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a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became a NASCAR racing team owner; he sponsored such NASCAR champions as Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip. He grew up on a farm and, like many of the pioneers of stock car racing, developed his driving skills running moonshine as a young man. He consistently outran and outwitted local police and federal agents in auto chases, and he was never caught while delivering moonshine to customers. Johnson became something of a legend in the rural South, where his driving expertise and "outlaw" image was much admired. In 1955, Johnson decided to give up delivering moonshine for the more lucrative (and legal) career of being a NASCAR driver. He found that he was able to easily translate his "moonshiner" driving skills—hard-won on mountain roads—

to the highly-pitched racing tracks of NASCAR. In his first full season, he won five races and finished sixth in the 1955 NASCAR Grand National points standings. In 1956, federal tax agents found Johnson working at his father's moonshine still in Wilkes County and arrested him. Johnson was convicted of moonshineing and was sent to the federal prison in Chillicothe, Ohio. He served 11 months of a two-year sentence. Johnson returned to the NASCAR scene in 1958 and picked up where he left off, winning six races. In 1959, he won five more NASCAR Grand National Cup races; by this time, he was regarded as one of the best short-track racers in the sport. His first win at a "superspeedway" came at the Daytona 500 in 1960. Johnson and his crew chief Ray Fox were practicing for the race, trying to figure out how to increase their speed, which was 22 miles per hour slower than the top cars in the race. During a test run a faster car passed Johnson. He noticed that when he moved behind the faster car

his own speed increased due to the faster car's slipstream. Johnson was then able to stay close behind the faster car until the final lap of the test run, when he used the "slipstream" effect to slingshot past the other car. By using this technique Johnson went on to win the 1960 Daytona 500 in his #27 Daytona Kennel Chevy; despite the fact that his car was slower than others in the field. Johnson's technique was quickly adopted by other drivers, and his practice of "drafting" has become a common tactic in NASCAR races. In 1963 he had a two-lap lead in the World 600 at Charlotte before a spectator threw a bottle onto the track and caused Junior to crash; he suffered only minor injuries. He retired in 1966. In his career, he claimed 50 victories as a driver, and 11 of these wins were at major speedway races. He retired as the winningest driver never to win a Cup Series Championship. His best points finish was 6th in 1961. As a team owner, he worked with some

of the most legendary drivers in NASCAR history, including Darel Dieringer, LeeRoy Yarbrough, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Neil Bonnett, Terry Labonte, Geoffrey Bodine, Sterling Marlin, Jimmy Spencer, and Bill Elliott. In all, his drivers won 139 races, which is third only to Petty Enterprises and Hendrick Motorsports. His drivers won six Winston Cup Championships—three each with Yarborough (1976–1978) and Waltrip (1981–82, 1985). On December 26, 1986, President Ronald Reagan granted Johnson, a lifelong Democrat, a presidential pardon for his 1956 moonshining conviction. Johnson called the pardon, which restored his right to vote and hold a passport, "one of the greatest things in my life". Johnson was named one of the 50 Greatest drivers of all time in 1998, and was

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

ROBERT GLENN "JUNIOR" JOHNSON - 06/28/1931 -