1977 USAC MINI INDY CHAMP HERM JOHNSON PASSES
Indianapolis 500 veteran and 1977 USAC Mini Indy series champion Herm Johnson passed away Saturday, December 10, 2016 from liver and renal failure. He was 63.
The Eau Claire, Wisc. native is among the USAC champions who’ve made their way to Indianapolis. Though his Indy 500 career was brief, Johnson made the most of both of his starts.
After missing the show in 1980 and 1981, Johnson made the 33-car starting field in 1982, qualifying in the 14th spot and finishing ninth in John Menard’s year-old Eagle/Chevy. Two years later, in 1984, Johnson qualified on the outside of the third row and, once again, put the Menard car in the top-10 with a fine eighth place result.
Johnson made 37 career Indy Car starts with USAC and CART between 1979 and 1986, scoring a best finish of sixth in the Stroh’s 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in May of 1982, one position behind the driver who won the USAC Mini Indy title the year following Johnson’s title – 1978 champ Bill Alsup. Alsup passed away just four months ago, in August of 2016.
Johnson’s Mini Indy championship came in the first year of USAC’s sanctioning of the series, a precursor to the Super Vee, American Racing Series and Indy Lights series of today.
Johnson was actually the co-champion in 1977, sharing the title with another Indianapolis 500 veteran, Tom Bagley. Johnson earned a pair of pole starting positions at Milwaukee and Mosport as well as three podium finishes: a second at Milwaukee, a third at Mosport and his lone series victory at Phoenix in the season finale.
Furthermore, Johnson was the winner of the SCCA National Championship at Road Atlanta in 1976 and, in recent years, maintained a presence in racing as a helmet painter after the conclusion of his driving career.
The Johnson family is seeking assistance from his friends in the racing community for his memorial services at https://www.gofundme.com/herm-johnson-healthcare-plus.