won the opening race at Spa.

Testing and coaching Johnson has been involved as a test driver for Ford Motor Company and Multimatic Motorsports during the development of the GT350/R, 2016 Ford GT, 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, Greg Biffle, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Bubba Wallace, 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. he was involved in a multi-car wreck on lap 24, finishing 36th. before qualifying on second row and running in the top-five 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. After running in the top-five 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 second. On the third and final GWC restart, Johnson drove from twentieth to eighth 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 seventh and worked his way to the lead before a lap fourteen pit road speeding penalty. He retook the lead again by lap 39 before being collected in a wreck at lap 47 while running fourth. He then made his first oval start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, finishing both races in fifteenth 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.

Personal life Johnson is of Japanese descent. He graduated from California State University, Fullerton 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) Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points 2016 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK LMGTE Pro Ford GT Ford 3.5 L Turbo V6 SIL SPA LMS NÜR MEX COA FUJ SHA BHR 9th 60 2017 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK LMGTE Pro Ford GT Ford 3.5 L Turbo V6 SIL SPA LMS NÜR MEX COA FUJ SHA BHR 12th 43 2018–19 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK LMGTE Pro Ford GT Ford 3.5 L Turbo V6 SPA LMS SIL FUJ SHA SEB SPA LMS 7th 67 Season still in progress.

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2016 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Stefan Mücke Olivier Pla Ford GT GTEPro 339 21st 4th 2017 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Stefan Mücke Olivier Pla Ford GT GTEPro 332 27th 10th 2018 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Stefan Mücke Olivier Pla Ford GT GTEPro 340 21st 6th 2019 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Stefan Mücke Olivier Pla Ford GT GTEPro 340 25th 6th

Complete British GT Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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 Pts Ref 2017 Richard Petty Motorsports 43 Ford DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL MAR TEX BRI RCH TAL KAN CLT DOV POC MCH SON22 DAY KEN NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH CHI NHA DOV CLT TAL KAN MAR TEX PHO HOM 40th 15

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 Pts Ref 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 GLN36 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 ROA33 DAY KEN NHA NSH IRP IOW GLN CGVQL 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 CGV8 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 ROA15 KEN DAY NHA15 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 Ineligible for series points