Billy Johnson is an American racing driver who started from humble beginnings and climbed the ranks to compete at the highest level of sports car racing and NASCAR.  The half-Japanese Californian started racing go-karts at 13 years of age, won scholarships to race in both the Skip Barber Racing School as well as the inaugural season of Formula BMW USA as a BMW factory "Junior" driver where he finished 5th in the championship and received the Sportsman of the Year Award.

Over the last nineteen years, Billy has raced in the 24 Hours of LeMans for Ford, the NASCAR Cup Series driving the #43 for Richard Petty, the FIA World Endurance Championship, British GT, NASCAR XFinity series, IMSA, Michelin Pilot Sportscar Challenge (MPSC), Blancpain GT World Challenge America, SRO GT4 America, and Lamborghini Super Trofeo series. 

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Billy currently has more victories and top-3 podium finishes than any driver in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series with 24 wins, 50 podiums, and 62 top five finishes. 

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Building off his racing success, Billy is a world-class development and test driver who was an integral part of the LeMans-winning Ford GT "GTE/GTLM" race car and street car development programs driving for Multimatic Motorsports and the Ford Motor Company.  Recognized by the likes of Edsel Ford for his contributions to the Ford GT program, he was also part of the team responsible for the Shelby GT350/R, 2020 Shelby GT500, Mustang Performance Pack 2, Bullet, and Mach 1.  He works currently works with Vaughn Gittin Jr's RTR Mustang models as well as Gunther Werks on their "re-imagined" Porsche Speedster and new Turbo models.  

 

Billy was an engineering consultant for Roush Fenway Keslowski's NASCAR Cup team where he helped lead the testing and development of the current 7th-generation "Next Gen" racing car that features an independent rear suspension for the first time in NASCAR history.  He also consults for various companies in different sectors of the aftermarket and performance car industry. 
 

Billy is highly active in coaching and has clientele from track-day beginners, to mentoring and advising young aspiring racecar drivers, to business executives, actors, and professional drivers in different disciplines from NASCAR to rally racing.

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Billy has a background instructing for multiple world-renown racing schools, and was hired by Ford to develop a curriculum and create a “Road Course Clinic” to teach advanced road course techniques and race craft to their NASCAR Cup and Xfinity drivers for over 10 years.  

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Billy has authored many tech articles, product tests and reviewss for MotoIQ.com and other outlets that showcase his unique skillset and ability to break down complex engineering concepts that are easy to understand by the masses.

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