Dick Johnson Racing

After being only a sporadic entrant during the early 70’s, Johnson first reached prominence after his crash caused by a rock on track at Bathurst in 1980. Over $70,000 was donated by the public and Ford Australia to return him for the following season.

Dick Johnson driving a Holden EH at Lakeside in November 1969
1981 Tru-Blu sponsored Ford XD Falcon
The longest-established motor racing team in Australia, Dick Johnson Racing was founded in 1980. The team was originally based out of Johnson's home in Daisy Hill in Brisbane's southern suburbs, before moving to facilities within sponsor Palmer Tube Mills' factory.

During the 1970s, Johnson was only a sporadic competitor in the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC), but a regular competitor, and victor in the Queensland Touring Car Championship driving a Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 backed by petroleum giant Shell, and later by prominent Brisbane Holden dealership, Zupps. Johnson's national profile increased with the formation of Bryan Byrt Racing with Johnson as lead driver late in 1976, giving Johnson his first drives in a Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop. The team folded at the end of the 1979 season, but Johnson was able to use some of its resources to establish his own team for the following season with financial hold from Johnson's long time friend Ross Palmer and his Brisbane-based business Palmer Tube Mills.

After briefly investigating running a Mazda RX-7, Johnson came to the fore when a change in regulations introduced the Ford XD Falcon to the series. Johnson debuted his new Falcon at a non-championship meeting at Lakeside in June, and then finished second in the car in the 1980 CRC 300 at Amaroo Park in August. Johnson served notice of his and the XD's arrival to a delighted Peter Brock when he led the Holden Dealer Team VB Commodore early in the race and it was only tyre troubles that dropped him to second behind the Commodore. Brock was delighted as other than Kevin Bartlett's 5.7L Chevrolet Camaro Z28 (which had proved its speed, but its drum rear brakes were not up to the job), his HDT Commodore had proven near unbeatable in 1980 and Johnson and the new model Ford Falcon provided a welcome new challenger.

The largely unheralded Johnson then surprised everyone when he qualified on the front row for the 1980 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 alongside Bartlett's Camaro and in front of Brock (who had qualified on pole for all 12 races touring car races he had entered to that point of the year). Bartlett had been the fastest in official qualifying, but Dick matched his time by the 1100 of a second. When the flag dropped to start the race, the Camaro bogged down and Johnson took off, quickly building a large lead over the first sixteen laps of the race, including putting a lap on four time and reigning Bathurst champion Brock after the Dealer Team Commodore had to pit for minor repairs. On the seventeenth lap after just having lapped Brock, Johnson collided with the wall coming out of The Cutting after running over a large rock in the road. Coming out of The Cutting (in the days before the use of the Safety car), Johnson found a tilt-tray tow truck that was retrieving a mechanically failed car from the circuit on one side of the road and a basketball sized rock sitting right on the only path past the truck. The Falcon ran over the rock with its left wheels and caused Johnson to impact the wall which was enough to all but destroy the car. In the aftermath of the crash, as Johnson was standing beside the car as it lay across the track (partially blocking it and leaving only one line through), he was almost cleaned up by the 3rd placed Falcon of Bob Morris who was forced to lock his brakes in a successful bid to avoid hitting Johnson after apparently not paying attention to the yellow flags.

The tale of Johnson's battle with the rock at Bathurst in 1980 is still remembered, and some AU$72,000 was donated by the Australian public who pledged money through the race broadcasters, the Seven

Dick Johnson driving a Holden EH at Lakeside in November 1969
1981 Tru-Blu sponsored Ford XD Falcon
The longest-established motor racing team in Australia, Dick Johnson Racing was founded in 1980. The team was originally based out of Johnson's home in Daisy Hill in Brisbane's southern suburbs, before moving to facilities within sponsor Palmer Tube Mills' factory.

