We'd buy a house, I'd redesign it and Bill would do the remodeling. Johnson was bright he had skipped two grades in elementary school but his blueprint for financial security kept wavering. They were visiting San Diego at the time and Bill suggested that they settle there. But in 1998, Johnson quit racing on the established senior circuit. I found it very hard after that.
Finances strain a lot of marriages and divorces follow.
When Bill and Gina separated, Bill drove his Winnebago to the Squaw Valley Ski Resort in California, where he had friends. He worked as an itinerant carpenter. Then he would move on. One day last summer, Bill called Gina, and told her of his plans for a comeback, and his motivation. Bill wasn't one for taking advice.