A racer's heart

He has been the front man for Ford for so long that his days in a 1950s 'Humpy' Holden and giant killing Torana XU1 - and even a single start with the factory Holden Dealer Team - have faded into the pages of time.

Johnson first raced a Falcon in 1974 and since then he has won everything worth having in Australian motorsport, from Bathurst to five touring car championships, carving a blueblood niche as deep as the late Peter Brock's red connection to Holden.

But it all ended this week when Ford, which has backed Johnson since the day he hit 'The Rock' at Bathurst in the early 1980s, decided it needed to splash its cash with other teams. It backed away from Johnson after some lean years on the track and because his cars look more like a Jim Beam booze bottle than a blue-and-white Falcon.

The decision shocked Johnson and outraged his army of fans.

The one-time Brisbane garage owner was still in shock yesterday when he spoke exclusively to the Herald Sun about his life, his times, and a future outside the Ford family.

"I really just haven't got an opinion on it all at this point in time. It really hasn't sunk in," Johnson said.

"After 35 year it seems very strange. I have raced Fords for so long, I own a Ford, I drive a Ford."

There has been mischievous talk already that Johnson might switch to the red side of the fence, racing with Commodores in 2009, but he denies it. Still, he is considering something swankier as his road ride . . .

Right now he is much happier talking about his new granddaughter than Ford's decision to toss him on the tip or the financial troubles which have almost ruined him over the past three years.

"Lacy is a beautiful little girl," Johnson oozed, talking about his son Steven's second child, after Jett.

It's typical of the man and typical of the working-class approach which has won him so many fans.

He married Jill in the 1970s and they are still together, with Steven racing one of the team's Falcons and daughter Kelly doing public relations.

"Jilly heads up the chardonnay set. My brother 'Dyno' Dave is here too."

Johnson has been a serious racer since the 1970s, from the time "our budget for the whole year was $10,000" through to the current multi-million dollar world of V8 Supercars.

Johnson would always have been a favourite with Ford fans, but it was his head-to-head rivalry with Peter Brock which helped to make them much more than just a pair of petrol heads in hot cars. They were the spearheads for Australia's two biggest car brands, a total contrast in personal styles, and they mixed it up on the track.

"I suppose we were a bit like Darby and Joan. He was the total opposite to me and in the opposite camp. And it was a perfect fit," Johnson said.

"Too right I liked him. And I saw a huge change in the guy over the years. He was an absolute lunatic in the early days, the parties and the things they did . . .

"I don't know how they did that and got away with it. I was a little more respectful."

Johnson also had a much tougher road to the top, starting with backing from Brisbane Ford dealer Brian Byrt before setting up Dick Johnson Racing to field a series of Falcons, Mustangs and Sierras. There as also a Laser and an Escort rally car. And they all had a Ford badge.

These days, just like football, there is far less loyalty. Even Craig Lowndes, who has succeeded Johnson as Ford's favourite, started his career in a Holden.

"You are not going to see people like me again. Or what I had with Brock," he said.

Johnson is happy to roll back the years and talk about how it all started, how he and his longest-serving employee Roy McDonald did everything themselves, then rattle through the races and the wins and the co-drivers led by John Bowe.

"I"m not so much product of what I have achieved, but more how I did it. It was a two-man band with Roy at the start, just the two of us driving the truck and doing everything ourselves. He's still plugging away with me.

"I wouldn't know why I was a reasonable driver. I had a good mechanical knowledge and always worked on my own vehicles. I was passionate about driving and I really wanted to succeed."

But what about the best memories?

"As far as a car to drive, I'd go for the '81 Bathurst Falcon. It was fantastic. We just got into a rhythm and it worked," he said.

"But probably the most perfect was the 1994 EB Falcon at Bathurst, when Bowie and I won. And also the Sierra. The car we had in '92 at Bathurst, when that Godzilla thing crashed and still got the win, was just awesome."

Johnson, who is now 63, had his last start at Bathurst when he was 55 and racing blokes younger than his son. He even had two years sharing a Falcon at Mount Panorama with Steven, for a best finish in fourth.

"It was something I always wanted to do and something he always wanted to do. And we were pretty even at that time, to be honest."

Honestly is a big thing with Johnson, and he has been tortured by financial troubles in recent years which have almost sent him bankrupt. He has lost more than $2 million of his own money, and now has mortgages on the hard-won fruits of a long career including his boat and house.

A new partner and cash injection has kept his team on the track but it has not been easy. So where did it go wrong?

"I trusted a couple of people that talked me into getting involved in another business. They walked away with all the tin," he said.

It's also been a tough time on the track, with a skinny budget and old cars, which made winning at Eastern Creek in Sydney earlier this year with young gun Will Davison a personal triumph. Johnson did not cry that day, but he came very, very close.

"It was an emotional day," he admitted.

He also knows why things have not gone well.

"Maybe we haven't won anything, but how many other teams have? There are a handful of people that win the races these days and they all have brand-new cars and big budgets.

"The cars we are running are five years old."

He does not get into the money, but Jim Beam does not have the deepest pockets and Ford has not been giving him nearly as much cash as it lavishes on the Ford Performance Racing team."

But he still has a racer's heart.

"I get a buzz from driving and racing. Within yourself, the hardest thing to do is to put in the perfect lap. And it's really, really gratifiying to do that. And I've only ever done a couple of them.

"Any time you win, as a driver or a team owner, is great."

He wants to get back to winning, even without Ford, and said he has a while yet before he needs to make some of the toughest decisions of his life.

"It will be interesting to see our options. We've got six months to work out our decision for next year," Johnson said.

"It will be a business decision. Just the same as Ford's was."

But Johnson clearly intends to keep racing, with or without a blue oval on the bonnet.

"Yes, of course I am. All our careers we've had highs and lows and this is just another one.

"What else am I going to do? Weed gardens?"