Junior Johnson
June 28, 1931 — Wilkes County, North Carolina
Robert Glenn "Junior" Johnson Jr. was an American NASCAR driver and team owner who became one of the most celebrated and colorful figures in the history of stock car racing. A former moonshine runner whose car-handling skills translated directly to the racetrack, Johnson won 50 NASCAR Cup Series races as a driver and later guided his cars to six championships as a team owner. Tom Wolfe immortalized him in a famous 1965 Esquire profile titled "The Last American Hero."
Early Life and Moonshining
Born on June 28, 1931, in Wilkes County, North Carolina, Johnson grew up in the Appalachian foothills where his family operated an illegal whiskey distillery. He learned to drive at high speed on mountain roads evading federal revenue agents — the same skills, and even some of the same cars, that he would later bring to NASCAR competition. His father was eventually imprisoned for bootlegging, and Junior himself served 11 months in a federal prison after his arrest at a still in 1956. This background, far from being a liability, became part of the mythology that surrounded him: a working-class outlaw whose raw talent demanded a bigger stage.
Racing Career and Team Ownership
Johnson began racing in NASCAR in 1953 and quickly demonstrated that he was among the fastest and most technically innovative drivers in the sport. He is credited with discovering drafting — the aerodynamic technique of following closely behind a competitor at Daytona to gain speed — during the 1960 Daytona 500, which he won. After retiring as a driver in 1966, he became a successful car owner, fielding teams that won championships with drivers including Cale Yarborough (three consecutive Cup titles, 1976–1978) and Darrell Waltrip (three titles, 1981–1985). In 1986 President Ronald Reagan granted him a full presidential pardon for his 1956 conviction.
Did You Know?
Tom Wolfe's 1965 Esquire profile of Johnson, "The Last American Hero Is Junior Johnson. Yes!" is considered one of the foundational pieces of New Journalism, as much a landmark in American writing as it is a portrait of NASCAR's origins.
Legacy
Junior Johnson was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class in 2010. He died on December 20, 2019. His life traced an arc from Appalachian outlaw to American sports legend, embodying the rough-edged, independent spirit that NASCAR itself has always claimed as its identity. As both a driver and an innovator, he helped transform stock car racing from a regional novelty into a national institution.