During the 1970s, Johnson was only a sporadic competitor in the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC), but a regular competitor, and victor in the Queensland Touring Car Championship driving a Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 backed by petroleum giant Shell, and later by prominent Brisbane Holden dealership, Zupps. Johnson's national profile increased with the formation of Bryan Byrt Racing with Johnson as lead driver late in 1976, giving Johnson his first drives in a Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop. The team folded at the end of the 1979 season, but Johnson was able to use some of its resources to establish his own team for the following season with financial hold from Johnson's long time friend Ross Palmer and his Brisbane-based business Palmer Tube Mills.

After briefly investigating running a Mazda RX-7, Johnson came to the fore when a change in regulations introduced the Ford XD Falcon to the series. Johnson debuted his new Falcon at a non-championship meeting at Lakeside in June, and then finished second in the car in the 1980 CRC 300 at Amaroo Park in August. Johnson served notice of his and the XD's arrival to a delighted Peter Brock when he led the Holden Dealer Team VB Commodore early in the race and it was only tyre troubles that dropped him to second behind the Commodore. Brock was delighted as other than Kevin Bartlett's 5.7L Chevrolet Camaro Z28 (which had proved its speed, but its drum rear brakes were not up to the job), his HDT Commodore had proven near unbeatable in 1980 and Johnson and the new model Ford Falcon provided a welcome new challenger.

The largely unheralded Johnson then surprised everyone when he qualified on the front row for the 1980 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 alongside Bartlett's Camaro and in front of Brock (who had qualified on pole for all 12 races touring car races he had entered to that point of the year). Bartlett had been the fastest in official qualifying, but Dick matched his time by the 1100 of a second. When the flag dropped to start the race, the Camaro bogged down and Johnson took off, quickly building a large lead over the first sixteen laps of the race, including putting a lap on four time and reigning Bathurst champion Brock after the Dealer Team Commodore had to pit for minor repairs. On the seventeenth lap after just having lapped Brock, Johnson collided with the wall coming out of The Cutting after running over a large rock in the road. Coming out of The Cutting (in the days before the use of the Safety car), Johnson found a tilt-tray tow truck that was retrieving a mechanically failed car from the circuit on one side of the road and a basketball sized rock sitting right on the only path past the truck. The Falcon ran over the rock with its left wheels and caused Johnson to impact the wall which was enough to all but destroy the car. In the aftermath of the crash, as Johnson was standing beside the car as it lay across the track (partially blocking it and leaving only one line through), he was almost cleaned up by the 3rd placed Falcon of Bob Morris who was forced to lock his brakes in a successful bid to avoid hitting Johnson after apparently not paying attention to the yellow flags.

The tale of Johnson's battle with the rock at Bathurst in 1980 is still remembered, and some AU$72,000 was donated by the Australian public who pledged money through the race broadcasters, the Seven Network after watching the crash and a subsequent TV interview with Johnson conducted by visiting American commentator Chris Economaki (with a visibly moved Johnson thanking both Seven and the Australian public). The amount pledged by Channel 7 viewers w

With no local Ford product suitable following a change to international Group A touring car regulations at the end of 1984, and as Ford Australia were not interested in homologating a mooted turbocharged XF Falcon sedan for Group A racing, Johnson ventured to Germany and purchased a pair of Zakspeed constructed Ford Mustangs for the 1985 and 1986 seasons. While the Mustang years brought limited success, reliability and good-handling in the underpowered cars enabled Johnson to claim runner-up in the 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship, while his one and only victory aboard the Mustang was in the Group A support race at the 1985 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide. The Mustang, like almost all other cars in the ATCC, was outclassed by the JPS Team BMW 635 CSi of Jim Richards who won seven of the championships ten races. The team had actually entered and qualified one of the Mustangs at Bathurst in 1984 (painted white with #71) in the new Group A category, but it was only there for a shakedown run and insurance should there a repeat of 1983 and was withdrawn after Johnson had put the XE Falcon onto fourth on the grid.

