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Blaine Johnson's last appearance at Denver

Johnson dragster

Blaine H. Johnson (May 22, 1962 – August 31, 1996) was a professional drag racer who showed a lot of promise from early in his career. Blaine's life-long crew chief was his brother Alan. The two went on an excellent run in the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster Series. They began racing in T/A Dragster in 1988. Johnson won four championships in that series (1990 - 1993). Even at the time of his death Johnson's 26 NHRA titles in the Alcohol Division held up. The record held up until he was surpassed by Rick Santos. In 1996 Johnson was performing well in the NHRA Top Fuel Dragster championship.

However, on August 31, 1996 Johnson died from injuries sustained in a crash at drag racing's oldest and most prestigious race, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Johnson's engine exploded right as he reached the finish line. Debris from the engine cut down the rear tires; the thick rubber from the tires in turn sheared off the rear wing, causing a loss in downforce, which caused Blaine to lose control. His out-of-control race car then unfortunately slammed into a guardrail apex, part of an opening in the guardrail that existed for safety vehicles to enter the track, at around 300 m.p.h.. Upon hitting the guardrail, Johnson's car folded over onto itself and disintegrated; he was pronounced dead on arrival at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

This made Johnson the first Top Fuel driver to die on track since Pete Robinson died at the 1971 Winternationals and would remain as such until 2004, when Top Fuel driver Darrell Russell was killed during an event in Madison, Illinois.
Johnson's final pass was a track-record run, 4.61 seconds, a track record that would stand for two years before Gary Scelzi (who succeeded Blaine Johnson as the driver of Alan Johnson's dragster) would beat it. He was also the Top Fuel national record holder at the time of his death with a 4.59 second elapsed-time, a record that would stand until 1999 when Larry Dixon would beat it.
Though Blaine did not get to compete in the last quarter of the season, he had amassed enough points to finish fifth in the season ending points standings. At the awards ceremony after the end of the season, Top Fuel Champion Kenny Bernstein gave his championship trophy to Blaine's brother Alan, who has become a legendary winning crew chief himself. According to Alan, that particular trophy takes up "a place of honor," at his home in Santa Maria.

The day after his death, on the first day of Eliminations, his opponent, the then-rookie Tony Schumacher (now seven-time Top Fuel champion, who won six of his titles with Alan Johnson as crew chief), performed drag racing's version of a "missing man" formation, idling down the track out of respect to Johnson. During the final round, event winner Cory McClenethan, who was in the lane opposite Johnson during his last ride down the track, stated very clearly, "And I'll tell you something else, when I get up there and get that trophy, it's going to Alan Johnson. Blaine, we love you, buddy."
Throughout the rest of the 1996 and deep into the 1997 seasons, the drivers in Top Fuel, and even some in Funny Car, sported stickers on their cars that read "In Memory of Blaine Johnson". Many drivers continued to have black tape across their car numbers in mourning, and 1996 Top Fuel points Champion Kenny Bernstein dedicated the remainder of the season to the memory of Blaine. On the following day of racing, exhibition motorcycle drag racer Elmer Trent lost his life in a first round accident.

Prior to the start of the 1997 season Alan Johnson named former Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car standout Gary Scelzi as the driver of the Johnson Racing Dragster for the 1997 season. Now with sponsorship from the R.J. Reynolds company, the car carried the colors of its Winston brand. The team of Johnson and Scelzi went on to win the 1997 NHRA Top Fuel Championship in Scelzi's rookie season as well as 1998 and 2000.

After Johnson's Winston/RJR sponsorship ended he took the role of Crew Chief on Don Schumacher's ARMY Top Fuel Dragster, driven by Schumacher's son Tony, whom he tuned to five NHRA Championships. Johnson left DSR at the end of the 2008 season to once again run his own team, this time in partnership with Qatar based Al-Anabi Racing. Over all, Johnson Racing has won three NHRA Top Fuel championships, all with Scelzi. Alan has an additional five titles with Tony Schumacher.

On the National Hot Rod Association Top 50 Drivers, 1951-2000, Blaine Johnson was ranked No. 36.

In 1996, the NHRA established the Blaine Johnson Memorial Award, which is awarded annually to the person or group that best exemplifies the qualities of Blaine. The award is merely a small bronze bust of Blaine atop a wooden base, with a brass plaque etched with the winner's name and the words NHRA Blaine Johnson Memorial Trophy.

Every year since 1996, prior to the qualification runs of the MAC Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, the NHRA hosts the Blaine Johnson Memorial Golf Tournament, in which drivers, mechanics, and crew chiefs participate to earn money for the Blaine Johnson Memorial Trust. The Trust was created by Blaine's family, with support from the NHRA, to give scholarships to those high school students that exemplify the drive and determination in the classroom that Blaine exhibited on the track and in life.