Junior Johnson

At 88 years old, Junior Johnson physical status not available right now. We will update Junior Johnson's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. (born June 28, 1931), better known as Junior Johnson, is a former NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s.

He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966.

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 is credited as the first to use the drafting technique in stock car racing.

He is nicknamed "The Last American Hero" and his autobiography 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".

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Early life and race career

Johnson was born in Ronda, North Carolina, the fourth of seven children of Lora Belle (Money) and Robert Glenn Johnson, Sr., and his family settled in the foothills of North Carolina in the eighteenth century. Before he was born, the Johnson family was involved in the whisky trade. In North Carolina, his maternal great-grandfather served as the second-highest-ranking Confederate general.

As their house was often searched by revenue agents, his father, a lifelong bootlegger, spent nearly two years in prison. In 1956-57, a junior was arrested and spent one year in jail for possessing an unlawful item, but he was never caught in his many years of pumping bootleg liquor at high speeds.

Johnson began his career as a NASCAR racer in 1955. He won five races and finished fifth in the 1955 NASCAR Grand National Points standings in his first full season.

Johnson won six races in 1958.

Johnson won five more NASC Grand National races in 1959, including one at the pole position in the 1959 Hickory 250; by this time, he was regarded as one of the best short-track racers in the sport.

In 1960, he became the first winner at a "superspeedway" at the Daytona 500. Johnson and his crewmate, Ray Fox, were training for the event, determined to discover how to improve their speed, which was 22 miles per hour (35 km/h) slower than that of the top cars in the competition. A faster car passed Johnson during a road test run. He noticed that as he went behind the car, his own vehicle's speed increased due to the quicker car's slipstream. Johnson was then able to sit close behind the other vehicle until the last lap of the test run, when he used the "slipstream" effect to slingshot past it. Johnson won the 1960 Daytona 500 by using this strategy, despite the fact that his vehicle was slower than others in the field. Other drivers were quick to copy Johnson's method, and his tactic of "drafting" has become a common tactic in NASCAR competitions.

Johnson had a two-lap lead in the World 600 at Charlotte in 1963 before a spectator threw a bottle into the track and caused a crash; Johnson sustained only minor injuries. Johnson attempted to qualify for the 1963 Indianapolis 500, but he was unable to qualify.

In 1966, he became a pilot. Johnson won 51 victories and 11 at major speedway races in his career. He retired as the best driver to win the championship never to have a championship.

Johnson was a master of dirt track racing. Junior Johnson and Dick Hutcherson, the two best drivers I've ever seen on dirt, are both excellent riders," said two-time NASCAR champion Ned Jarrett.

Career as a NASCAR owner

Darel Dieringer, LeeRoy Yarborough, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Robert Munnett, Timothy Williams, Geoffrey Bodine, Jimmy Spencer, and Bill Elliott all worked with many NASCAR drivers, including Darel Dieringer, LeeRoy Yarbrough, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Darrell Waltrip, Michael Jackson, Colin Leo In total, his drivers have won 132 races, fifth to Petty Enterprises, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Roush Fenway Racing. His drivers have won six Winston Cup Championships, three with Yarborough (1976–1978) and Waltrip (1981–198 1985).

Johnson declared in 2011 that he would restart a race team with his son Robert as the racer. Junior Johnson Racing will be located in Hamptonville, North Carolina. Robert, the 2010 UARA Rookie of the Year, intends to run a 28-30 race schedule in 2011, which includes the complete K&N East Series calendar and some races in the UARA and Whelen All-American Series.

Motorsports career results

(Bold) is the most important part of the game. pole position was awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. (Most laps lead.)

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Awards

• He was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.
• He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1991.
• Johnson joined Michael Jordan, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Richard Petty by having a stretch of highway named in his honor in 2004. His daughter Meredith sang the national anthem at the dedication of the highway. An 8.5-mile (13.7 km) stretch of U.S. Highway 421 from the Yadkin and Wilkes county line to the Windy Gap exit is named Junior Johnson Highway.
• He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 23, 2010.