A/Fuel Dragster

Driver Profile:

Johnny’s involvement in drag racing began at birth. Being born into a family of racers paved a solid foundation for his passion in the sport.

Ahten Racing began as early as the late 1960’s with brothers Al and Bob, Johnny’s father and Uncle, hitting the local strips of Southern California.

The evolution and levels of racing progressed through the years as did Johnny’s desire to some day drive a Dragster. In 1998 he attended Frank Hawleys’s Drag Racing School, and the hook had been set. Early the next year Johnny competed in his first full season of Top Eliminator West. He captured the Rookie of the Year title and finished 2nd place in the points. He continued to hone his driving skills the next few years until 2004 when the team moved up to Top Alcohol Dragster. Johnny qualified at his first event immediately after upgrading his license earlier in the week. The following year the team finished 5th place in NHRA’s Division 7 in only their first full season. Johnny was also the 2004 Valvoline Cup National Champion in Pro-Heads Up. It took only one year of competition for Johnny to reach his first final round in Fontana, California.

Today, he is the driver of the Ahten Racing Nitromethane powered A/Fuel Dragster. Eclipsing 270 miles per hour in less than 5.3 seconds is standard fare for the Santa Clarita, Calif. based race car driver.

When not racing, Johnny is employed as a Firefighter Specialist with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. He has moved up through the ranks to be the one who drives and pumps the fire engine. He gets to drive fast on and off the track. “Both my racing and my career can be very similar,” noted Ahten.”Both require good people skills and performance under pressure.”