The blue, white and red #54 Hyundai Elantra N TCR at speed in front of the grandstands at Daytona International Speedway, 2022

First & only paralyzed driver licensed by INDYCAR

Michael Johnson Racing

Racing since age 3. Fourteen national motorcycle championships by 12. Paralyzed at 12, and back on track with hand controls: IMSA race winner, Daytona pole-sitter, and third in the 2022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge championship.

Meet Mike Work with Mike

14National motorcycle championships by age 12
1stAnd only paralyzed driver licensed by INDYCAR
2018First pro win: Lime Rock Park, IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge
P32022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge championship, #54 Hyundai Elantra N TCR

Michael Johnson in his racing suit, seated in his wheelchair in front of the #54 Hyundai Elantra N TCR — Michael with the #54 Universal Coating Hyundai Elantra N TCR, 2022.

Meet Mike

Racing is his life

Michael Johnson grew up in Flint, Michigan, in a racing family. His dad, Tim Johnson, raced flat track and road racing professionally, and Michael was on a motorcycle by age 3. By 12 he had won 14 national championships in the U.S. and Canada.

In 2005, at 12 years old, he crashed while moving into the lead on the last lap at a half-mile dirt track. He broke his collarbone, right ribs, left ankle and left leg, and fractured the T5 and T6 vertebrae in his back, which left him paralyzed. An 11-hour surgery left him with four rods and 15 screws in his back.

He called it a bump in the road. Michael went from motorcycles to go-karts with hand controls, then to open-wheel racing, where he became the first and only paralyzed driver licensed by INDYCAR, before switching to sportscar racing beginning in 2016. With Bryan Herta Autosport he raced the #54 Hyundai Veloster N TCR and then the Elantra N TCR, finishing third in the 2022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge championship. He drives a specially equipped race car with hand controls, and turns heads when he rises from the race car to climb into his other set of wheels: his wheelchair.

Michael uses a wheelchair full time and stays very active. After his best season yet in 2022, he stepped back from full-time racing and is now telling the story himself, through short-form video about his racing history and life in a wheelchair, plus speaking and partnerships.

“I’m never going to give up. Racing is my life.”

Michael Johnson

Inducted into the Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame and received the Spirit Award (2012)
Michigan Governor’s Council “Accepting the Challenge” award (2016)
Tilton Hard Charger Award, USF2000 at Road America, for gaining 18 positions (2012)
Karting “Driver of the Year” at the East Lansing (Mich.) kart track (2007)

Michael in his wheelchair at a hand-control rig beside a race car on a shop lift, with a team member standing next to him — Working through the hand-control setup in the shop, 2015.

The story

The road to recovery

Michael spent nearly a year in treatment, including skin grafts for pressure sores, before doctors cleared him for physical activity. Then he went straight back to racing.

His father bought a go-kart with secured hand controls, originally developed by CART champion Alex Zanardi, who returned to competition after a 2001 crash that cost him both legs. On Christmas Eve 2006, Michael drove it around the parking lot of his father’s business. The test went well enough that he raced it the next year.

“It’s not too different, since I had to use my hands for the clutch and throttle on the bike.”
Michael Johnson, on adapting to hand controls

Stem cell surgery, 2009

In 2005, during Michael’s stay at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, the family attended a lecture by Dr. Carlos Lima of Portugal, a neurologist doing pioneering work on regenerating the spinal cord. His approach harvests stem cells from the patient’s own nasal cavity (olfactory tissue) and transplants them to the injury site to help regrow lost neural connections.

“Because of Michael’s age, Dr. Lima’s team didn’t want to do the surgery, immediately. They wanted to make sure nature had done everything it could to bring him back, first.”
Tim Johnson, Michael’s father

The family stayed in touch, met all of the conditions, and the transplant was performed in Lisbon, Portugal, on Sept. 11, 2009. The procedure used Michael’s own cells, not embryonic stem cells. It was done in Portugal because the FDA had not approved this type of surgery in the United States.

Hard work, every week

After surgery, Dr. Lima recommended that Michael continue his recovery at Walk the Line, a physician-directed training program for people with spinal cord injuries. Certified trainers worked with him on an exercise-based program designed to activate muscles and nerves below the level of injury, mostly in weight-bearing positions.

“We’re very much encouraged by the progress so far. In terms of racing, it would be very helpful if Michael could regain feeling in his back and hip areas, so that he can feel the vibrations in the race car better, and he can race more efficiently.”
Tim Johnson

Michael shares this part of his story because it may help others weighing their options after a spinal cord injury. He also draws inspiration from trailblazers like Alex Zanardi and Danica Patrick, and one goal is still on the list: racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Career highlights

From dirt track to Daytona

Two wheels, then four. Motorcycles, karts, open-wheel ladder cars and IMSA sportscars, all driven with his hands after 2005.

