Nobody told Ken Johnson a bowling ball isn't a shot glass. That was 1990. Nobody has corrected him since.
In 1986 he paid $300 for a red 1980 Ford Pinto wagon, from the last year Ford made the Pinto. By 1989 the hood was a griddle, and that year the plywood grill on it burned through. He built a new one out of three layers of plywood, and that burned through too. He switched to metal and left the scorch marks where they were.
He makes pizza in a filing cabinet. He has served wings out of a mailbox. He has stood under friends on a van roof emptying caulk guns of ketchup and mustard over his head, holding a burger out like that was the plan.
He has been to every Bills game, home and away, since the 1994 opener: more than 500 in a row. (The 2020 season, played without fans, doesn't count against it.) When his heart valve needed surgery in 2021, he waited until the season was over.
The Bills moved into a new stadium this season. The Pinto stayed put in Hammer's Lot, which now sits right next to it.
"If you do something dumb enough and stupid enough for long enough, eventually you'll become known for it," he told Visit Buffalo.
Who Pinto Ron is
Pinto Ron is Ken Johnson, a Buffalo native in his late 60s who drives in from the Rochester area. He's held season tickets since the late 1980s and has gone to all four Bills Super Bowls. The name is a typo that stuck. A 1990s newspaper story got his first name wrong, a friend at the tailgate happened to be named Ron, and the crowd took it from there.
The Pinto
It's a red 1980 Ford Pinto wagon, his daily driver until 1991 and a tailgate car ever since. The engine was rebuilt in 1992. In 30-plus years the car has missed one game, in 1998, when the timing belt went. It still ran at the new stadium's opener in September 2026. It doesn't travel. Ken goes to away games without it.
What gets cooked on it
Bacon, pancakes, sausage, cocktail wieners and wings go on the hood. The tools are a saw blade, a shovel, a hubcap, an army helmet and a rake. Pizza comes out of a filing cabinet run by Pizza Pete, who brings his own homemade ingredients. Potatoes bake in a medicine cabinet full of charcoal. The heat comes from pans of charcoal, not the engine. The wings come with blue cheese. "Bleu cheese, not ranch; if you've got ranch, you'll be run out of Buffalo," he told The Takeout.
The bowling ball and the ketchup
The shot glass broke in 1990, so the drink went through the thumbhole of a 16-pound bowling ball instead: Wiśniówka, a 100-proof Polish cherry liqueur. "First of all, I call it a 16-pound shot glass, not a bowling ball," he said in the same interview. That ball has been to every NFL city.
The ketchup-and-mustard shower started in the early 1990s as a dare to get ketchup on a burger without getting any on yourself. Friends stand on a van roof with caulk guns and three 64-oz bottles and drench him while he holds out the burger. It used to draw 800 to 1,000 people and ran about 90 minutes before kickoff. It went on hold for the 2021 season and was back for his 500th straight game in 2024.
How to find the Pinto on game day
Pinto Ron tailgates in Hammer's Lot, a private lot on Abbott Road in Orchard Park that now sits right beside the new Highmark Stadium. He's parked before 7 a.m. and cooking by 9. More than 50 friends park with him, and hundreds more stop by. Strangers are welcome, and he poses for photos all morning. There's no address for the car. Walk Hammer's Lot and look for the red wagon with the crowd around it.
He doesn't take cash. Bring something to share, and get there early.
Can't miss
The red 1980 Pinto in Hammer's Lot, Abbott Road, beside Highmark Stadium. Get there early and bring something for the table.
The rest of game day, from the Bills' own lots to the rules at the gate, is in our Highmark Stadium tailgating guide.
Cooking for the next one? Start with our grilled Buffalo wings.
Flying the colors? Bills gear → or a BUF trucker hat for the lot.
Who is Pinto Ron?
Ken Johnson, a Buffalo Bills superfan from Buffalo who lives in the Rochester area. He has tailgated out of a red 1980 Ford Pinto wagon since 1989 and has been to every Bills game, home and away, since 1994. The 2020 season, played without fans, doesn't count against it.
Where does Pinto Ron tailgate?
In Hammer's Lot, a private lot on Abbott Road in Orchard Park, beside the new Highmark Stadium.
How many Bills games in a row has Pinto Ron been to?
More than 500. The streak started with the 1994 home opener, and his 500th straight game was a home game against the Jets in 2024.
Where is Hammer's Lot?
On Abbott Road in Orchard Park, a private lot right beside the new Highmark Stadium. Bills tailgaters park there on game day, and the Pinto is the red wagon with the crowd around it.
What's in Pinto Ron's bowling ball?
Wiśniówka, a 100-proof Polish cherry liqueur, poured through the thumbhole of a 16-pound bowling ball he calls a 16-pound shot glass. It started in 1990, when the shot glass broke.
Why is he called Pinto Ron?
A newspaper got his name wrong in the 1990s. A friend at the tailgate was named Ron, and the name stuck. He answers to it.
Can anyone visit Pinto Ron's tailgate?
Yes. Hundreds of fans stop by every home game. Get there early and bring something to share. He doesn't take cash.
No. 01 in Tailgate Legends.
Nominate a legend
Tell us about the crew everyone in your lot walks over to see, through our nominate form.
