Not many adults start their careers in childhood, but that’s when Doug “Buzz” Johns started building cars. “I was out in the garage as soon as I could walk,” he says. “My dad taught me to build chassis.” Johns’ father also passed along a love of fast cars. The elder Johns raced stock cars and super modifieds locally in Ohio, and Buzz followed suit, building and racing dragsters during the 1980s.
Professionally, Buzz has built chassis for
NASCAR teams and all classes of
National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Top Fuel competition. In some cases, he’s built entire cars. Today he works for SealMaster sister company
ThorSport Racing, where he was approached by SealMaster’s brand team and asked to build a slingshot dragster as a tribute to sealcoating contractors. “I liked the idea because it was something different and I could be creative,” Buzz says.
After sketching the dragster on paper and building a cardboard model, he set about the business of building the SealMaster SealMonster, “the fastest sealcoating machine on the planet.” Buzz was passionate about building a fitting tribute that would capture midway attention at NHRA Mello Yello races, trade shows and other such tour stops. After buying a slingshot dragster frame, he cut 5 feet off the front end to scale it down for ease of transport and display. Then he tricked it out SealMaster style. He contained the 392 blown/injected hemi, nitro, 1900 horsepower engine in a replicated SealMaster tank. “There’s a huge motor in that tank and I had to make sure everything fit just right,” Buzz says.
In addition to incorporating the traditional elements of a top fuel dragster, parachute and all, Buzz jazzed up the design with a replica sealer tank that houses the engine, adding the SealMaster logo and custom die cuts backlit in red; and mounted a spray bar and squeegee to the back end. He’d only trust the paint scheme he conceptualized to one man: Todd Zeller of
Todd’s Extreme Paint. And Todd did not disappoint. “He’s the best,” Buzz says. He did a great job with the carbon fiber (pattern) and really made the chrome stand out.”
Doug “Buzz” Johns is also known for his artistry on stage. In addition to fast cars, he has thing for bass guitars, and has toured throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. A flexible schedule allows him the ability to manage his career writing, playing and producing “super funky bass music.” Learn more about his music at
dougjohns.com.