When the team purchased the Mustangs from Zakspeed, the engine power was quoted as 310 bhp (231 kW; 314 PS). However, the car the team took to Bathurst in 1984 was described as 'sluggish' by both Dick Johnson and his co-driver John French with Johnson's best time being 5 seconds slower than the class leading V8 Rover Vitesse and some 14 seconds slower than his Group C Falcon. In the weeks following the race the team put the 5.0L Ford V8 engines on the dyno and found them to be only producing approximately 260 bhp (194 kW; 264 PS). Extensive rebuild and development of the engines at Johnson's Brisbane Engine Centre before the start of the 1985 ATCC saw power figures back to what was originally quoted.

While the Mustang struggled to match the pace of the Richards BMW in the ATCC, the August homologation (which also increased power to around 340 bhp (254 kW; 345 PS) brought the car back into winning contention. Dick dominated the Valvoline 250 at Oran Park and was heading for an easy win until an axle broke causing a wheel to fall off the car, ironically handing the win to Richards. The Mustang had received larger axles as part of the homologation package and the team had the new parts available, but had simply run out of time to fit them before the Oran Park race.

In mid-1985, Johnson signed triple and defending Bathurst 1000 winner Larry Perkins to be his co-driver for the Castrol 500 at Sandown and the James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst. Johnson led early at Sandown until a broken axle saw the team lose many laps in the pits repairing the car. At Bathurst, the team entered both Mustangs but only Johnson and Perkins as drivers. After the 1983 Hardies Heroes crash, the second No. 18 car (Johnson's ATCC car) was entered as an insurance policy in case something happened to the No. 17 Mustang. Ironically Johnson and Perkins qualified both cars for Hardies Heroes, though the No. 18 car was withdrawn before the race started. Against the might of Tom Walkinshaw Racing's three V12 Jaguar XJS', Johnson qualified fourth and ran strongly until the cars oil cooler broke a weld and had to be bypassed on lap 16, losing the team three laps. Johnson was unhappy as the oil cooler had actually split the day before when the car was going over the speed humps in the pit lane. Before he left the circuit that night he left instructions for his crew to replace the cooler, but returned on race morning to find it had only been repaired and not replaced (ironically the split occurred not at the repaired weld, but on the opposite side of the cooler). With no time left to change it the car was forced to start with the repaired cooler which subsequently failed. From then Johnson and Perkins drove as hard as they could with the engine temperature "off the clock" and were rewarded with a seventh-place finish, though Perkins' first lap of the race

With no local Ford product suitable following a change to international Group A touring car regulations at the end of 1984, and as Ford Australia were not interested in homologating a mooted turbocharged XF Falcon sedan for Group A racing, Johnson ventured to Germany and purchased a pair of Zakspeed constructed Ford Mustangs for the 1985 and 1986 seasons. While the Mustang years brought limited success, reliability and good-handling in the underpowered cars enabled Johnson to claim runner-up in the 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship, while his one and only victory aboard the Mustang was in the Group A support race at the 1985 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide. The Mustang, like almost all other cars in the ATCC, was outclassed by the JPS Team BMW 635 CSi of Jim Richards who won seven of the championships ten races. The team had actually entered and qualified one of the Mustangs at Bathurst in 1984 (painted white with #71) in the new Group A category, but it was only there for a shakedown run and insurance should there a repeat of 1983 and was withdrawn after Johnson had put the XE Falcon onto fourth on the grid.

When the team purchased the Mustangs from Zakspeed, the engine power was quoted as 310 bhp (231 kW; 314 PS). However, the car the team took to Bathurst in 1984 was described as 'sluggish' by both Dick Johnson and his co-driver John French with Johnson's best time being 5 seconds slower than the class leading V8 Rover Vitesse and some 14 seconds slower than his Group C Falcon. In the weeks following the race the team put the 5.0L Ford V8 engines on the dyno and found them to be only producing approximately 260 bhp (194 kW; 264 PS). Extensive rebuild and development of the engines at Johnson's Brisbane Engine Centre before the start of the 1985 ATCC saw power figures back to what was originally quoted.