Age 3
On two wheels
Starts riding motorcycles, following his father Tim, a professional flat track and road racer. By 2002–2003 he is competing nationally in the Kawasaki 65cc and CR85cc classes.
Mike on his #54 flat-track bike, before 2005
2004
Supermoto on his 12th birthday
Races a Honda CRF 150cc to third in the Junior Red Riders Supermoto Challenge in Reno, Nev., qualifying for the national final in Las Vegas, where he finishes ninth.
2005
14 titles, then a turning point
Wins the Canadian Supermoto Series (85cc) and the NasMoto Series (450cc), and becomes North East Regional National Champion in dirt track for 85cc and 250cc. That makes fourteen national championships by age 12. Later that year, a last-lap crash on a half-mile dirt track leaves him a T5/T6 paraplegic.
2006–08
Back racing with hand controls
First go-kart test on Christmas Eve 2006. In 2007 he wins the Junior SuperCan class at the East Lansing kart track and is named Driver of the Year. In 2008 he wins the Michigan Rotax Junior class and qualifies for the Rotax Nationals in Wisconsin.
2009–11
Karts to formula cars
Six Rotax wins and 12 Tag and Pro podiums in the 2009 Great Lakes Pro Series, plus his first races in the Skip Barber formula car series with modified hand controls. In 2011 he runs the full Skip Barber summer series: three wins, seven podiums, 13 top fives, and third overall.
2012–15
The Road to Indy INDYCAR licensed
A full Cooper Tires USF2000 season in 2012 (15th as a rookie, best finish 10th at Road America). Pro Mazda in 2014 (13th). A practice crash at St. Petersburg sidelines him for much of 2015 before he returns at Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca. He is the first and only paralyzed driver licensed by INDYCAR.
2016–17
The switch to sportscars
Announces the move at Petit Le Mans in 2015 and debuts at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in April 2016 in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge: a BMW 228i with JDC-Miller Motorsports and Guidosimplex hand controls. Runs 10 races in the ST class in 2017 and finishes 13th in points.
2018
First professional win Lime Rock Park
In the #54 Audi TCR, and after breaking his leg at Daytona in January, he wins at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., one of the most memorable and emotional moments in series history. He adds four seconds, two thirds and two fourths and finishes fifth in the TCR standings.
2019
Record pole at Daytona
Breaks the TCR course record to take pole in qualifying for the BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona. Finishes second at Lime Rock by just 3.325 seconds and earns another podium at VIRginia International Raceway.
2020
Podiums at both ends
Opens the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season with third in the BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona, and in September takes his first podium at Mid-Ohio, finishing third.
2021
Michael Johnson Racing × Bryan Herta Autosport
The #54 Michael Johnson Racing entry joins Bryan Herta Autosport with co-driver Stephen Simpson and long-time partner Universal Coating, his family’s Flint manufacturer, on the car. The Bryan Herta Autosport years start in the Hyundai Veloster N TCR, followed by the Elantra N TCR in his final seasons, through 2022.
2022
Third in the championship Best season yet
In the #54 Hyundai Elantra N TCR, Johnson and Simpson take podiums at Lime Rock, Road America and Road Atlanta and finish third in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge standings.
Today
The next chapter
Sharing the story on video, speaking, and building partnerships. Still very active, still a racer.

Latest season & race recaps

2022: P3 in the championship

No. 54 Universal Coating Hyundai Elantra N TCR · Bryan Herta Autosport · co-driver Stephen Simpson · IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.

2022 race results
Race	Finish
BMW Endurance Challenge, DaytonaJan. 28 · led much of the second half; drive-through penalty	6th
Alan Jay Automotive Network 120, SebringMar. 17	9th
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120Apr. 30	6th
Mid-Ohio 120May 14	7th
Tioga Downs Casino Resort 120, Watkins GlenJune 25	Top 10
Canadian Tire Motorsport 120, CTMPJuly 2	10th
Lime Rock Park 120July 16	3rd
Road America 240Aug. 6	2nd
Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix, VIRAug. 27	5th
Fox Factory 120, Road AtlantaSept. 30	2nd
Final championship: 2,650 points, 60 out of second	3rd

Season finale · Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta

Perseverance pays off P2

After a season of small setbacks, the team hung tough and closed with second place in the Fox Factory 120. That result moved Johnson, Simpson and Bryan Herta Autosport to third in the final 2022 standings.

“This is the best season ending finish I have ever had racing on four wheels. So, needless to say, it’s absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to see what the future in my racing career holds!”
Michael Johnson

“Finishing third in the championship, it was Michael’s best season he has ever had in car racing. I am just so happy for him.”
Stephen Simpson, co-driver

Aug. 6 · Road America

Road America 240 P2

Runner-up at Elkhart Lake, the first of two second-place finishes in the last three races of the season.

July 16 · Lime Rock Park

Lime Rock Park 120 P3

Back on the podium at the track where Michael scored his first professional win in 2018.

Aug. 27 · VIRginia International Raceway

VIR recap P5

A top-five finish in Virginia with one round left to run.

On Instagram

@mikejracing

Follow on Instagram

Michael in his wheelchair beside the #54 Audi TCR in the garage, 2018

Michael spraying champagne from his wheelchair, 2022

Full podium with banners and trophies; Michael is on the podium in his wheelchair, 2018

Michael rolling through the paddock in his wheelchair, JOHNSON across his back, 2021

Close-up of the #54 Universal Coating Hyundai Elantra N TCR, 2022

Race days, behind the scenes, and life on wheels. Tap any photo to open Instagram.

Photo gallery

Then & now in pictures

The #54 motorcycles of his childhood, open-wheel days, the #54 Audi TCR, and the #54 Hyundais with Bryan Herta Autosport. Tap a photo to see it full size.