Johnson, Junior (Robert G. Jr.)
Auto Racing
b. 1930, North Carolina
Junior Johnson learned his driving skills while running moonshine for his father after World War II, and he soon began to put them to use in stock car races at the dirt track in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Both careers were abruptly interrupted in 1956, when federal agents arrested him at his father's still. He was sentenced to two years in federal prison, but served only 11 months.
Shortly after his release, he was racing again. At the second Daytona 500 in 1960, Johnson was driving his own Chevrolet, which was considerably slower than the hot factory Pontiacs in the race.
For no particular reason, he eased up close to the rear bumper of one of the Pontiacs and found that his car was going faster than it ever had before. He had discovered drafting, now a standard technique in racing. Johnson drafted behind the Pontiacs throughout the race. Many of the faster cars had to leave the race with mechanical problems, and Johnson came on to win it.
In addition to that Daytona victory, Johnson had big wins in the 1963 Dixie 400 at Atlanta; the 1962 and 1963 National 400 at Charlotte; and the 1965 Rebel 300 at Darlington. The Darlington victory was one of 13 in 1965, which gave him exactly 50 for his career, and he abruptly announced his retirement from driving to become a car owner. His first driver was Bobby Allison, who won ten races and $271,395 in Johnson's car in 1972 to become driver of the year.
That was just the beginning. Darryl Waltrip later won three national championships with Johnson's team, which accumulated more than 100 victories and more than $15 million in earnings.
In early 1995, Johnson sold the team and retired from racing to run his 300-acre beef cattle farm in North Carolina and to spend more time with his young family.
As a driver, Johnson had 50 victories, with 121 top-five finishes, and he won a total of $301,871 in 313 starts.