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AIRAID Team Driver Randy Johnson and His Take on this Year's OUSCI
AIRAID Team Driver Randy Johnson and His Take on this Year's OUSCI
Jan 17, 2017
AIRAID team driver, Randy Johnson and the Orange Peeler
AIRAID Team Driver, Randy Johnson, is accustomed to being in the public eye. Whether in print, on television, or even at the track the one of a kind builds that come out of his shop are meant to be played with! D and Z Customs, named after his children Dylan & Zoey, has been featured in and on more than a dozen top performance magazines.
Randy and wife, Tobie, opened their shop in January 2007. Randy’s passion for mechanical tinkering began at a very young age like so many others playing with Hot Wheels and building models. As a boy he spent his days watching and helping friends rebuild classic cars. When he wasn’t working on cars he was buried in his most recent issues of car magazines brushing up on the latest vehicle restoration techniques and dreaming of his next “toy”. His mother now says the only way she could get young Randy interested in reading was to let him read car magazines.
Built by Randy Johnson and D&Z Customs, the Camaro is affectionately known as Orange Peeler
Back in 1993 a friend of Randy's took him to a Porsche Club autocross event and had Randy ride along. From that moment on he was hooked. Back then he started autocrossing his daily driver, a Volkswagen Jetta GLI. Since the early days racing was on and off until 2009, when OUSCI came calling. OPTIMA's Ultimate Street Car Invitational these days is the annual season finale to OPTIMA's Search for the Ultimate Street Car Series. As the series has grown so has the desire to get your hands on a coveted invite. And there are a couple of ways to do that. You can win your way in through a series qualifying events, charm your way in through the Spirit of the Event Award, point your way in at the end of the season having earned enough points or have a car on the SEMA Show floor that captures the attention of the likes of Jimi Day and Cam Douglass of Optima Batteries and receive a Golden Ticket. Back in 2009, the Golden Ticket was the ONLY way to earn an invite to this incredible event. And that's just what Randy Johnson did is his 1970 Camaro. Then he did it again in the AMX built for Jimi Day, affectionately named AMXess. And then again in his 1973 Camaro in 2012. You see where we are going with this. Randy Johnson knows OUSCI.
Randy Johnson, in his 1973 Camaro at 2009 OUSCI Speed Stop Challenge at Spring Mountain in Nevada
But wait a minute. In 2014, the crew at OPTIMA introduced a new series that would allow them to double the size of the OUSCI field by introducing qualifying events that would take place all over the country. Once described as USCA, the Ultimate Street Car Association, this series has morphed into an action packed, televised, race reality show with more than 400 drivers having participated to earn a spot in the field of 100 cars that round out OUSCI. Even though the format changed from early days the premise remains the same; get some radical cars out on to the track and see what they can do. With this new format we have seen the competition get a little tougher and the cars get a little faster, year after year. This is definitely the series to race, not just watch!
The 2002 Corvette DZ06 of Randy Johnson in the pits at OUSCI
No stranger to competition, Randy has competed in Goodguys events that focus on challenging the drivers technical abilities, with smaller, tighter courses. He's competed in other events such as Car & Cones, The Midwest Muscle Car Challenge, the Motorstate Challenge where he earned a podium finish, a number of USCA and OSUSC qualifying events with multiple Top 5 finishes, and of course multiple OUSCI events.
The 2002 Corvette DZ06 of Randy Johnson looks fast just sitting here!
He believes in being prepared for competition both on the track and off. That includes maintaining even the simplest of parts right down to his AIRAID universal intake. Being physically fit as well as mentally fit is all part of the game plan. He said that if he's not mentally focused and fit it shows throughout the event when the pressure is on to perform. Randy's been affiliated with the AIRAID brand for the last six years and understands what great performance feels like and he believes AIRAID gives him that extra edge on the track.
The widened front and rear quarters allow for increased width in suspension make for better handling
This year Randy earned his invite to OUSCI based on his stellar performances in his C5 CORVETTE "DZ06". At the various track events he attends he made the decision to not only make his car stand out in the crowd, but he wanted it to out perform the crowd as well! He told us that virtually every part on his "DZ06" Corvette has been changed or modified. It started with an upgrade to a Lingenfelter dry sump 640 HP LS7. Once that was complete he upgraded to a Tremec TR6060 transmission. Then he added the Centerforce twin disc clutch, plus the custom Magnaflow exhaust and Ridetech suspension for optimal handling and ease of adjustability. Then to he added some Wilwood Disc Brakes behind the custom copper Forgeline wheels. And he didn't stop there. The exterior has been highly modified too from the wider front & rear fenders to support increased suspension width, to the custom nose piece and carbon fiber hood. Then he added a one off D&Z Customs spoiler, custom fabricated rear panel & finished it off with a totally custom paint scheme using a candy copper stripe. Randy’s new set-up proved to be a good one for OUSCI this year with his solid finish in the top 20. And the competition this year was fierce.
The 2002 Corvette DZ06 of Randy Johnson's looks fast on the road course too!
But this year didn’t come without some hard lessons. He had been struggling with the ABS system throughout the year, when a loss of brakes at Road America very narrowly averted a real disaster. Needless to say with some long nights and a whole lot of internet searching, he was finally able to diagnose the ABS issue and what a difference it made in his confidence on the track.
Some of the D&Z Customs mods include a carbon fiber hood on the DZ06 of Randy Johnson's
Over the years he has learned a lot from his experiences as a performance driver. He's learned what his limitations are and what his cars limitations are! He's also discovered the delicate balance that allows him to keep pushing those limits a bit further each time he gets behind the wheel. This in turn helps him to better serve his customers and sponsors. He's also learned that he enjoys giving back to the racing community and looks forward to doing some instructing in 2017. He recognizes the importance of lending a helping hand to other drivers and said without the support from his wife and kids, he wouldn't be able to do what he truly loves. Randy said it's really friends and family that inspire him to participate and do my very best.
For 2017 Randy Johnson has set some goals for himself and he feels very optimistic. He wants to add to his podium finishes, improve his driving skills and looks forward to positively representing his sponsors and their brands. We asked if there was one thing he could share with his younger self what would that be? "It would be to offer more encouragement. I’d tell myself that yes I was on the right track and to not get discouraged with failures and that in time I’d get better at whatever I set out to do."
