Building dependable performance since 1973
JMS racing was founded in 1973 by Don Johnson in the rear of a NAPA parts store. While attaining his degree in mechanical engineering Don toured the country racing boats in the Grand National division. In 1978, Don moved the shop to a 2000 sq.ft. facility, acquired new equipment and expanded their customer base. Five years later they moved again to a 7000 sq.ft. facility and expanded the machining capabilities of the business. In 1994 they moved to the 15000 sq.ft. facility in Duarte. A state of the art 1500 horsepower DTS dyno and cell was added at this time as well. JMS is now capable of doing all machining in house. “We are one of the few shops in the country that doesn’t send any part of an engine out” states Mike Johnson. JMS now does machine work for some of the top engine builders in the state. “By dealing with other builders we can relate a lot of the new technology out there and it speeds up the R&D process.” Don was joined by his oldest son Mike in 1974 and by his grandson Jeff in 1999. Under his fathers and grandfathers teaching, Jeff is now in charge of the assembly room and the dyno cell. 2007 brought yet another change with the retirement of Don and the move to our current location in El Monte, CA. In 2012 JMS expanded with a vehicle service facility, JMS Service Center, and brought in Joe Cuccio to head up that division. JMS has been building some top engines in the country. Bonneville speed records, NHRA national event winners, and in 1998 they helped Butch Gilliland win the Winston West Championship. Also, in 1998 they built and tuned Keith Clark to win the IRRRA road racing stock car championship. To win two championships in one year was not only a lot of work, but also very satisfying. The crew at JMS takes great pride in their workmanship and tends to stay for long periods of time. JMS doesn’t just build engines for the track, they build high-end engines for street rods, boats and motor homes. JMS has the years of experience to engineer custom engine programs for just about any engine application known. If you have an engine program that you would like help on, feel free to email or fax JMS with your questions and they will try to help any way they can.