Junior Johnson, NASCAR Legend, "The Last American Hero" has passed away.

[Watchdog]

If you ever followed NASCAR in the early days, when stock car racing was still stock car racing, you know who Junior Johnson was.

Robert "Junior" Johnson has passed away at the age of 88.

As the article says, the man had a story behind him. Lots of stories, actually.

I met him once a long, long time ago when I was a kid. Shook his hand. He was a genuine good ol' boy, even though back then I'd never heard the term "good ol' boy".

R.I.P., Junior. You drove real fast for a long time. Time to rest now.

 

[vigil617]

Not many still around like Junior who had actually run moonshine and transferred those skills into racin', and not an angel in Heaven that'll be able to keep up with him now!

The last and best checkered flag for an American classic.

 

[rwsmith]

I always hear....

Not many still around like Junior who had actually run moonshine and transferred those skills into racin', and not an angel in Heaven that'll be able to keep up with him now!

The last and best checkered flag for an American classic.

I always hear 'Thunder Road' (Robert Mitchum) when I see a picture like that. Just like when I see a 30's car racing down a country road I think of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown'.

If it weren't for moonshiners NASCAR wouldn't be what it became.

 

[Watchdog]

Notice in the one old photo how much darker his left arm and hand are from the right? That isn't a shadow.

That comes from years of that good ol' boy practice of crusin' around with your left arm layin' up on the driver's side window sill. Maybe had a pack of Luckies or Camels in the rolled up shirt sleeve, too.

 

[jbtrucker]

God Speed Junior

One my favorite NASCAR legends Junior Johnson has passed age 88, wish could have met him .

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

I miss the old days when they actually ran "stock cars" that the companies had to make some to sell to the public. I started to lose
interest when the old moon runners quit driving.
NASCAR could gain some fans if they had one race per year using real
cars that one could buy off the show room floor. Let them tweek the
engines and put a roll cage in, then run for 300 to 500 miles.

 

[jbtrucker]

I've lost interest in NASCAR but do like the short tracks but can't stand the constant jabber and drama of the announcers. You may have noticed the half empty stands , the high cost tickets and no interest of a generation that is into Jap cars and high tech junk