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Robert Glenn Johnson Jr., better known at Junior Johnson, honed his racing career the way several early NASCAR competitors did, by running moonshine. At an early age, Johnson assumed driving duties for the family’s moonshine business, and has on occasion bragged that the law was never able to catch him when he was behind the wheel.
In 1955, Johnson decided to focus his attention toward driving a race car in NASCAR. That season, he won five races and finished sixth in the points standings.
The police may not have been able to catch Johnson, the driver, but federal tax agents did apprehend him one day in 1956. as he tended to the family still in place of his ill father. Johnson was sentenced two years in a federal prison, and he served 11 months.
Johnson resumed his NASCAR career in 1958. He continued his driving career through 1966, racking up 50 wins and being credited for discovering “drafting.”
Johnson’s racing a public persona were the subject of an article that was published in Esquire magazine in 1965 and was the basis of a 1973 movie called “The Last American Hero.”
Johnson may have climbed from behind the seat, but his NASCAR career wasn’t over. He continued to compete in NASCAR as a team owner. As an owner, Johnson’s team compiled 139 wins, second only to Petty Enterprises and Hendrick Motorsports. He also claimed six Cup level titles as an owner, three-straight (1976-1978) with Cale Yarborough driving his car, and three with Darrell Waltrip behind the wheel (1981-1982 and 1985).
“Junior Johnson was a legendary pioneer in NASCAR, first as a successful driver and later going on to own a championship race team,” Darlington Raceway President Chris Browning said.
Johnson was granted a Presidential Pardon by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 for his 1956 moon shining conviction.
Johnson is back in the moonshine business, but this time legally. He joined Piedmont Distillers in 2007 to produce and market a moonshine called “Midnight Moon” that is the legal version of the Johnson family recipe. He has also lent his name to a variety of pork products, including fried pork skins and ham.
On Oct. 14, Johnson joined, Dale Earnhardt, Bill France, Bill France Jr, and Richard Petty as the five-man first class of inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
According to Talladega Superspeedway President Rick Humphrey, “Junior Johnson showed the masses that ingenuity and hard work pays off on the racetrack and in the owner’s seat.”
Fans can get a glimpse of anything and everything Junior Johnson and to purchase Junior Johnson brand products by visiting his website -- juniorjohnson.org
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