While the Mustang struggled to match the pace of the Richards BMW in the ATCC, the August homologation (which also increased power to around 340 bhp (254 kW; 345 PS) brought the car back into winning contention. Dick dominated the Valvoline 250 at Oran Park and was heading for an easy win until an axle broke causing a wheel to fall off the car, ironically handing the win to Richards. The Mustang had received larger axles as part of the homologation package and the team had the new parts available, but had simply run out of time to fit them before the Oran Park race.

In mid-1985, Johnson signed triple and defending Bathurst 1000 winner Larry Perkins to be his co-driver for the Castrol 500 at Sandown and the James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst. Johnson led early at Sandown until a broken axle saw the team lose many laps in the pits repairing the car. At Bathurst, the team entered both Mustangs but only Johnson and Perkins as drivers. After the 1983 Hardies Heroes crash, the second No. 18 car (Johnson's ATCC car) was entered as an insurance policy in case something happened to the No. 17 Mustang. Ironically Johnson and Perkins qualified both cars for Hardies Heroes, though the No. 18 car was withdrawn before the race started. Against the might of Tom Walkinshaw Racing's three V12 Jaguar XJS', Johnson qualified fourth and ran strongly until the cars oil cooler broke a weld and had to be bypassed on lap 16, losing the team three laps. Johnson was unhappy as the oil cooler had actually split the day before when the car was going over the speed humps in the pit lane. Before he left the circuit that night he left instructions for his crew to replace the cooler, but returned on race morning to find it had only been repaired and not replaced (ironically the split occurred not at the repaired weld, but on the opposite side of the cooler). With no time left to change it the car was forced to start with the repaired cooler which subsequently failed. From then Johnson and Perkins drove as hard as they could with the engine temperature "off the clock" and were rewarded with a seventh-place finish, though Perkins' first lap of the race

A Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth that was campaigned by DJR throughout 1990, 1991 and 1992, pictured in 2015.
In 1987 the team switched to the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and began a 17-year run of naming rights sponsorship with petrochemical company Shell. It expanded to a two-car effort for the first time with Gregg Hansford becoming Johnson's first full-time teammate. The new 340 bhp (254 kW; 345 PS), turbocharged Sierra's were plagued with reliability problems, usually blown turbos (according to Johnson in a 2015 interview with Australian Muscle Car magazine, DJR went through some 37 turbochargers in testing and race meetings in 1987), and this let the team down considerably, with only one win recorded in the 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship at the Adelaide International Raceway (Dick's first ATCC win since 1984), though significantly this was the first Group A win anywhere in the world for the RS Cosworth. Following the ATCC, the Ford Sierra RS500 was homologated which addressed most of the car's shortcomings. The RS500 was more powerful (470 bhp (350 kW; 477 PS) in 1987) with larger turbos and was also more reliable.

The team's poor run continued at the Sandown 500, where Johnson easily qualified his new Sierra RS500 on pole but the car blew its engine in the race morning warm up and was withdrawn, and Bathurst 1000 where both team cars were out of the 161 lap race before the end of lap 4 (Neville Crichton crashed the No. 18 Sierra he was to share with Charlie O'Brien on the 3rd lap with the Commodore of Larry Perkins which the Johnson / Hansford car suffered differential failure a lap later). Qualifying at bathurst also proved controversial for the team with the two Sierra's excluded from the results of Hardies Heroes when they failed a post runoff fuel check. While the fuel was found to be a lower grade and actually produced less power, the rules had been broken. But the year ended well, with Johnson again winning the Group A support race in Adelaide at the Australian Grand Prix in November. Johnson, who was suffering fuel feed problems late in the race, just held on for his first win in the RS500 from the fast closing Nissan Skyline of George Fury.

