Insurance Options For Any Motorsports Risk
Did you know that Shepherd Insurance specializes in insuring the motorsports industry?
As we head toward the greatest spectacle in racing, we wanted to highlight our knowledge and experience in this exciting niche. There’s nothing like the thrill of a roaring engine or watching a racecar make a left-hand turn at 200 miles per hour, but with the need for speed comes a variety of risk exposures unique to the modern motorsports industry.
Our Experienced Team:
Tom Johnson and Jeff Johnson have been serving teams throughout all motorsports since 1985. This father-son team specializes in insuring motorsports teams so that the team owners don’t have to think about that side of the business. Their personal involvement and passion for motorsports, combined with over 50 years of experience, create a unique advantage when it comes to motorsports insurance.
- Tom Johnson- Insurance Advisor
- Jeff Johnson- Partner
- Bob Mott- Senior Account Manager
- Paul Schafer- Partner
Where did it all start?
Tom Johnson got his start in the motorsport business in 1985 when he bought an interest in Indy car for Tony Bettenhausen Jr. According to Tom, the reason he got into the industry is that Tony had once said to him “I hate insurance, would you take care of it.” With no prior experience in motorsport insurance, he found a way to figure it out, which was just the beginning of his longtime career in Motorsports Insurance.
Both Tom and Jeff have a passion and love for racing. Tom has been in this industry for 54 years, 37 of these spent insuring motorsports, and Jeff is going on 22 years of motorsports insurance. Jeff Johnson, following in his dad’s footsteps, said that he had always been passionate about racing. He grew up knowing everything about it, which was a huge advantage for him because understanding the language they use and being younger within the industry was something he thinks gave him an advantage starting out at 23.
Something most people don’t know is that racing and motorsports insurance is more than just Indy cars. In fact, this father-son duo insures over 200 clients and right now, none of them are Indy cars, However, in 1997, they insured the 1st and 2nd place cars within the Indy 500, Arie Luyendyk and Scott Goodyear. Tom thinks “we picked the right cars to insure”.
When asked how Shepherd Insurance has made a difference when it comes to their motorsport niche, Tom believes it is because of their reputation in the industry and the encouragement of management. There are not many insurance agencies that have support and passion like the management at Shepherd does. They also credit their success to the community of employees who encourage, collaborate and build one another up. Both father and son have really enjoyed being able to build a career around their passion and be able to enjoy it together.
Winning doesn’t only happen on the track with this team.
This year, Jeff Johnson was named the PIA Insurance Agent of the year. This honor he attributes to the support and mentorship of his father.
On Sunday, Tom Johnson will attend his 69th Indy 500, and Jeff will attend his 36th. Watch the highlight video above to learn more about Tom & Jeff’s story.
To learn more about the Shepherd Insurance motorsports team, visit our specialty page here.
“We operate a professional race team as well as a motorsports business. We’ve done business with Shepherd Insurance and Central Mutual for many years and have found them to be reliable and knowledgeable. Their program with Central is solid and we’ve had firsthand experience dealing with their claims department on a large fire loss to one of our race trailers. Central was thorough in their investigation and paid us promptly with a very fair settlement. We appreciate having good insurance partners.”
Steve Zabel – CFO – Fall in Line Motorsports
