Billy Johnson is entering a busy month of June, beginning this weekend at Mid-Ohio. In addition to his Michelin Pilot Challenge commitments, Johnson will also compete at Pikes Peak on June 21.

Driving a special 2015 Porsche GT3 Turbo Cup, “Lucy,” the Pikes Peak rookie is excited for what’s to come in his first trip up the mountain.

“Pikes Peak is one of those bucket-list kind of events,” Johnson said. “I think if you ask any race car driver or car person what some of the events are that they want to do, they might say the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Baja 1000. I’ve been very fortunate to have raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Ford for all four years of the GT program back in 2016.”

“Pikes Peak is right up there. It’s a different style of event, whereas most of those races are proper wheel-to-wheel races where you’re doing laps. Pikes Peak is the ultimate Super Bowl of hill climb events, where it’s just you and the hill, starting at the bottom and finishing at the top, going as fast as you can without going off the side of a cliff or hitting a tree.”

“So yeah, it’s just the absolute peak—no pun intended—of hill climb events. It’s also so historic. I think it’s the second-oldest motorsports event in the U.S., if my memory is correct. It’s just an amazing event, and I’m really excited to finally be able to do it.”

Pikes Peak is a much different style of event than what Johnson is accustomed to in his GT4 efforts.

A time-trial event in the beautiful mountains of Colorado, Johnson is learning as much as he can in preparation for the event, taking in both simulator work and the test days that concluded last weekend.

“For traditional racing, they’re circuits,” Johnson said. “You do laps, so you have the opportunity to go around the same corners over and over again. Pikes Peak, being a hill climb and actually run on public roads, really doesn’t offer that opportunity.”

“A lot of older veterans of Pikes Peak say it takes six or seven years of doing the event to really start figuring it out. I can absolutely imagine that was the case back in the day, but now we have simulators.”

“They’re not super accurate, but the biggest thing is course familiarization. I’ve had the opportunity to use a simulator, and even though the corners might not be perfect and the bumps might not be perfect, just knowing where you’re going is three-quarters of the battle.”

“Pikes Peak is different. It’s just start at the bottom and finish at the top. Until somebody created that course and map in a simulator, there really wasn’t any way to practice it other than spending years making limited runs on the mountain. So I’ve been relying heavily on the simulator to know where to go, know which corners are flat, and know which corners require braking because they’re hairpins. That’s been a game-changer in the last decade or so.”

While Johnson is new to running Pikes Peak, the KoHr Motorsports driver is no stranger to wheeling any type of sports car. Johnson feels that his skill set, along with the team he has behind him, translates well to the event.

“Probably my time attack experience is the biggest advantage,” Johnson said. “I grew up and started my career doing import time attack events in Southern California, where you have crazy 1,000-horsepower cars that will overheat or blow up in a lap and a quarter. So you have to put it all together in that one lap because the engine blows up or it overheats.”

“I’ve had a lot of success in that discipline and set a lot of track records, and that experience has kind of translated throughout my career. I even have a little YouTube channel—it’s not that big—called One Lap Billy. The whole premise is that I hop into a car I’ve never driven before and go as fast as I can to see what kind of lap time I can run without any prior experience in it. I don’t practice. I don’t do anything. I just drive out of the pits, do one lap, and see how fast it is.”

“Taking that skill set and applying it to Pikes Peak, I think it can help. Again, I’m not getting ahead of myself. I’m giving the course immense respect. That’s No. 1. If you go in with an ego or really high expectations, that’s where you’re going to get bit. That’s where you’re going to get hurt. That’s where bad things happen.”

“I definitely don’t want to come off sounding overly confident. I’m just excited to have the opportunity to do this event. I think my background gives me a little more experience that will hopefully keep me out of trouble when I’m pushing the car and going up the hill.”

“Again, I’m very fortunate to be with Alegra Motorsports and Carlos De Quesada for this opportunity, driving his car, which is Lucy. It’s a pretty well-known car in Pikes Peak circles—a 1,000-horsepower twin-turbo Porsche with a bunch of aero. The Alegra guys completely rebuilt the car, went through everything, and made a lot of changes to it. We’re excited to see how it performs. This group helped grow a lot of my career, so it’s going to be a really fun event for all of us.”

