On a cool January evening, the NHRA Division 2 banquet paused to celebrate one of drag racing’s most enduring figures. At 88 years old, Dent Johnson — the unmistakable voice of Carolina Dragway — was inducted into the NHRA Division 2 Hall of Fame. The honor was more than overdue. For 62 years, Johnson has been more than an announcer; he has been the heartbeat of a community, the soundtrack of a sport, and the voice that racers and fans alike call family.
Finding His Voice
Dent’s announcing career started with pure happenstance. In the early 1960s, he was just another young man at the track, racing and spectating, when announcer Junior Steed handed him the microphone to step away for a moment. Steed never came back for it — and Johnson never let it go. For more than six decades, Dent’s voice has rolled across the loudspeakers, narrating victories, defeats, and the unforgettable stories in between.
That voice has become more than sound. It is a thread woven into the very fabric of the drag racing family. As one racer recently put it, “I don’t go to Carolina Dragway for the track, the payouts, or the location — I go because of Dent.” For Johnson, hearing that is the highest praise imaginable.
Racer at Heart
Before the microphone, Dent was a racer. Despite being diagnosed with polio at age four and walking on crutches for nearly 60 years, he strapped into the driver’s seat in the Super Stock class. He started out racing Fords but quickly realized he couldn’t keep up with the Chevrolets. “I was a Ford man,” he admitted with a grin, “but I couldn’t outrun the Chevrolets, so I had to go get me one.”
In 1960, he bought a Chevrolet Biscayne. That year, he raced 65 times and won 62, setting an NHRA elapsed time record by shaving the benchmark from 15 seconds to 14 seconds. His secret for driving a stick car with polio? Simple ingenuity: “I’d put my foot on the clutch and just mash down on my knee when I was ready to shift into the next gear.”
Though his racing career was short, his spirit behind the wheel never left him — it simply shifted to the microphone.
Strength Through Community
Polio may have put Johnson in a wheelchair in 2000, but it never slowed him down. At 88, he is still announcing, still cracking jokes, still bragging on racers and families from the tower. Thanks to an elevator that gets him up to the booth, Dent continues doing what he loves most — being with his racing family.
And family is exactly how he sees it. Dent and his wife, who also battled polio, have been married for 54 years, but his circle stretches far beyond their home. His friends at the racetrack are his family. “Racing becomes who you are,” Dent says. “It’s how you identify yourself. The racing community is simply the best community.”
That sense of belonging has carried him for decades. “I wouldn’t have made it to 88 years old without drag racing,” he says plainly. “If I just sat in my chair at the house, I wouldn’t make it long.”
A Voice Beyond the Cars
We’ve written before that racing is about far more than speed. It’s about friends who become family, and about voices that echo in our memories long after the cars fall silent. Dent embodies that truth. His voice has been the backdrop to countless weekends, burnouts, and celebrations. In many ways, it is even more important than the roar of the engines — because it carries the emotion, the pride, and the love of the racing family.
And one day, when his voice falls silent, Dent already knows where he wants to be. He has told friends he wants his hearse to come to the racetrack, so that his racing family can gather one last time, with an announcer calling his name over the speakers. Because Dent was raised at the track. Because the track is where he belongs. While Dent will not be with us forever, his voice will.
The Legacy of Dent Johnson
Dent Johnson is more than a Hall of Fame announcer. He is proof that drag racing isn’t just about machines or speed — it’s about people, community, and voices that live forever. His story is one of resilience, humor, love, and unwavering dedication to a sport and a family that has given him life.
At 88 years old, Dent Johnson still climbs into the tower, microphone in hand, ready to call the next pair. His voice still rises above the engines. His voice still unites a family. And when the echoes of Carolina Dragway roll across the air, it will always be Dent Johnson — the man who turned chance into a lifetime, and a lifetime into a legacy.
