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Bright spots are indeed important. It’s so easy to get
caught up in life’s negatives and roadblocks. While Johnson
went nearly four years without a victory prior to his triumph
at the season-opening Winternationals, for much of that time,
Troxel was on the sideline watching while Johnson and the rest
of their fast-lane peers were doing what the Colorado native
longed for.
“He tried to offer advice and let you know that he’s
been there and made it through it, but I’m not sure
there’s something anyone else can do or say to make
you feel better about watching,” Troxel said. “You
just have to learn to have patience and figure it out on your
own. Nobody can give you some magic potion to make you feel
better when you’re sitting on the sidelines watching.”
(Ron Lewis photo)
Now that Troxel is back behind the wheel of Don Schumacher’s
second Top Fueler, life is good for the world’s fastest
couple. So what really makes them tick? While they do have
things in common like computers, yard work, healthy eating,
golf and shopping, Troxel is a thrill-seeker who loves an
adrenaline rush, whereas Johnson lives up to his accountant
appearance and is a bit more reserved.
“I like going to the movies and Tommy doesn’t,
so we rent movies,” Troxel said. “We both like
to golf, but we don’t golf together. I like snowboarding,
he doesn’t. He went once and hurt a rib or something.
I like different adrenaline-type things and he’s not
into any of that. I went skydiving with my mom and his mom
and he watched. When he won at Las Vegas in 2001, I got him
to go on the Big Shot on top of the Stratosphere, but he swore
he won’t get on it again.”
Funny that someone that straps into a Funny Car with an 8,000-horsepower
engine sitting just inches from his body and rockets down
the drag strip at 331-mph sitting just a few inches off the
ground is scared of heights, thrill rides, and most extreme
activities, but that’s T.J.
“We have many similar interests and we’re so
much alike, but some things we’re polar opposites on
and I think that’s what makes it work,” Johnson
said. “When one is down, the other is usually up and
that helps. We can pull the other person up. It makes a nice
balance.”
A nice balance is another important feature in any long-lasting
marriage and even when both drivers come up short on Sunday
afternoon it’s a comforting feeling to head back to
the pit area or Monaco motorhome and chat with someone that
can really relate to a solid weekend at the track or a heartbreaking
loss by a few thousandths of a second.
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