As mentioned, Johnson is preparing for a rather busy schedule ahead. Between last weekend’s Pikes Peak test, Mid-Ohio this weekend for a four-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race, and then a return to Pikes Peak, the longtime Ford driver is geared up and ready for the trek.

“Yeah, it started last Friday with flying out to Colorado,” Johnson explained. “Saturday and Sunday were the official Pikes Peak test days, where they split the course into two segments—the upper section and the lower section. You run one half of the course three, four, five, maybe even seven times, depending on the weather and whether cars have issues. Then the next day, you run the other half, or vice versa. So we did that last weekend, then have a few days off. After that, we’ve rented out the course and will have the opportunity to drive the entire thing continuously later next week.”

“That’s a rare opportunity because on regular test days they split the course into sections. The only time competitors normally run the full hill is on race day. The fact that we’ve rented it out and can run the entire course is going to be another great opportunity for experience, knowledge, and learning. That will happen late this week.”

“Then right after that test—which I think ends around 8 a.m.—I fly to Ohio. On Thursday night I head out there, and then Friday afternoon is practice for the Michelin Pilot Challenge with KoHr Motorsports in a GT4 Mustang. We’re racing the four-hour event that weekend, and then I probably have about four days off before heading back out to Pikes Peak for race week. Race week itself is seven or eight days of events. There are practice sessions, qualifying days, and a fan event in downtown Colorado Springs where the cars, teams, and drivers are all there. Fans come out, meet the competitors, and mingle with everybody involved. That’s going to be awesome.”

Although the coming weeks are going to be busy, Johnson is excited for the challenge, including returning to Michelin Pilot Challenge action this weekend.

Mid-Ohio hosts the final four-hour race of the season and serves as the only standalone Michelin Pilot Challenge event of the year, a special treat for teams, drivers, the track, and its fans. Johnson is looking forward to getting into another long-form endurance race this weekend, driving his No. 59 Ford Mustang GT4 with co-driver Bob Michaelian.

“I love these longer races,” Johnson said. “They definitely throw a lot into the mix in terms of strategy and racing.”

“It’s been great to be back for the full season with KoHr, Bob, and Dean. We tend to do well in the longer races and during the second half of the year. The first half of the season is usually a little bit of a challenge for the Mustangs. I think Mid-Ohio is going to be a challenge for us as well. Once we get into the second half of the season, I think we’ll have a little better showing and hopefully get some good results out of it.”

“I’ve known Dean Martin for a good part of my career. We were rivals and competitors, and then I had the opportunity to drive for him.”

“He’s a very, very smart engineer, a great driver, and I’ve really enjoyed working with him over the years. I think this is my third year driving for Dean and KoHr Motorsports. We’ve had some really strong performances together, but we haven’t quite had the luck or final results that reflect all the hard work put in by everybody on the team. So, we’re really hoping to get some solid finishes and just need a little bit of luck on our side.”

“It’s also great to be driving with Bob Michaelian again for a third year together. Bob has done an amazing job. His driving has been really impressive, and he just keeps getting better and better. I enjoy driving with him, and he’s a great guy as well.”

As Johnson prepares for his quest up the mountain this month, his goals have already been met. While Johnson knows he has the pieces to put together a strong result, aligning with a team such as Alegra Motorsports, with Carlos De Quesada, and Team ACP, with Catesby Jones, has already made the experience a success.

“To be part of this family of great people, I’ve already won. That’s an absolute win for me—to be able to do such an awesome event with such great people.”

“I know I have a good team behind me. I have a good car underneath me. I have a lot of skills and experience that I think will translate well to this. I’m not going to go in with overly high expectations because, especially for such a high-risk, dangerous event like this, that serves no good outcome. I’m just going to let the chips fall where they may.”

“I think all the pieces of the puzzle are there for a good result. I have confidence in a good result, but I’m not going to have expectations that would cause me to not respect the mountain enough. I’m appreciative of the opportunity, respectful of the situation, and we’ll see where the results come from that.”

Johnson’s first stop on the racing schedule, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio, kicks off Friday, June 5, with a single one-hour practice session at 3:25 p.m. ET. The action continues for the Michelin Pilot Challenge on Saturday, June 6, with a second one-hour practice session at 10:45 a.m. ET, followed by qualifying for the GS and TCR classes at 4:10 p.m. ET. Sunday’s race begins at 12:15 p.m. ET and will air live on Peacock in the United States and globally on IMSA.tv and the IMSA YouTube channel.