In Part Two of our Junior Johnson edition of Appalachian Moments we go from pole position to pit row.
When Johnson finished up his brief stint in prison for making moonshine, he resumed his legal racing career in 1954, and had his breakout year in ’55 winning five races.
Early NASCAR drivers fell into two groups, those who were hell bent for leather and those who chose to pace themselves. Which group do you think Johnson belonged to? In the words The King, Richard Petty, “if Junior Johnson brought you back the steering wheel at the end of the race it was a good day.”
But for all his fast and furious driving and early career running moonshine, Johnson was more subdued off the track.
In the early days, the guys would see who was the best on the track by day and the best at the party by night. Johnson says, “I never did see no benefit in raising Cain after the race. There was nothing in it for me.”
Drafting, or the technique of driving in the slipstream of the car ahead of you, began with Johnson. The year was 1960.
He was looking around at the other cars at Daytona and figured he was at least 50 horsepower weaker than the leaders. Johnson discovered that he could drive in their slipstream and go just as fast. As he said, “By the time they figured out what I was doing, they had done blowed up their cars trying to outrun me.” In an ironic turn of events, Johnson won that race by conserving his car, and made drafting an important driving strategy.
By the time Junior was 34 years old he had torn up the field and won at all the tracks from superspeedways to the half-mile venues and was losing interest. An opportunity to become an owner presented itself and he didn’t let it pass.
As fast and tough as Junior was, he enjoyed more success as an owner than he did behind the wheel. Two of his drivers, Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip won a total of six NASCAR championships.
During the 60’s the stocks cars were becoming less and less “stock” as owners used every trick in the book to make their cars faster, and Johnson was at the front of the line when it all came to a head in Atlanta in 1966.
The car in question, was dubbed the most outrageous, blatant, and flagrantly illegal car to ever compete in a NASCAR event.
Dubbed the “Yellow Banana,” Johnson’s 1966 Ford Galaxie had its top chopped nearly five inches, and its windshield tilted back at least 20 degrees. Its nose nearly touched the ground, and its rear quarter panels were swept upward to produce more downforce. This last modification along with its color made car curve up like a banana. So, thanks to Johnson pushing the rules to the max, NASCAR introduced the first basic auto body template the next year!
When asked what made a great NASCAR driver, Junior had a one word description: Nerve. It’s not hard to imagine as stock cars push 200 miles an hour, but one driver had it head and shoulders above everyone else in Johnson’s opinion. That driver? Big E. Dale Earnhardt. In Junior’s words, “Earnhardt didn’t always have the fastest car, but he had the nerve. He was always one notch up on everybody out there.”
When Johnson retired from active participation in NASCAR he had plenty of other investments to keep him busy. He has an interest in everything from pork rinds to sweet tea, but the best partnership had to be teaming up with Piedmont Distillers to produce a legal moonshine called, appropriately enough, Midnight Moon. According to Junior, it is smoother than vodka, better than whiskey…best ‘shine ever.”
Johnson ran the good race until just last year, crossing the finish line at age 88. Thanks for liking, commenting and sharing this post and memories of Junior. The 2nd part of the podcast is linked below: