THE SHOOTER
Jodi Johnson
Photos by Jodi Johnson & Alyssa Nicole Photography
Although she ’ s never raced herself , Jodi Johnson spends a lot of time at the race track . Her brother Johnny Lewis – flat track professional , National # 10 and the owner and founder of Moto Anatomy – started racing flat track as a teen , and it quickly became a family affair . Later , she met Jake Johnson ( American Flat Track racer # 5 ) and the two started dating and later married … yet another reason she spends so much time at dirt ovals around the country .
“ I wanted to be able to help Jake ,” Jodi said , “ and I wanted to be supportive , so I ’ ve done everything from recording the races to timing riders in practice . Once they got transponders at the track I didn ’ t know what to do anymore , so I pulled my camera out and started taking pictures . Once I got my camera back in my hands , it just grew into something , and it ’ s evolved over the years .”
Her flat track photography has been getting more notice lately . Off the Groove podcast uses her photos regularly , and her work has been published in motorcycle publications like The Vintagent and even our own Thunder Press magazine .
Through the years she ’ s been involved in flat track racing behind the scenes , as well . “ At one point I did rider signup for AMA Pro Racing ( which
“ I feel like my pictures are in the moment ,” Jodi says . “ They ’ re never staged . I ’ m trying to capture the feeling of that day .”
became American Flat Track in 2016 ). I occasionally did scoring , which was terrifying and especially hard at Mile and pea gravel tracks where it was hard to see the riders . I ’ ve even been a trophy girl a few times at the Springfield Mile . Later , I worked with Aid to Injured Riders ( AIR ), a nonprofit designed to help injured riders before the creation of Class of ’ 79 .”
Although her husband Jake Johnson continues to race in the American Flat Track series , she ’ s not overly involved in his racing program , which frees her up to take photos around the track and in the pits . “ I ’ m there to offer moral support ,” Jodi told us , “ and he knows I ’ m there if he needs anything , but I don ’ t want to be in charge of getting his gear ready or anything because if something goes wrong I don ’ t want it to come back and be my fault . And that opened it up for me to take photos .”
Talk to her for a moment or simply view her photos and you can tell she loves it . “ I just love to do it ,” she said . “ I also like taking a photo and writing something – my feelings and opinions – to go along with it . It ’ s a bit scary for me ; I feel vulnerable . But in the future I ’ d like to do something even more creative with my photos .”
What she aims to capture with her photography is the heart of flat track racing . “ I feel like my pictures
48 | MAY 2020 | THUNDERPRESS . NET