Although his formal education ended with the eighth grade, he demonstrated his mechanical ability at an early age by keeping equipment on the family farm operating smoothly.
Johansen developed a love for speed runs and in the late 1940s fielded cars at Muroc Dry Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats.
In 1957, Johansen campaigned two stock cars on the NASCAR circuit which were driven by Marshall Sargent and Rex White.
A year later, in 1958, Johansen debuted the crowning achievement of his career, “The Twin Bears Digger” a rail dragster featuring side-by-side blown Chevrolet engines.
Over the years, Johansen’s company, Howard’s Cams, owned and sponsored numerous well-known drag cars including “The Rattler” driven by Larry Dixon to a Top Fuel Eliminator win at the Hot Rod Magazine Championships in 1968 and the NHRA Winternationals in 1969.