Sherry Johnson

Champion Barrel Racer
1938-Living

Sherry Johnson was born in Duncan, Oklahoma on August 16, 1938. She was raised on the family ranch out of Addington, Oklahoma, and worked as "one of the guys."

Sherry was a five time AJRA Barrel Racing Champion and two times AJRA All-Around Champion. Her record of 12 National Finals Rodeo Qualifications is surpassed only by Charmayne James. When the first National Finals were held in Dallas in 1959, Sherry carried a flag during the opening ceremonies.

Johnson first entered the West of the Pecos Rodeo in 1980. That year, she split the barrel racing title with Shanna Bush but lost the belt buckle by a coin toss. In 1996, her last year to enter Pecos, Sherry won the Barrel Racing Title and the buckle outright. She and her late husband, Sidney Johnson, ranched out of Snyder and Sherry considered Pecos to be a close-to-home rodeo.

In her rodeo career, Sherry is considered a pioneer when it comes to writing rulebooks and has served as an officer in various organizations, including the AJRA and the WPRA. Sherry ran barrels in Las Vegas at the NFR for the last time in 1991 when she was a grandmother.

Living on the family ranch near Addington, Oklahoma, along with her daughter Becky Bradley and two grandsons, Chris and Jack, Sherry now closely follows the two boys’ rodeo careers.