In 1988 John Bowe replaced Hansford in the team and began an eleven-year stint as the driver of DJR's second car. With the team having overcome the reliability problems of the previous year and team manager Neal Lowe having come to grips with the engine management system earlier than his Australian counterparts (to the point where Lowe and the team were the first in Australia with the expertise to burn EPROM chips for the Sierra's), Johnson and Bowe finished an easy first and second in the 1988 and 1989 championships. Dick Johnson would later claim that he and his team were on a mission in 1988 after having been embarrassed at 1987 World Touring Car Championship round at Bathurst by the Ford Europe backed Eggenberger Motorsport Sierra's which not only proved faster but far more reliable (the Eggenberger cars would finish 1–2 on the road at Bathurst but would later be disqualified for technical infringements). He would also claim in the interview with Australian Muscle Car magazine in 2015 that another part of his motivation was that he had originally tried to buy an EPROM chip burning machine from British Sierra expert Andy Rouse in late 1987, but Rouse (protecting his own business interests) had refused to sell one, leaving Johnson feeling angry. It was then while in London that a chance meeting with one of the engineers involved with the Ford RS200 rally car project led to the purchase of the machine as well as Lowe travelling to the United States to learn how to use it.

After the differential failure which had put the No. 17 Johnson car out of the 1987 Bathurst 1000 on just lap 4, Johnson took it upon himself to solve the problem of the Sierra's weak drive train. In April 1988 after working with Melbourne-based Harrop Engineering (run by former racer / engineer Ron Ha

The Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon AU with which Steven Johnson and Paul Radisich won the 2001 Queensland 500. The car is pictured in 2018
The Ford FG Falcon of Steven Johnson at the 2010 Clipsal 500
The Ford FG Falcon of James Moffat at the 2011 Clipsal 500
The Ford FG Falcon of Steven Johnson at the 2012 Clipsal 500
The Ford FG Falcon of Tim Blanchard at the 2013 Clipsal 500
The Ford FG Falcon of Scott Pye at the 2014 Sydney Motorsport Park 400
The Ford FG X Falcon of Scott Pye and Marcos Ambrose at the 2015 Wilson Security Sandown 500
The Ford FG X Falcon of Scott McLaughlin at the 2017 Clipsal 500 Adelaide
The Ford Mustang GT of Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard at the 2019 Bathurst 1000
For the new all V8 era, DJR switched to Ford EB Falcons. Aside from John Bowe winning the opening 1993 round at Amaroo Park the team remained winless until it won both the Sandown and Bathurst endurance races in 1994, as well as the season ending Australian Grand Prix support races. In 1995 Bowe won the championship. A repeat victory at Sandown that year augured well for another Bathurst win until an incident with Glenn Seton forced the number 17 Falcon from the track while leading.

At the end of 1995 team manager Ross Stone and chief engineer Jim Stone left to form Alan Jones Racing. While the Holden Racing Team dominated the 1996 season, Bowe finished the championship in second and combined with Johnson to finish second at Bathurst. Consistency in the 1997 championship enabled Bowe to again claim the runner-up position in the championship. DJR's only win in 1998 was by Bowe at Winton. For the endurance races Johnson and Bowe drove separate cars for the first time since 1988 with Steven Johnson joining his father.

At the end of 1998, Bowe left DJR after eleven years to join PAE Motorsport. Paul Radisich was hired as his replacement. While the team struggled in the 1999 Australian Touring Car Championship developing new Falcon AUs, the team was competitive at the Bathurst 1000 with Radisich and Steven Ellery leading most of the race until making contact late in the race with a slower car. In his final race, Dick Johnson finished fourth with son Steven.

In 2000 Steven Johnson took over the number 17 Falcon from his retiring father. Radisich teamed with Jason Bright to finish second at the Bathurst 1000. In 2001, Johnson won the Canberra 400 and teamed with Radisich to win the 2001 Queensland 500. This would be the team's last win for seven years.

