(June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019)
Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American professional stock car racing driver, engineer, and team owner as well as an entrepreneur. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became a NASCAR racing team owner, winning the NASCAR championship with Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip. He is credited as the first to use the drafting technique in stock car racing. He was nicknamed “The Last American Hero,” and his autobiography and movie based on his upbringing is of the same name. In May 2007, Johnson teamed with Piedmont Distillers of Madison, North Carolina, to introduce the company’s second moonshine product, called “Midnight Moon Moonshine”, a nod to the days of his early youth in the 1940s when he made a living as a moonshiner/moonrunner and bootlegger.
On December 26, 1986, President Ronald Reagan granted Johnson a presidential pardon for his 1956 moonshining conviction. In response to the pardon, which restored his right to vote, Johnson said, “I could not have imagined anything better.”
He passed on December 20, 2019 from complications from Alzheimer’s Disease.
Collected Via Mail c. 2018
| Occupation | Moonshiner NASCAR Driver NASCAR Owner |
|---|---|
| Achievements | Daytona 500 Winner 1960 NASCAR Cup Series Owner’s Champion (1976, ’77, ’78, ’81, ’82, & ’85) Career Season records available at Racing Reference Career Race by Race Breakdown available at Ultimate Racing History Owner Stats available at Racing Reference |
| Awards | Presidential Pardon – December 26, 1986 International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1990) Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1991) Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers (1998) NASCAR Hall of Fame (2010 – Inaugural Class) Named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers (2023) |
| Significant Drivers | A.J. Foyt Darel Dieringer LeeRoy Yarbrough Donnie Allison Earl Ross Cale Yarbrough Richard Childress Darrell Walltrip Neil Bonnett Terry Labonte Geoffrey Bodine Sterling Martin Bill Elliott Hut Stricklin Jimmy Spencer Loy Allen, Jr. Brett Bodine Elton Sawyer |
