North Wilkesboro's wild 'Rush Through the Brush'

North Wilkesboro's wild 'Rush Through the Brush'

Permit me a history lesson, dear readers.

Decades before "The Pass In The Grass" there was "The Rush Through The Brush."

The former involved Dale Earnhardt, the late seven-time champion. The latter involved Junior Johnson, the legendary driver/team owner who, along with Earnhardt, was elected on Oct. 14 to the inaugural class of five inductees into the expansive new NASCAR Hall Of Fame in Charlotte that opens next May.

Of the two feats of fantastic driving, Johnson's was may be the most formidable, although it's much lesser known, lost in the passage of years.

It returns to mind because it occurred at North Wilkesboro Speedway, scheduled to reopen next October after 14 years of inactivity.

Back to the lesson:

The so-called "grass pass" occurred on May 17, 1987, in the all-star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. During a boiling battle for the lead in the final laps, Bill Elliott bumped leader Earnhardt off the pavement exiting the fourth turn.

Earnhardt, who had tangled with Elliott earlier, somehow maintained control of his car while speeding through the grass separating the racing surface as well as pit road. Earnhardt came back onto the track still in front and continued to a controversial victory.

There was no pass in the grass, but someone called the incident that, and the catchy title has endured.

And "The Rush Through The Brush?"

This's the nickname I've taken the liberty of putting on the improbable move made by Johnson at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 18, 1958.

The wild escapade is among many memories that came rolling back with last week's news that the historic track will reopen in October of 2010 with a USA Racing Pro Cup Series event.

Allow me to digress a bit ...

The speedway in Wilkes County, N.C., where racing began in NASCAR's earliest years, closed in 1996. New owners moved the track's two Winston Cup Series dates to bigger venues. One went to New Hampshire International Speedway and the other to Texas Motor Speedway.

During the ensuing years the .625-mile North Wilkesboro track has been shuttered. It's towering Turn Two Grandstand, looming alongside busy United States Highway 421, has served as a stark, sad reminder for stock car racing fans of the speedway's glory days and colorful place in NASCAR lore.

Home-county hero Johnson, who grew up in the Brushy Mountains about 15 miles from the track, give d much of that color. He began his driving career there as a teen-ager, won five times on the house layout after moving up to the major NASCAR tour and posted a record 18 victories before loyal local fans as a team owner.

"I've got great memories, of course, of North Wilkesboro Speedway," Junior said recently. "I have to say that race in 1958 is one of the best."

Not surprising, since it included "The Rush Through The Brush."

Johnson, driving a Ford, was involved in a dandy duel with Chevrolet rival Jack Smith during the early stages of the 160-lap race that spring Sabbath 51 years ago.

Junior took the lead on the 79th lap and steadily pulled away to a half-lap advantage.

Characteristically, the former moonshine hauler refused to back off the throttle and cruise to victory. Johnson, who had only recently been released from federal prison after serving 11 months for manufacturing illegal liquor, kept running as hard as his car would go.

Entering the third turn Johnson overdid it.

He went barreling over an embankment that served as a retaining barrier to keep the race cars on the track.

Here, paraphrased, is how the incident is recounted in "Junior Johnson: Brave In Life," an authorized biography I co-authored with my friend Steve Waid in 1999:

"Junior showed his immense driving talent hadn't diminished in his time away (behind bars). After careening over the embankment he sliced through a patch of weeds and came back on the track ahead of Marvin Panch, who was second at the time.

"A crowd estimated at 6,000 went wild at the sight of the local hero pulling off such a feat."

In the book, Johnson had this description of what happened:

" 'Back then, the newly paved tracks seemed to tear up pretty easily (and North Wilkesboro had recently been transformed from dirt to asphalt). I got into the loose stuff, or pieces of asphalt marbles, and went over the 4-foot high bank. I never touched the brakes. I knew the only chance I had was to keep my speed up to get through that brush and back over the bank, so that's what I did.' "

Junior won by six seconds over Smith, with Rex White third in the lead lap.

Johnson's "brush with the brush" and his full-bore philosophy led to a nickname, "The Wilkes County Wild Man."