In 2002 a third car was entered at selected events for Greg Ritter. At the end of 2002 Paul Radisich left the team. Max Wilson, Warren Luff and Glenn Seton would each complete one year stints as the driver of the second car between 2003 and 2005. At the end of 2004, Shell brought their 17-year naming rights sponsorship of the team to an end.

For 2005 sponsorship from Westpoint Corporation was secured. However, by the beginning of 2006 Westpoint was in receivership. Sponsorship for the 2006 season came from two of Dick Johnson's own business ventures, FirstRock Mortgage Centre and V8 Telecom with Will Davison driving the second car. The ventures were not successful and by the end of the year, the team's long term viability was in doubt. As a result, businessman and sponsor Charlie Schwerkolt bought a 50% shareholding in the team.

For 2007 sponsorship from Jim Beam was secured with the year highlighted by a third place at Bathurst. At the Bahrain round, Johnson finished third and Davison fourth. In 2008, Davison won the Eastern Creek round, the team's first win since the 2001 Queensland 500.

In 2009, James Courtney replaced Davison. Two Triple Eight built Falcon FGs were purchased with Courtney winning at the Townsville 400 and Sydney 500.

In 2010, James Courtney won the series. A third customer entry was prepared for Tekno Autosports, driven by Jonathon Webb. By mid-season owners Dick Johnson and Charlie Schwerkolt were reported to no longer be on speaking terms, and the team became fra

The Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon AU with which Steven Johnson and Paul Radisich won the 2001 Queensland 500. The car is pictured in 2018
The Ford FG Falcon of Steven Johnson at the 2010 Clipsal 500
The Ford FG Falcon of James Moffat at the 2011 Clipsal 500
The Ford FG Falcon of Steven Johnson at the 2012 Clipsal 500
The Ford FG Falcon of Tim Blanchard at the 2013 Clipsal 500
The Ford FG Falcon of Scott Pye at the 2014 Sydney Motorsport Park 400
The Ford FG X Falcon of Scott Pye and Marcos Ambrose at the 2015 Wilson Security Sandown 500
The Ford FG X Falcon of Scott McLaughlin at the 2017 Clipsal 500 Adelaide
The Ford Mustang GT of Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard at the 2019 Bathurst 1000
For the new all V8 era, DJR switched to Ford EB Falcons. Aside from John Bowe winning the opening 1993 round at Amaroo Park the team remained winless until it won both the Sandown and Bathurst endurance races in 1994, as well as the season ending Australian Grand Prix support races. In 1995 Bowe won the championship. A repeat victory at Sandown that year augured well for another Bathurst win until an incident with Glenn Seton forced the number 17 Falcon from the track while leading.

At the end of 1995 team manager Ross Stone and chief engineer Jim Stone left to form Alan Jones Racing. While the Holden Racing Team dominated the 1996 season, Bowe finished the championship in second and combined with Johnson to finish second at Bathurst. Consistency in the 1997 championship enabled Bowe to again claim the runner-up position in the championship. DJR's only win in 1998 was by Bowe at Winton. For the endurance races Johnson and Bowe drove separate cars for the first time since 1988 with Steven Johnson joining his father.

At the end of 1998, Bowe left DJR after eleven years to join PAE Motorsport. Paul Radisich was hired as his replacement. While the team struggled in the 1999 Australian Touring Car Championship developing new Falcon AUs, the team was competitive at the Bathurst 1000 with Radisich and Steven Ellery leading most of the race until making contact late in the race with a slower car. In his final race, Dick Johnson finished fourth with son Steven.

In 2000 Steven Johnson took over the number 17 Falcon from his retiring father. Radisich teamed with Jason Bright to finish second at the Bathurst 1000. In 2001, Johnson won the Canberra 400 and teamed with Radisich to win the 2001 Queensland 500. This would be the team's last win for seven years.

