Veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson will be looking to complete his historic 40th anniversary season of NHRA drag racing competition with a strong performance at the 61st annual In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals. It’s the final race of 2026 season and the culmination of a thrilling NHRA Mission Foods Countdown to the Championship playoff series.
Johnson enters the NHRA Finals looking to continue his season-ending surge in performance as he closes in on the 25th Top Ten points finish of his extraordinary career. Last month he guided his Suzuki to a career-best 6.673-second elapsed time at 201-mph during eliminations in Texas, streaking to a semifinal finish. The savvy veteran followed it up two weeks later, earning qualifying bonus points with a solid effort and a quarterfinal result in Las Vegas.
“At this level of competition, anytime you produce a top three elapsed time and earn bonus points, it’s a great thing,” said Johnson, as he diligently prepared for the season finale. “We have short meetings back in the pits after a good run, because a small team like ours have to celebrate all of our success, it’s part of my vibe for life.”
“It’s always been my goal just to be part of the NHRA fraternity,” Johnson added. “We have been so close to a championship, and we’ve also struggled big time. Finishing in the Top Ten after a long season of racing shows fans, friends and sponsors our relentless brand of never giving up. It also stirs thoughts of how to be better next year.”
The NHRA Finals will be Johnson’s record-setting 533rd career NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle national event. His 830 rounds of competition rank him second in the class, and 24th all-time among all professional drivers. Johnson’s 340 career round wins place him 6th all-time in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. The 12-time NHRA national event winner has appeared in 32 career final rounds, including reaching his third career final round at the Finals in Pomona back in 1995, finishing runner-up to John Myers.
“Pomona is our home track, and I really want to win there before I fade off into the sunset,” said the California native. “It’s a really special place and home to so many legendary drag racers. We always hold a big party at Chi Chi’s in Northridge before the race and it gets pretty wild.”
Originally opened in 1950, the historic quarter-mile in Pomona is the oldest dragstrip in the country and was the site of the first NHRA-sanctioned event. In addition to hosting the legendary season-opening Winternationals since 1961, the NHRA has closed out every season at the famed drag racing facility since 1984. The second shortest track on the NHRA tour will provide some unique challenges to the racers on their two-wheeled, 200-mph machines.
“The quarter-mile isn’t the most exciting part of the run for a Pro Stock Motorcycle rider,” Johnson said. “It’s the shutdown area. The front wheel is 70% to 80% of the stopping power, and without a parachute, the majority of our stopping force is relying on a one-inch-wide strip of rubber on the ground.”
A victory at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals would be tremendous ‘feather in the cap’ moment for Johnson as he closes out his iconic 40th season of racing. “We were so fortunate to win the sport’s biggest race at Indy, but a victory in Pomona could be the most special win of my career. I literally daydream about all of us being in the winner’s circle on Sunday,” he mused. “From a troubled street racer to a career in NHRA professional drag racing, with a diamond 75th anniversary Wally.”
