Warren Johnson and his race cars.

Geerhead55 · 01-02-2012, 09:13 PM

Got 2 stories,,, not much really,, I remember the first time we saw WJ was here at Seattle in '76 and he had the big block Camaro, but that summer belonged to the AMCs and both Booth and Maskins & Kanners were here too with their Hornets. After the Friday qualifying was done we saw how strong the Hornets were, so my buddies and I are walking around the pits, which were dirt and gravel and grass back then, and low and behold heres WJ thrashing on his engine before the Saturday sessions. The Grump's group was in the middle of a swap, so we ventured back over to Warren's when we heard him fire up. I remember there was no rope steup for fans that day so I walked right up to the Camaro as he was sitting in it warming the engine, and I'm watching his tach as he brings up the revs, and all of a sudden he really wings it and it goes over 10 grand! I turned around and told my friends,"I just saw a big block go over 10,000 rpms!",,and we walked away amazed at that,, not to mention the sound of it too.
The second story is in Phoenix,, 2005 on Sunday morning before the first round, we had passes to back stage before the driver's intros, and we're milling around, sons getting autographs and pictures, when my buddy with a camera say "Danny, move over a bit!" Well, there was WJ standing about 5 feet away, so I say "How about a picture, Warren?" to which he grumbled something, and stood there with his best poker face on. I'm thinking Bill Jenkins got the nickname that Warren should've always had,, although my only conversation with Grump, in Seattle '74, didn't go much better.
Danny Durham

01-02-2012, 09:13 PM	#2
Geerhead55 VIP Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Tacoma, Washington Posts: 1,632 Likes: 0 Liked 5 Times in 5 Posts	Re: Warren Johnson and his race cars. Got 2 stories,,, not much really,, I remember the first time we saw WJ was here at Seattle in '76 and he had the big block Camaro, but that summer belonged to the AMCs and both Booth and Maskins & Kanners were here too with their Hornets. After the Friday qualifying was done we saw how strong the Hornets were, so my buddies and I are walking around the pits, which were dirt and gravel and grass back then, and low and behold heres WJ thrashing on his engine before the Saturday sessions. The Grump's group was in the middle of a swap, so we ventured back over to Warren's when we heard him fire up. I remember there was no rope steup for fans that day so I walked right up to the Camaro as he was sitting in it warming the engine, and I'm watching his tach as he brings up the revs, and all of a sudden he really wings it and it goes over 10 grand! I turned around and told my friends,"I just saw a big block go over 10,000 rpms!",,and we walked away amazed at that,, not to mention the sound of it too. The second story is in Phoenix,, 2005 on Sunday morning before the first round, we had passes to back stage before the driver's intros, and we're milling around, sons getting autographs and pictures, when my buddy with a camera say "Danny, move over a bit!" Well, there was WJ standing about 5 feet away, so I say "How about a picture, Warren?" to which he grumbled something, and stood there with his best poker face on. I'm thinking Bill Jenkins got the nickname that Warren should've always had,, although my only conversation with Grump, in Seattle '74, didn't go much better. Danny Durham