Last year, Alan Mann Racing was the recipient of the 2024 Spirit of Ford Award – its highest honor in the world of motorsports. That accolade was well-deserved given the fact that the outfit’s Ford GT lightweight experimental prototypes from 1965 and 1966 played a big role in the automaker’s legendary 1-2-3 sweep at the 1966 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, among other achievements. Now, the 2025 Spirit of Ford Award winner has been announced – and it’s a pretty iconic name, as one might expect.
Dick Johnson has been named as the official 2025 Spirit of Ford winner, and for good reason – the Supercars legend spent 22 seasons driving various Ford vehicles, racking up five championships and countless wins over that timeframe. Johnson even started five NASCAR races for good measure, but is most famous for serving as the face of Ford racing in Australia for a number of years.
That success dates back to when Dick Johnson Racing was formed in 1980, at which point its namesake started second in a Falcon racer at the legendary Bathurst 1000, but wound up having to retire early due to a rock that some fans kicked onto the track. Interestingly, Channel 7 wound up starting a fundraiser that raked in $72,000 to help get him back on the track, and the automaker wound up matching that amount – giving him more than enough to secure a new Falcon for the 1981 season and set the stage for decades of success.
Since then, Dick Johnson Racing has racked up 10 championships and 148 wins, and that outfit is celebrating 45 years of existence in 2025. DJR has become the very face of Ford racing in Australia, and as for the man himself, he’s earned a reputation for being one of the greatest ever – not only as a driver but also, a person. “Dick himself has been a loyal, talented, witty, and intense competitor on the track as a driver, with the media and fans, and now as a team owner. Just as important, he is a treasured friend of mine and all of us at Ford,” said Edsel B. Ford II, former vice president and board member of Ford Motor Company.
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