His like, and derring-do similar to his bounding-over-the-embankment-and-back-again probably never will be seen at North Wilkesboro Speedway again.

Nevertheless, it's terrific that the track, immensely favorite with fans, will produce the rumbling thunder of race cars again.

I certainly plan to be there.

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Sum of all parts is what put Johnson in inaugural class (NASCAR.com)

Sum of all parts is what put Johnson in inaugural class (NASCAR.com)

Junior Johnson never won a championship as a driver in NASCAR. He won six titles as a car owner, but if that were the fundamental criterion for his election to the sport's nascent Hall of Fame, he'd have to line up beside or behind others like Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress. There is no singular achievement that earned Johnson, now a purveyor of moonshine and country ham, a place in the shrine's inaugural class. Much like the race cars he once built, his sum is greater than his individual parts.

Each of the five men elected to NASCAR's first Hall of Fame class on Wednesday played a role in building the sport, many more obviously than others. Bill France cobbled together a loose confederation of racing organizations and unified them under one sanctioning body. Bill France Jr. transformed a regional tour defined by dirt tracks and small towns into a national series featuring major markets and glitzy speedways. Richard Petty shook every hand, obliged every autograph request, and won over as many hearts and minds outside the car as he did in it. Dale Earnhardt, gritty and relentless, gave those in the grandstands someone who reminded them of themselves.

Junior Junior Johnson was a star both... NASCAR.com -- Oct 17, 12:38 am EDT NASCAR Gallery operate prev_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index > 0) { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index -- 1); } else { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index); }}function next_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index 0) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next); }*/}function goto_photo(p) { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { for(i = 0; i < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos.length; i++) { if (i == p) { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, ); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, none); } } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page) { YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page.innerHTML =(p + 1); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = p; } } update_buttons();}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init = function () { YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_prev, click, prev_photo); YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_next, click, next_photo); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = 0; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page = YAHOO.util.Dom.get(carousel_page); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos = YAHOO.util.Dom.getElementsByClassName(item, div, leadphoto); if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { goto_photo(0); }}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init();

And then there was Johnson, better well-known now by his statistics, those 50 career victories as a driver and six championships as an owner, three every with Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip. He won races, he butted heads, he made enemies, he pushed the rules in his day further than Chad Knaus or Ray Evernham ever dared to.

He had a mysterious, larger-than-life back story that involved running moonshine and serving prison time. No wonder it was Junior Johnson that novelist and social critic Tom Wolfe decided to profile when the white-suited dandy took on the subject of stock-car racing, resulting in his The Last American Hero is Junior Johnson epic that appeared in the pages of Esquire magazine in 1965.

He has no certain accomplishment that matches up to those of his fellow inductees; Johnson did not win seven championships as a driver, or found a sport, or take it national. But the beauty of Junior Johnson is that his greatness defies classification---he was a winning driver, a championship car owner, a master mechanic and engine builder, and through Wolfe a pioneer in shaping NASCAR's national appeal. Johnson wasn't the greatest ever to compete in NASCAR, but he was perhaps the most complete.

"He may have been the only car owner who was ever a jack man. Ever. I able to remember him slinging that jack. He had a technique where he would back away from the jack to go to the other side, and pull it and sling it around the car. I remember one time, we had some footage where he knocked an official on his [butt]. We played that at the banquet in New York," recalled NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter.

"He was the total package. He was an engine builder. He built transmissions. Junior was brilliant when he came to that. He talks about 'the good parts' he'd put back there in the warehouse. And he would build the motor, not a mechanic in his shop."

Through Wolfe, he became a household name. The writer traveled to Wilkes County, N.C., to look Johnson in his element, and the happen was an opus that intertwined whiskey and Southern Baptist preachers and big white Pontiacs and women in tight blue jeans begging Junior to sign their hands.

It pointed out that even then some top drivers traveled in private planes, and even then the money was pretty good relatively speaking, and even then NASCAR raced in California and the Northeast. But the star was clearly Johnson, and the hero-worship that surrounded him, and the dashing, dangerous elements of his twin worlds of auto racing and moonshine.

