Christie Meyer Johnson follows in her dad’s footsteps at the Texas Motorplex
- Charity Fitch
- Aug 3, 2023
- 4 min read
Christie Meyer Johnson’s childhood looked different than most. While other kids entertained themselves at home, the movie theater or the arcade, she attended drag races all throughout the year with her family and sometimes spent weeks at a time at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis.
“Most of my core memories have to do with drag racing and the racetrack and being there with our friends and family,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s dad Billy Meyer won one IHRA Funny Car World Championship and 12 NHRA Funny Car national competitions. He was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2020.
In 1986, he built the Motorplex, when Johnson was 2. He retired from racing when she was 3 or 4 but never fully stepped away from the racing community. With the Motorplex, he hosted drag races, and their family hosted the NHRA’s fall nationals every year.
Johnson recalls being at the track for all the events, whether it was racing or auctions. While she and her brother raced junior dragsters for fun, she never raced competitively. She simply enjoyed watching the races, eating food and spending time with friends and family.
After graduating from Baylor University in 2006 with a degree in Family and Consumer Science, she began teaching junior high and high school home economics and coaching cheer at the school she attended, Texas Christian Academy.
She soon realized her love fell on the administrative side and not the classroom side, so she left teaching and took an administrative position at the school.
One day, she talked to her dad about her future and wondered about the plans God had for her.
“Well, do you want to learn one of the family businesses?” her dad asked.
“Well, sure,” she said.
Johnson began working at the Motorplex in the souvenir shop in 2008, designing the merchandise and working the store.
“I started out selling T-shirts and working in the booth and starting from the ground up basically,” Johnson said. “Since working at the track, I have kind of done a little bit of everything. I’ve worked in souvenirs. I’ve sold tickets. I did some PR and marketing. My dad just really wanted me to learn how to work in every single area of the business.”
Over the past several years, Johnson has stepped into more leadership roles at the Motorplex.
She became the co-owner of the Motorplex with her dad about four years ago, and just this year, she and her husband took over as general managers and run the day-to-day operations along with overseeing the business.
“I never dreamed I’d be here,” Johnson said. “I always wanted to be like my mom and be a teacher, and I ended up like my dad in drag racing.”
Johnson sees herself as more of the event planner and has learned about the engineering of drag racing from her dad.
Her favorite part about working at the Motorplex is the relationships she has built and the adrenaline rush of preparing an event, working hard and seeing it come together.
Johnson feels blessed by the opportunity to follow in her dad’s footsteps and to continue his legacy.
When the Motorplex was built, it was the first of its kind with an all-concrete track, grandstands, a suite tower and permanent bathrooms.
The idea for the track came after Meyer attempted to get a sponsorship while racing. The potential sponsor and his wife flew on their private jet to a track. There was no place to go to the bathroom besides a porta potty and no place to sit and enjoy good food like they would at a NASCAR event.
“He went and counted every single bathroom at Cowboys stadium, and he put one more bathroom in, so he could say he had more bathrooms than the Dallas Cowboys,” Johnson said.
This is part of her dad’s legacy – bringing drag racing to the next level.
But his legacy is also in the way he treats people, Johnson said.
“The man loves drag racing, and he started racing at 16,” she said. “He’s the youngest person to ever be licensed. For me, just the legacy he leaves is just loving people well in the sport. It’s big shoes to fill for me, but it’s exciting because he’s done such a good job paving the way for me.”
Her parents were some of the founding members of Racers for Christ Ministry in drag racing.
Johnson said her faith in God plays a major role in how she runs the Motorplex.
“What I’m doing today is of eternal significance,” she said. “Even if selling tickets and bringing people to a race is not necessarily eternal, it’s the way we run our business, and the way we treat our employees.”
Johnson said she’s looking for ways to better the community and improve their track and their events, and she will continue to make the track a family-friendly environment.
The next major event at the track is its annual Stampede of Speed, which has events scheduled Oct. 7-16, and includes the running of the NHRA Fall Nationals.
For more information, visit https://www.stampedeofspeed.com/.
For more information about the Texas Motorplex, visit www.texasmotorplex.com.
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