only on the Dave Despain Show, Sunday, September 13, at 8:30pm ET
Dave’s guest this Sunday September 13 at 8:30pm ET is motocross and off-road truck racing superstar Ricky Johnson. Johnson, better known as RJ, was one of the great AMA motocross and Supercross racers of all time. During the 1980s, he won seven AMA national championships and was part of four winning U.S. Motocross des Nations teams.
On truck racing: “We make the joke… ‘with age comes the cage.’ And so when I get into the truck, I race and I feel like I did in Daytona in 1986, 87, and 88. I race as hard as I can. … I race 100% the whole time.”
On his relationship with Jimmie Johnson: “I was ten years old. Jimmie was born. So when I say that I wiped Jimmie Johnson’s butt, I’m not lying. True story: I babysat him, Jarit, Jessie, the whole Johnson family and he was like a little brother to me.”
On his big picture view of racing: “…we gotta let kids be kids. And that’s all we are… That’s what I loved about cars, bikes, and racing. It makes a little kid feel like a man. It takes an old man and makes him feel like a kid.”
On his loss in an epic race with David Bailey: “I sat there and I was so defeated. Even though I was in one of the greatest races of all time, I still lost the greatest race of all time… and I said to myself, ‘I’m not going to let my fitness stop me from winning a race.'”
In all, Johnson tallied an amazing 61 AMA national wins and earned championships in AMA Supercross and both 250cc and 500cc motocross. He retired as the all-time AMA Supercross wins leader in 1991 (his record was later broken by Jeremy McGrath).
Johnson was born on July 6, 1964 in La Mesa, California. Today he lives in North Carolina with his wife, Stephanie, and their children. He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.