Born in Detroit, MI and now residing in San Clemente, CA, Johnny Kanavas grew up within the world of motorsports. Coming from a racing family, his father who is also a racer, started him off in a go-kart at a very young age. That was the hook he needed to pursue the dream of turning driving into his career. With over 25 years of racing, testing, development, marketing, team and program management, driver coaching, precision and stunt driving experience, Johnny brings a wide array of skills to the table. 

 

While the foundation of Johnny’s background is road racing, his experience extends into drifting, off-road, stunt and precision driving. A notable career highlight for him was being a part of the stunt driving team for the “Ford v Ferrari” movie. Outside of that, Johnny has done numerous stunt and precision driving jobs, doubling for and working with several celebrities throughout his career. On the racing side, Johnny has competed in MX-5 Cup, World Challenge, Grand-Am, IMSA, SCCA, NASA, SVRA, HSR, VSCDA and Formula Drift (just to name a few) driving everything from Mazda Miatas to Indy Lights cars.

 

Johnny’s coaching and instructing experience covers a vast array of professional experience.  He has worked for several driving programs, manufacturers, defensive driving programs, military driver training and driving schools including the BMW Performance Center West, the Ford Performance Racing School at Miller Motorsports Park where he held the title of Lead Instructor and is currently the Chief Instructor at the Porsche Experience Center in Los Angeles. Johnny has worked with everyone from amateur to pro racers to celebrities alike. Logging laps at tracks all over the world, driving cars of every kind, Johnny brings a vast amount of experience to his coaching game.