Junior Johnson
Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019),[1] better known as Junior Johnson, was a NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966.
| Junior Johnson | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Johnson in 1985 | |||||||
| Born | Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. June 28, 1931 Wilkesboro, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | December 20, 2019 (aged 88) Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||
| Achievements | 1960 Daytona 500 winner 6-time 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 Inductee (1990) Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Inductee (1991) NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee (2010) | ||||||
| Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 313 races run over 14 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 6th - 1955 in NASCAR and 1961 (Grand National) | ||||||
| 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) | ||||||
| |||||||
In the 1970s and 1980s, he became a NASCAR racing team owner; he sponsored such NASCAR champions as Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip. He now produces a line of fried pork skins and country ham. He was credited as the first to use the drafting technique in stock car racing.
He was nicknamed "The Last American Hero" and his autobiography is of the same name.[2] In May 2007, Johnson teamed with Piedmont Distillers of Madison, North Carolina, to introduce the company's second moonshine product, called "Midnight Moon Moonshine".
Johnson died at a hospice care facility in Charlotte, North Carolina on December 20, 2019, at age 88.[3][1][4] He had Alzheimer's disease at the time of his death.[1]
References
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Goldstein, Richard (December 20, 2019). "Junior Johnson, Good-Old-Boy Auto Racing Star, Is Dead at 88". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 21, 2019. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
- ↑ "Information". johnsoninfo.weebly.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
- ↑ "Racing star and Wilkes native Junior Johnson dies". Archived from the original on 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
- ↑ Albert, Zack (December 20, 2019). "Junior Johnson, moonshiner turned NASCAR legend, dies at 88". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Archived from the original on December 20, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
Other websites
change- Official website for Junior Johnson
- Oral History Interview with Junior Johnson at Oral Histories of the American South
- CanadianDriver.com Article on Junior Johnson
- Junior Johnson Biography
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