Johnny Manziel -- DRILLS CAR DRIVER IN FACE ... During Commercial Shoot

Johnny Manziel drilled a stunt-car driver IN THE FACE with a football during a commercial for a Nissan dealership ... and the crowd went WILD ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Manziel was taping the commercial in Cleveland back in June -- in which he was supposed to throw a football into the window of an Altima that was running a wide receiver-style route on a football field.

We spoke to Bernie Moreno, President of the Collection Auto Group (which owns the dealership), who tells us Manziel's performance was incredible.

"The driver was going 25 mph and it was a 40 yard throw," Moreno said.

"Manziel made a perfect throw into the car. Everybody celebrated except the driver who got out the car with a huge welt on his face."