Explore Officially Licensed Saleen Apparel and Lifestyle Accessories. Stay up-to-date with upcoming event and news about Saleen. Official Saleen Authorized Parts. Choose from our range of Parts for your Saleen or Late Model American Musclecar. Up-to-Date Information on Saleen Company and Investor Information. Explore our Saleen Careers, Corporate History and Executives.IT was a dark and stormy day, and recent reports about Dick Johnson painted a grim picture of a broken man desperately clinging on to the edge.He was launching his team’s entry for the 2015 V8 Supercar series at his factory near the Yatala Drive-In.But what sort of sad, pathetic wreck would be wheeled out for the media?Recent news suggested the V8 icon was broke, having lost $9.1 million in failed business deals and was living off just $300 a week.media_cameraDick Johnson in Qld. Picture: Anthony WeateHe’d had to sell the cars that propelled him to five victories in the Australian Touring Car championship and had become old beyond his years, stressed and in poor health.

He could not sleep nor eat, and constantly felt sick. He’d even turned to the bottle, so the story went, to help him nod off and forget his troubles.Yet here he was on Thursday, 69 and fighting fit.He was shining more brightly than the gleaming Ford FG X Falcon Marcos Ambrose will drive for him in this year’s V8 Supercar series starting in Adelaide next week.“Beach House For Sale In San Juan BatangasMate I feel bloody fantastic,” Johnson said.“Cheap Prom Dresses In Melbourne FlIt’s like I’ve won the Lotto. Indoor Lighting Columbus OhioI wasn’t looking too flash for a long time, but I’m a fighter, and if you sit by the stream long enough you’ll see the heads of your enemies float on by.’’Right now, Johnson says he is in a good place.

Avuncular and self-deprecating, he shows off some of the cars in which he powered his way into the hearts of Australian motor-racing fans. There are trophies, laurel wreaths and photos around the walls going back more than 50 years.“I’ve been hanging around this sport a long time and I don’t really know anything but motor racing,’’ Johnson said.“I ran into a very bad patch when I looked like losing everything. But what kept me going was firstly my family, and secondly, the fact that all the guys and girls who work for me, well they have been a huge part of my career and they all have families to support.“There were a number of times that I could have bailed out and walked away from the business. But then I thought about my wife, Jill, my daughter Kelly and my son Steven, and my grandkids, Jet and Lacy, who are the best part of my life to be honest.“Then there were the 24 people who work here.“One guy who retired last year had been with me since 1976 and I’ve still got other guys who have been here 26-27 years, and heaps who have been here for more than 10.’’

Eighteen months ago, when Johnson was at rock bottom, American transport billionaire Roger Penske, who is heavily involved in NASCAR and Indycar racing in the US, rang Dick’s headquarters at Stapylton, south of Brisbane, and said he was interested in becoming involved with the most successful team in V8 history.Billionaires don’t call often and after some initial scepticism, Dick was all ears.“When you get a phone call like that, you think it’s got to be bullshit. After what I’d been though it took a while to sink in,’’ he said.“Roger has brands already in Australia with MAN Trucks, Western Star, MTU and Detroit Diesel and being an ex-racing driver himself, he wants to leverage his businesses here through motor racing.“We’ve been around a long time and have a great following and he wanted to marry his team with ours.“In the end Roger acquired 51 per cent of my business and it’s given a lot of security to the people who work here.’’Johnson then nods over towards Marcos Ambrose.He was the Australian Touring Car champion in 2003-04, and will power the 485kw Dick Johnson Racing-Team Penske missile in his first full season of the V8 Supercars for 10 years.

The V8 season begins next weekend with the Clipsal 500, the annual Adelaide street circuit event which Ambrose won in 2004 and 2005, also driving a Ford.Johnson has high hopes for the man and the machine.“Marcos is a driver who is totally focused on his job,’’ Johnson said. “The kind of driver who wants to squeeze every last drop of performance from the machine, to understand every last detail about the car and the people around him.’’FIRST PICS: The new era of V8 Supercars has begun with the first Nissan Altima V8 Supercar unveiled this morning in Melbourne.NISSAN convert Rick Kelly forecast an explosive Clipsal 500 next year as he unveiled the new V8 Supercar which he believes is ready to muscle in on Australian motorsport's biggest rivalry.Rick and brother Todd yesterday took the covers off the $1.5 million Nissan Altima, which will be on the start grid at next year's season-opener in Adelaide.The red and black Supercar, powered by a production-based VK56DE engine, was seven months in the making and will now undergo strict testing to comply with the series' aerodynamic specifications.

It will end Nissan's 20-year exile from the series and, along with the inclusion of Mercedes, represents the biggest shake-up of the V8 Supercar era - made possible by its Car of the Future scheme.The existing Kelly Racing Team will be rebranded Nissan Motorsport from January 1 and marks the first time that the brothers will have sat in anything other than a Holden in their Supercars careers.Adelaide will have a front-row seat to the action at the Clipsal 500 from February 28.News_Image_File: Todd and Rick Kelly "It's very important from a category point of view for other brands like Nissan to bring more fans into the sport so they can turn up on a Saturday and Sunday and see the car that they drive," Rick said."It really is re-energising the rivalry back in V8 Supercars between Ford and Holden that's probably dropped off a little bit in the last couple of years."Clipsal 500 is always a massive event but, I tell you what, they've got the biggest event of the year now."Todd praised his 70-person team, which invested more than 23,000 hours into designing and building the car."