Junior Johnson was born Robert Glen Johnson Jr. June 28, 1931 in Wilkes County, North Carolina.He was a legend in the moonshiner rural south and became a Nascar superstar in the 1950's and 60's.
He grew up on a farm and developed his driving skills running moonshine as a young man. It was routine
for Junior to outrun the local police and federal agents, he was never caught while delivering moonshine
to a customer. Junior became a legend in the South. His driving expertise and outlaw image were much
admired.
Johnson is credited with inventing the "bootleg turn", in which a driver escapes a pursuer by sharply
putting his speeding car into a 180-degree turn on the highway, then speeding off in the opposite direction
before his pursuer can turn around.
Johnson was also known to buy and use police lights and sirens to fool policemen who had set up roadblocks
into thinking that he was a fellow policeman; upon hearing his approach the police would quickly remove the
roadblocks, allowing Johnson to escape with his moonshine.
It was 1955 when Junior decided to go legal. He left the moonshine runnin for a career in Nascar.
His shine runnin skills proved useful on the race track. In his first season, he won 5 races and finished sixth
in the Nascar Grand National point standings. There was no rookie of the year back then, but if there was, he
would have won it.
In 1956, federal tax agents found Johnson working at his father's moonshine still in Wilkes County; they
arrested him. Many local residents believed the raid was done in revenge for the agent's inability to catch
Johnson delivering moonshine on local highways. Johnson was convicted of moonshining and was sent to prison
in Chillicothe, Ohio. He served 11 months of a two-year sentence.
He returned to nascar in 1958, and didn't miss a beat. He won six races in 58. In 1959 he won five more.
By now he was regarded as one of the best short track racers in the sport.
His first superspeedway win was at the Daytona 500 in 1960.
While practicing for that race, Junior discovered the concept of "drafting". He found that if you followed the
car in front of you close enough, you could use the slip stream off of it to slingshot past the car coming out of the
turn. Using this technique, he won the race, even though his car was slower than many others in the field.
The practice of drafting is now common in nascar superspeedway racing.
In 1963, he lapped that field at the World 600 at Charlotte, which was not uncommon, but he lapped them twice.
He lost the lead when a spectator threw a bottle on the track which caused Junior to crash.
In 1966 Junior retired with 50 wins. He ranks 8th on the all time win list, and on the all time polls list (47 polls).
As a team owner, Junior employed a virtual who's who of Nascar, including; LeeRoy Yarborough, Cale Yarborough,
Darrell Waltrip, Neil Bonnett, Terry Labonte, Geoffrey Bodine, Sterling Marlin, Jimmy Spencer, and Bill Elliott.
He won 139 races as an owner, second only to Petty Enterprises. He has six championships as an owner. Three with Cale, and
three with Darrell Waltrip.
Junior was named one of Nascars Fifty Greatest drivers in 1998. Most would put him in the top 5.
In 1991 he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
There was a strech of North Carolina highway named after him in 2004. The Junior Johnson Highway streches from
the Yadkin and Wilkes county line to the Windy Gap exit.
Junior says the greatest moment in his life came in 1986 when President Ronald Reagan granted him a Presidential Pardon
for his 1956 moonshining conviction, restoring his right to vote.
