Tony began his driving career at Western Speedway in 1970 at the wheel of the #85 1956 Ford Stockcar in which he finished the season in fifth place in the points standings. The following year he moved up to fourth in points and in 1972 he captured first place along with winning the Good Samaritan 100 and the Roy White Memorial races.
He repeated as Season Points Champion the following year and again won the Roy White Memorial and also the Northwest Insurance Agencies trophy while competing in fifteen events against thirty-eight other drivers in the Stockcar division. His record that year included setting six fast times and winning four trophy dashes, five heat races and five main events earning him 1881 points which was 339 over second place finisher Rick Cudby.
In the latter part of the 1973 season he purchased a 1964 Ford Super Stock which had formerly been driven by Bob Collins and in ’74 drove it to fifth spot in points and was voted Super Stock Rookie of the Year and also received the Best Looking Super Stock award. The 1975 season saw him as the Season Points Winner which included his coming first in the annual July Cup race.
Buying a Late Model Chevelle in 1976, Tony competed in Open Competition races for a few years and then in 1987 got in the driver’s seat of a 1929 DeSoto coupe with the Old Time Racers Association. Later on he joined the IMCA Modified division where he posted many victories, the final one, and the last of his driving career, being the 2008 Saratoga Speedway IMCA Championship.
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- 1970 – Tony Johnson in his #85 1956 Ford Stockcar in between two fellow competitors during a main event (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1971 – Tony and his #5 car with fellow competitors #75 Larry Lepard, #92 Ron Fleet and #6 Jim Gigas (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1972 – Tony’s #4 during a Stockcar main event with #56 Rob Layfield and #48 Steve Kennedy (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1972 – A trophy dash win for Tony (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1973 – The #1 1956 Ford Stockcar with Tony (standing at left) and crew including Wayne Willman (standing next to Tony) (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1974 – The #99 1964 Ford Super Stock with Tony (standing second from the right) and crew including Wayne Willman (standing at far right) (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1975 – Tony receiving one of his Super Stock main event winner’s trophies from trophy girl Darlene Price (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1975 – Tony in #99 with #38 Neil Montgomery and #37 Bob Collins (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1975 – Left to right in Victory Square are crew member Wayne Willman, trophy presenter Mae Reed, July Cup winner Tony Johnson and an unknown crew member (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1976 – Tony in his #99 Open Competition Chevelle during a main event (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1977 – Left to right are #5 Brian Green, #99 Tony Johnson, #1 Don Dowdy and #18 Rick O’Dell (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1990 – The #2 1929 Desoto OTRA car with (left to right) car owner Ross Rockett, crew members Frank Morris and Frank Cordeiro and driver Tony Johnson (Robert G. (Bob) Hunter photo).
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- 1990 – Tony in Victory Square after winning an OTRA main event (photographer unknown).
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- Year unknown – Tony in the #99 IMCA Modified during a main event (photographer unknown).
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- Year unknown – Tony in Victory Square following an IMCA Modifed race win (photographer unknown).
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- 2009 Inductee Tony Johnson – artist’s portrait.
