JETT Johnson has locked in the next big step in his career, committing to the full 2023 Dunlop Super3 Series.
The third-generation talent will race a Nissan Supercar out of the Kelly Racing workshop but under the Team Johnson banner.
He’ll be in one of three Altimas on the grid, alongside Mason Kelly (son of 2005 Bathurst 1000 winner Todd) and Cameron McLeod (grandson of 1987 Great Race winner Peter).
The 17-year-old has gathered some Supercar mileage in the past 12 months, steering a Dick Johnson Racing Gen2 Mustang last May at Queensland Raceway, testing an MW Motorsport Nissan in December, and last week shaking down the ex-Matt Payne Altima he’ll race.
“It has been a little bit hard to raise what we need budget-wise to do both championships, Super3 and Trans Am,” Jett’s father Steven told V8 Sleuth.
“Obviously he is doing Trans Am this weekend and we’re committing to Super3 now as well.
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“We just couldn’t find the budget to plonk him straight him into Matt White Motorsport, it was just too far out of our reach, hence the reason why we’re doing it this way.
“We’re going to team up with Todd Kelly and run the Nissan out of his stable – practically be self-sufficient but use his facility and his truck to obviously share the costs. It definitely makes it a viable thing to do.
“We still need to find some more budget for the year but we’re doing what we can to rectify that.”
Jett will make his Supercar racing debut at the Thrifty Newcastle 500 on March 10-12, an event Steven tipped to be “a war of attrition”.
“The whole plan is to go to Newcastle to learn and don’t risk anything,” he said.
“I know that things can happen and you can be involved in other people’s accidents but our plan is to go there, finish all of the races and do as many laps as they’re going to do.”
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The hope is for an engineer to be leased off DJR to guide Jett through a season which represents a major step for the 2022 national TA2 champion.
“It’s huge. It’s one of those things that you just can’t take lightly and that’s why it has taken so long to try to get everything lined up and make the decision, so that we can make sure he is as prepared as he can be,” said Steven.
“It’s very, very exciting. It is the right step to take for what he wants to do.
“The Nissan is a good car and the thing that has really impressed me is the effort that Todd and also the car owner in Stuart (Eustice) have gone to, to help us get Jett on the track.
“Aside from all of our supporters and sponsors, which we will obviously announce fairly soon… I really have got to thank Todd and Stuart for making this happen.
“If it wasn’t for them, we definitely would have been sitting down waiting another year to get things in a line to be able to do it.”
Among others expected to be in Super3 outside of the Nissan trio are Jobe Stewart (Image Racing), Matthew McCutcheon (Eggleston Motorsport) and Jason Gomersall (Gomersall Motorsport).
They will share the grid with Super2, which itself is expected to have 20 cars at Newcastle.
