Folks Of Interest We lost Junior Johnson today

I loved the way he talked about taking the engine out of a 49 Cadillac Am-Bu-Lance, and installing in a '40 coupe for Moonshine hauling, Quite a Legend ! R.I.P. Junior.

 

Have fun upstairs and thanks for the memories !

 

I would have loved to have seen him when he brought his 63 mystery 427 Impala to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2000 to show the brits how it was done!

 

Thank - you Sir for helping to pioneer so much that changed the racing world forever. Sincere Sympathy to his Family, friends and fans. RIP

 

A legend among legends. RIP.


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Condolences to the Johnson Family on the Passing of Junior...Lived on the Edge and spent much of it going real Fast...Thanks for sharing this loss to the Community with us @anthony myrick...Thanks also to the others sharing their memories of this Racer...

 

Junior, there will never be another. Loved, hated ,but admired by all that knew him. Thanks Junior for the great memories

 

A life well lived to it's fullest. I miss the days of stock bodied big blocks chasing each other ...RIP JR.

 

Biggest compliment I ever got, Junior told Roger Hamby that a car I did body and a rubbed out Lacquer paint job on, for him, was almost to pretty to tear up on a racetrack

 

Legendary. American. Man..

 

Makes me sad to hear this news, sending my condolences to his family to help them deal with this . This makes for a tough holiday season for them. RIP Junior, you were truly one of the good ones.

 

Legend and inspiration for all car guys built and raced cars using ingenuity and imagination. Considering his background and life struggles made you think if he can do it and on occasions get away with it, then so can I. As I understand it he never let his success or status go to his head he was willing to help others with knowledge and parts to keep them on the track. Never see another character like him again. My condolences to the family.

 

If you would like to see Junior at what I think was one of his finest bits of handling, go to utube and find the Ascot park scene from the movie Red Line 7000. There you will see him take full size speedway Galaxy with big block 427 power and fling it around a short track like
the boss he was!

 

My favorite story about Junior concerned his invitation to Goodwood in 2001 by Lord March, and upon finally meeting his host Junior presented him with a Mason jar of peach moonshine, slowly drawling "This here's a fruit drank".

 

I had the good fortune to be at the New Asheville Speedway on a Friday evening in the Summer of 1965 and watched as Junior and Jack Ingram shared driving duties to bring the Ingram 1955 Chevy to victory in a Late-Model Sportsman race. Junior had an ailing back and turned the driving duties over to Ingram during a caution period. Already a star on the Grand National circuit, it was a real treat to watch Junior race in a 250 lap feature race along with many local drivers and a few other stars like Cale Yarborough, Rex White and Lee Roy Yarbrough.

 

Oh I'm afraid he saw it. Same body template for everyone, same rear gear etc. . . . same car for everyone. Sure do miss the days when they were real cars. It was death by a thousand blows (the original NASCAR) and yes I blame greedy Brian for it also.

After Junior sold the farm he moved into an exclusive gated community near me (Rick Hendrick and Felix Sabates live there also), would see him being driven around by a buddy in his full size Chevy pickup (Junior couldn't drive anymore), they looked like the two farm boys that they were escaping from the Ferrari Porsche Maserati jungle, looked like plumbers or something.

Godspeed Junior

 

Sorry he’s gone. Got to watch Thunder Road again.

 

NASCAR used to be enjoyable to watch. The whole idea of the same car, chase(what the HELL is that???), and the other stupid antics have me doing other things now. This was a sport about cars and mostly engines. I have nothing against Toyota, but when did they EVER build a stock block push rod V-8??? I guess that’s why it’s no longer called “Stock Car Racing”. Nowadays real racing happens on Friday and Saturday nights at the local dirt tracks.


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There was a video on you tube that had some real good shots of Junior.. I cant find it. It showed him guzzling a beer down while pitting in a 63 Chevy.. You could hear the Duntov cam loping away.

 

Couldn't agree with you more!

 

He was a lucky man, running across the track like that.

 

R.I.P....Definitely one of the good old boys. Had nothing ever handed to him, earned it all. Unlike most of the Nascar drivers today.

 

Very cool video! My first Daytona was two years later.
It's amazing to see the simplicity of the cars and drivers compared to today. Stock trim, interiors, glass, short sleeved shirts, no fancy haulers or pit crews. Ah, the good ol' days!
Thanks for sharing!

 

https://m.nascar.com/video/franchise/all-videos/junior-johnson-1931-2019/

 

God Speed Junior.. RIP..

 

I met Junior a few years ago at Hershey.......one of the nicest guys I have ever come across. No pretenses, just a regular hot rodder. He would take as long as anyone would want to talk about '40 Fords.......we shared something in common. RIP Junior.....

 

Growing up in N.C. own a dairy farm ,the race was always on the barn radio ,on race day.
We would take cows to the county,district ,and state fair for showing. Once about 20 years ago at the Dixie classic fair in Winston-Salem, we were hanging out in the barn before the show.
I had just went out and got a shack of bbq sandwiches ,enough for us and a few extras.
Sitting there having a bite,this older fellow asked how's the bbq?
Looked up to see Juinor Johnson standing there smiling .
I say it's pretty good . I got extras want one?
Junior sat down and said "gotta make this quick don't want the wife to see me eating this I told her id eat better."
Some of the group did not know who that old guy was,said I was nice to share.
He thanked me and I told him I knew who he was and how he was a hero of mine.
He smiled and we shook hands ,wished each other well.
After he left I told the others who they had lunch with . Some surprised some were mad I didn't let them know.
Junior I hope that bbq didn't have anything to do with your passing.
Godspeed old bud .
If they got racing up there start at the back and showem how it's done!

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Thanks for that @rtp, it is those “brushes with our heroes” and personal interaction posts that make the HAMB so great.

 

Junior came from that time period where you didn't pick up the phone and order speed parts, you made your own. I remember talking to an old guy several years ago somewhere in one of the Carolinas, we were talking NASCAR and racing, he told me that he had run with Junior in the early stock car days, and he would often buy Junior's old parts. He said Junior always had some kind of trick stuff, some of it worked, some of it didn't, but he wouldn't sell anything until he had a new design. And he said Junior made some of the best corn whiskey he ever wet his lips with!

RIP Junior.