Junior Johnson Moonshine And Junior Johnson Moonshine Stories Nascar

Junior Johnson Moonshine And Junior Johnson Moonshine Stories Nascar

If Jimmie Johnson finishes 25th or better Sunday, he'll win his record fourth straight championship. (AP)

Jimmie Johnson will never match the feats of Junior Johnson off the track. Few racers could, or should even try.Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. ran illegal booze in North Carolina in the 1950s, invented the bootleg turn --- a 180-degree maneuver to escape the law --- as well as was granted a presidential pardon by Ronald Reagan in 1986 for a 1956 moonshine conviction. And that's only scraping the surface.

Although he won 50 NASCAR races, including the 1960 Daytona 500 and six Winston Cup championships as a team owner, the Last American Hero didn't win a national championship as a driver.

Jimmie Johnson, on the other hand, has caught and passed legends, including Junior Johnson, on the track and could even challenge Richard Petty's and Dale Earnhardt's seven Cup titles apiece for the most in the sport.

On Sunday, Johnson should romp to a record fourth consecutive Sprint Cup championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway in south Florida. He has a 108-point lead over Mark Martin and has only to finish 25th or better --- regardless of Martin's outcome --- in the Ford 400 to join Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon as a four-time champ.

Johnson, a one-time desert truck racer,'s 34 and could drive another 10 or more years.

Boring? I think not.

Johnson's domination in NASCAR's new era is due to hard work, attention to detail and very good equipment. He is superbly skilled on short, intermediate and big tracks. He could road race with the best of them. He is a complete driver and deserves to be ranked among the greats of racing.

When Johnson edges by Cale Yarborough, who also won three titles in a row, this weekend here should be no doubting his place in the sport.

Junior Johnson was nicknamed "The Last American Hero" after Jeff Bridges portrayed him in the 1973 movie of the same name.