In 2002 a third car was entered at selected events for Greg Ritter. At the end of 2002 Paul Radisich left the team. Max Wilson, Warren Luff and Glenn Seton would each complete one year stints as the driver of the second car between 2003 and 2005. At the end of 2004, Shell brought their 17-year naming rights sponsorship of the team to an end.

For 2005 sponsorship from Westpoint Corporation was secured. However, by the beginning of 2006 Westpoint was in receivership. Sponsorship for the 2006 season came from two of Dick Johnson's own business ventures, FirstRock Mortgage Centre and V8 Telecom with Will Davison driving the second car. The ventures were not successful and by the end of the year, the team's long term viability was in doubt. As a result, businessman and sponsor Charlie Schwerkolt bought a 50% shareholding in the team.

For 2007 sponsorship from Jim Beam was secured with the year highlighted by a third place at Bathurst. At the Bahrain round, Johnson finished third and Davison fourth. In 2008, Davison won the Eastern Creek round, the team's first win since the 2001 Queensland 500.

In 2009, James Courtney replaced Davison. Two Triple Eight built Falcon FGs were purchased with Courtney winning at the Townsville 400 and Sydney 500.

In 2010, James Courtney won the series. A third customer entry was prepared for Tekno Autosports, driven by Jonathon Webb. By mid-season owners Dick Johnson and Charlie Schwerkolt were reported to no longer be on speaking terms, and the team became fractured. Team manager Adrian Burgess announced he would join Triple Eight in 2011, and as a result of a clause in his contract giving him an 'out' if Burgess left, Courtney also left at the end of 2010 after winning the series.

At the end of 2010, Johnson and Schwerkolt dissolved their partnership. Scherkolt retained ownership of one Racing Entitlement Contract (REC) which was leased back to DJR for 2011 and 2012.

For 2011, James Moffat was signed to replace Courtney.

For 2012, the team expanded to a four car team, preparing customer cars for Triple F Racing with Dean Fiore driving and Paul Morris Motorsport with Steve Owen. At the end of the year, Jim Beam elected not to renew it sponsorship, the REC leased from Team 18 was returned, while the Paul Morris Motorsport REC was sold to Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

A sponsor was lined up for 2013, but it was conditional on V8 Supercars confirming its television arrangements by the end of 2012. As this did not happen, the deal lapsed and again DJR's future appeared in jeopardy. A last minute sponsorship with Wilson Security was secured and the team appeared with two entries for Tim Blanchard and Jonny Reid, with Steven Johnson moving into position of General Manager. Wilson Security remained with the team as title sponsor for the remainder of 2013. Reid was replaced by Chaz Mostert before the Wanneroo Raceway round of the championship. Mostert won a race at the Queensland Raceway round.

For 2014, Scott Pye and David Wall were recruited to drive. The REC leased from Triple F Racing was returned and another purchased from Paul Morris Motorsport.

^ "DJR divorce to reshape V8 Supercars grid". Speedcafe. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2014.

^ "Charlie Schwerkolt sells his share of DJR". Speedcafe. 3 December 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2014.

^ "James Moffat Signs With Jim Beam Racing". Jim Beam Racing. 21 January 2011. Archived from the original on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2011.

^ "Dick Johnson Racing confirms three-car team". Speedcafe. 1 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.

^ "First Pic: Owen and VIP complete DJR line-up". Speedcafe. 2 February 2012. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.

^ "Jim Beam to end Dick Johnson Racing Sponsorship". Speedcafe. 5 November 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2012.

^ "FPR, Schwerkolt to join forces in 2013". Speedcafe.com. 21 May 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2014.

^ "Full steam ahead for LDM's new second entry". Speedcafe. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2014.

^ "Tim Blanchard confirmed at Dick Johnson Racing". Speedcafe. 15 February 2013. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.

^ "Jonny Reid secures second Dick Johnson Racing seat". Speedcafe. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.

