Junior Johnson

[E1pix]

Exceptional video about Junior and writer Tom Wolfe, two unlikely characters who forever changed each other's vision.


I for one am proud of unpretentious people like Junior. In a sport that evermore seems to be squeezing out those of a blue collar, people like Junior rose up from that very place to one of dreams.


Perhaps the irony is as ticket prices rise, the fans that built circle-track racing are forced back to the inexpensive bullrings that started it all. Maybe going home is just what they need.


Merry Christmas to All.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qSW3WBoEkWc


Edit: "The Last American Hero" film, with Jeff Bridges playing Junior:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3jYrVdd3xzU

[jgaither]

I was lucky enough to meet Junior and work with him on a transporter back in the early 80's. I managed a KW dealership. My largest customer was Holly Farms. My contact there was an old friend of his. All the teams in those days transported the race cars on fairly plain open trailers or home-made enclosed rigs and old trucks. Junior got well off enough to afford a nice new rig - possibly subsidized by Holly Farms.

We had lunch ( a big one) at his home. We went over the specs on this Kenworth and he surprised me how much he knew about heavy trucks. When we finished looking over the specs, Junior asked me, "John - is there anything on the highway that can pass this truck?". My reply - "Not a chance".

That rig was and maybe still is the fastest transporter in NASCAR history. I saw the speeding tickets to support it!

Quite a thrill for this North Carolina boy who only did road racing but grew up in NASCAR country. Lot's more stories about this, but another time maybe.

Rest in Peace, Junior.