Junior Johnson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Junior Johnson
Johnson in 1985
Born	Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (1931-06-28)June 28, 1931 Ronda, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	December 20, 2019(2019-12-20) (aged 88) Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Achievements	1960 Daytona 500 winner 6× Winston Cup Series Owner's Champion with Cale Yarborough (1976, 1977, 1978) and Darrell Waltrip (1981, 1982, 1985)
Awards	Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998) International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1990) Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1991) NASCAR Hall of Fame (2010)
NASCAR Cup Series career
313 races run over 14 years
Best finish	6th (1955, 1961)
First race	1953 Southern 500 (Darlington)
Last race	1966 American 500 (Rockingham)
First win	1955 Hickory Motor Speedway
Last win	1965 Wilkes 400 (North Wilkesboro)
Wins Top tens Poles 50 148 46
NASCAR Convertible Division career
2 races run over 1 year
Best finish	64th (1959)
First race	1959 Catawba 250 (Hickory)
Last race	1959 Old Dominion 500 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0

Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), known as Junior Johnson, was a famous American NASCAR driver. He raced cars in the 1950s and 1960s. Junior won 50 NASCAR races during his driving career. He stopped racing in 1966.

After his driving career, he became a successful NASCAR team owner. His teams won many championships with drivers like Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip. Junior Johnson was also known for his business ventures, including making fried pork skins and country ham. He is famous for being the first to use the "drafting" technique in stock car racing. People called him "The Last American Hero." Later in life, he even started a company that makes "Midnight Moon Moonshine."

Early Life and Fast Driving

Junior Johnson was born in Ronda, North Carolina. He was the fourth of seven children in his family. His family had lived in the North Carolina foothills for a long time. They were known for making whiskey.

Junior learned to drive very fast from a young age. He was never caught while transporting whiskey at high speeds. This experience helped him become a skilled and daring driver on the race track.

Becoming a NASCAR Star

In 1955, Junior Johnson started his career as a professional NASCAR driver. In his very first full season, he won five races. He finished sixth in the 1955 NASCAR Grand National points standings, which was a great start.

He continued to win races, with six victories in 1958 and five more in 1959. By this time, he was considered one of the best short-track racers in the sport.

His first big win on a "superspeedway" was at the Daytona 500 in 1960. Junior and his team were trying to make their car faster. They noticed that when Junior drove right behind a faster car, his own car went quicker. This is called "drafting" or using the "slipstream." Junior used this trick to slingshot past the other cars and win the 1960 Daytona 500. This technique quickly became a common strategy in NASCAR.

In 1963, he was leading a big race called the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. A bottle thrown onto the track caused a crash, but Junior was only slightly hurt. He also tried to race in the 1963 Indianapolis 500 but did not qualify.

Junior Johnson stopped driving in 1966. He had won 50 races, including 11 on major speedways. He holds the record for the most wins by a driver who never won a championship. Many people, including other famous drivers, said he was one of the best drivers on dirt tracks.

Life After Driving: Team Owner

After retiring as a driver, Junior Johnson became a very successful NASCAR team owner. He worked with many talented drivers. Some of these included Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, and Darrell Waltrip.

His teams won a total of 132 races. This places his team, Junior Johnson & Associates, as one of the top five winningest teams in NASCAR history. His drivers also won six Winston Cup Championships. Cale Yarborough won three in a row (1976–1978), and Darrell Waltrip won three more (1981–82, 1985).

Junior Johnson with Darrell Waltrip and his car in 1983.

In 2011, Junior Johnson announced that he would start a new race team. His son, Robert, was planned to be the driver. The team, called Junior Johnson Racing, would be based in Hamptonville, North Carolina.

Special Honors and Awards

Junior Johnson received many important awards for his contributions to racing:

• In 1998, he was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers.
• He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1991.
• In 2004, a section of U.S. Highway 421 in North Carolina was named "Junior Johnson Highway" in his honor. This stretch of road is about 8.5 miles (13.7 km) long.
• He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 23, 2010.

His Family and Later Life

Junior Johnson was married to Flossie Clark for many years, and later to Lisa Day. With Lisa, he had two children: a daughter named Meredith Suzanne (born 1995) and a son named Robert Glenn Johnson III (born 1993). Both of his children attended Duke University.

Junior built a new home for his family in 1997. He lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the time of his death in 2019.

A Presidential Pardon

On December 26, 1986, President Ronald Reagan gave Junior Johnson a special presidential pardon. This pardon was for a conviction he had in 1956 related to making moonshine. The pardon restored his right to vote. Junior said he couldn't have imagined anything better.

Junior Johnson in Movies

In the mid-1960s, a writer named Tom Wolfe wrote an article about Junior Johnson. This article made Junior famous beyond just NASCAR fans. The article was later made into a 1973 movie called The Last American Hero. The movie was about Junior's life as a driver and his background. Jeff Bridges played a character based on Junior, and Junior himself helped as a technical advisor for the film.

Another movie about Junior Johnson's true life story is being made. This film aims to be more accurate than The Last American Hero. Junior Johnson also had a voice role in the animated movie Cars 3. He voiced a character named Junior "Midnight" Moon, which was a nod to his moonshine company.

Midnight Moon: His Business

In May 2007, Junior Johnson partnered with Piedmont Distillers. Together, they launched a moonshine product called Midnight Moon. Junior became a part-owner of the company. Piedmont Distillers was the only legal distillery in North Carolina at that time.

Midnight Moon follows Junior Johnson's family recipe for making moonshine. It is now sold in all 50 states. The 'shine is made in a traditional copper still in small batches. It is a legal version of his famous family recipe and comes in different strengths.

Death

Junior Johnson passed away at a hospice care facility in Charlotte on December 20, 2019. He was 88 years old and had Alzheimer's disease.

Images for kids

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  Johnson in 1985

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  Junior Johnson, Darrell Waltrip, Car No. 11, Nashville 420, July 16, 1983

See also

• In Spanish: Junior Johnson para niños