^ "Wilson security sticks with dick johnson racing for season 2013". Dick Johnson Racing. 8 August 2013. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2013.

^ "Young Gun Chaz Mostert to Steer No. 12 Wilson Security Falcon". Dick Johnson Racing. 19 April 2013. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2013.

^ "Mostert and DJR win Ipswich finale". SpeedCafe. 28 July 2013. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2014.

^ "DJR confirms Scott Pye for 2014". Speedcafe. 4 December 2013. Archived from the original on 7 September 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2014.

^ "DJR confirms David Wall and 2014 sponsors". Speedcafe. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2014.

^ "DJR announces Morris REC purchase". Speedcafe. 4 December 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2014.

In September 2014, it was announced a 51% stake in the team had been sold to United States businessman and racer Roger Penske, who is the Australian distributor for MAN Truck & Bus, Western Star Trucks, MTU Friedrichshafen, and Detroit Diesel. The remaining 49% was retained by Johnson, Steve Brabeck and Ryan Story. The team was renamed DJR Team Penske. Joining the team at the final event of the 2014 season ahead of a full 2015 program was former V8 Supercar champion and NASCAR regular Marcos Ambrose. It was the first time that Team Penske expanded its involvement to a non-US based championship since their days in Formula 1.

In 2015, the team scaled back to one Ford Falcon FG X with Marcos Ambrose to drive. Prior to Round 2 Ambrose stepped aside from full-time driving, handing the duties of Car No. 17 to Scott Pye. Ambrose returned as the team's co driver for the Pirtek Enduro Cup. The team scored one race podium in 2015, for Pye at the 2015 ITM 500 Auckland, and finished 12th in the Teams' Championship.

In 2016, the team expanded to two cars, with Pye returning and Fabian Coulthard joining the team. They scored two podiums each, with Coulthard finishing 12th in the Drivers' Championship and Pye finishing 15th. DJR Team Penske ranked fifth in the Teams' Championship.

In 2017, Scott McLaughlin replaced Pye, joined by new engineer Ludo Lacroix. Having operated a rotating sponsorship model for the previous two seasons largely with Penske Corporation subsidiaries, in 2017 Shell returned as the team's full-time title sponsor. After losing the Drivers Championship title to Jamie Whincup in the last race of the 2017 season after he was given a penalty for colliding with Craig Lowndes (Whincup's teammate at Holden team Triple Eight), Scott McLaughlin won the Drivers Championship in 2018 in Car No. 17 after a closely contested season-long battle with Shane van Gisbergen. In 2019, the team along with Tickford Racing homologated the Ford Mustang GT, replacing the retiring Falcon.

In October 2020, it was announced that Penske was divesting from the team, selling its stake in the team to Ryan Story with it to be return to being named Dick Johnson Racing. Later, with its sale to Story, the team restored its original name.

Brett and Shaun Ralph — their interest held through the Melbourne Aces Baseball Club — have been majority shareholders since January 2023. Dick Johnson and Executive Chairman Dr Ryan Story retained significant shareholdings, and maintain their day-to-day positions overseeing operations of the Shell V-Power Racing Team.

^ "DJR Penske clarifies ownership, key staff". Speedcafe. 15 September 2014. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.

^ "DJR restructures for single-car Penske assault". Speedcafe. 18 December 2014.

^ "DJR Team Penske confirms McLaughlin signing". Speedcafe. 28 June 2016.

^ "Shell to become full-time DJR Team Penske backer". Motorsport.com. 3 October 2016.

^ Team Penske will not return to Supercars in 2021 Team Penske 23 October 2020

^ Penske finalises exit from Supercars, DJR reborn Auto Action 24 October 2020

^ "MOTORSPORT: New owner for Dick Johnson Racing". Car Sales. Retrieved 28 December 2022.

^ "DJR announces new ownership". Supercars Championship. Retrieved 28 December 2022.