Herm Johnson, 1953-2016

Herm Johnson, a two-time starter at the Indianapolis 500 who introduced John Menard to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, died Saturday at age 63.

“Herm was a race driver and that’s all he wanted to be his whole life,” said Dan Cota, his former crew chief at Indy from 1980-84. “But he was also a humanitarian – a nice, gracious man and a cool guy.”

The native of Eau Claire, Wis. rose to prominence in the late '70s by winning the SCCA Super Vee Nationals at Road Atlanta in 1976 and USAC's Mini Indy championship in 1977. Johnson also raced on the ice during the winter and struck up a friendship with Menard, whose lumber company empire was just starting to blossom.

The Menard Lumber Lightning-Offy came to IMS in 1980 but Johnson didn't make a qualifying attempt and they returned the next May in a Lightning-Chevy only to be bumped after posting what appeared to be a safe speed.

“Herm was in the top five during practice and after his first two qualifying laps he was sitting fourth, but then he blew a head gasket on Lap 3 and we wound up getting bumped by Dennis Firestone by three-thousands of a second,” Cota recalled.

In 1982, Menard purchased a new Eagle and put in a normally-aspirated Chevy and Johnson qualified 14th and finished ninth. He missed the show in 1983 but came back the following year to qualify ninth fastest and finished eighth – just behind Bobby Rahal and just ahead of Danny Ongais – with a March-Cosworth (pictured, top, IMS Photo archive).

“We were leading at Watkins Glen that year, where Herm was always golden, and then we broke but that was his finest moment,” Cota said.

He crashed practicing in May of '85 and his career ended in 1986 when he pounded the wall during practice – breaking both feet and suffering a lumbar spinal fracture but, thankfully, no paralysis.

In 36 IndyCar starts, his best finish was sixth at Atlanta in '82. But he stayed in the racing game by starting a custom painting business and his "Just Herm Design" helmets became popular with many drivers in IndyCar, NHRA and motorcycle racing.

In 2011, Johnson was critically injured in a passenger car accident in Brainerd, Minnesota. 

A GoFundMe page has been established to help Johnson's family with medical bills as well as memorial and additional expenses. Donations can be made here.