It got people, individuals who lived in high-rise buildings in big cities, talking about this strange automotive and cultural phenomenon that few of them had ever encountered before. Paul Harvey, a preeminent radio host of the day, told the Johnson story on his program. It spawned a curiosity that had not previously existed.

"It was well-received, and it opened eyes, I think," said Hunter, a sports writer himself before he moved into NASCAR administration. "It created a lot of curiosity, like, is Junior really this way? Is he for real? And sure enough, he's for real."

He's for real, all right. Even now, at 78, with a titanium rod implanted in his back, it's well-to-do to see glimpses of the bulldog driver he once was, of the taskmaster car owner he was known to be, of the perpetual rule-twisting pain in the rump he must have been to NASCAR officials. Which of all his accomplishments would he prefer to have on his headstone? "I'd probably be better to have, 'He didn't cheat as much as everybody thought he did,'" Johnson said. "But that would be a lie. I cheated more than they thought I did."

Oh, could he be a handful. It occasionally got so heated between him and France Jr. that "me and him were sometimes in fistfights," Johnson said. Old-timers well remember his clashes with drivers like Bobby Allison and Geoff Bodine. He won six titles as a car owner, but thinks he could have won many more.

"If I go back and look at what my history was, it would not have been unreasonable for me to win 10 or 12, because I had the equipment, and I had the people to do it with," he said Friday at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "It was just, circumstantial things did not work out the way it should have."

And yet, Johnson is clearly touched by his Hall of Fame selection, calling it the highlight of his already illustrious career. Viewed just in the context of a driver, or a car owner, or a pioneer, it's easy to see Johnson as the fifth man elected in the inaugural five-man class. Put it all together, though, and few could match him. In 1965, Wolfe anointed Johnson as the last American hero. But another of the writer's titles seems to fit Junior Johnson the best: A Man in Full.

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Moonshiners And Revenuers Reunion--WSJ

Moonshiners And Revenuers Reunion--WSJ

By the time ATF agent Bob Powell served in Wilkes County in the 1970s, Junior Johnson had long since left moonshine running for NASCAR.

"Back in Junior's heyday, if I'd been after him I know I'd a caught him," Powell said Tuesday night after a group of former bootleggers drove their vintage cars down a long dirt road in Wilkes County as well as took to a stage to swap tales with retired revenuers.

Johnson laughed when asked about Powell's comment. "I do not know why he couldn't get after me, because I was on the road all the time."

Terri Parsons, the widow of former Winston Cup champion Benny Parsons, organized the light-hearted session as a way to recall the roots of NASCAR.

"They took an illegal occupation and turned it into the number one sport in the country," she said.

Several hundred individuals gathered in a field near the weathered wooden house where Benny Parsons was raised. They sat on hay bales to listen to the stories as smoke curled from a moonshine still set up across the creek.

Sitting in rocking chairs on one side of the stage were bootleggers Junior Johnson, Willie Clay Call, Millard Ashley, Don Call, Dean Combs, James Willard Shew and Clarence Benton. On the other side were retired revenue agents Bob Powell, Bob Gram, Charles Mercer, Will Blocker and Tommy Chapman.

They had shared a meal earlier, eating barbecue. But dinner wasn't filled with the kind of backslapping reminiscences that people saw during the stage show. The moonshiners and revenuers mostly segregated themselves, Powell said later, with no laughter or storytelling. He described it as more a relationship of tolerance than camaraderie.

But the real-life revenuers and bootleggers did enjoy a mutual respect back in the day.

Mercer remembered his last day on the job in 1974, when he staked out Willie Clay Call, a man he called "uncatchable."

Mercer walked for two or three hours behind Call's place, waiting in vain for him, before having a fellow agent pick him up. Then Call came out to visit them. "I understand you're leaving," Mercer remembers Call telling him, then saying, "I really appreciate the way you've done your job."

For those who think that moonshine's a thing of the past, authorities made one of the area's biggest seizures just last week, finding 929 gallons kept in storage, but no still. There's big money in selling moonshine, with people up North purchaseing it as a delicacy or novelty, authorities say. People in Wilkes offer it to trusted visitors.

The lost tax revenue is not so much the issue now, as are health concerns.

In February, authorities seized and blew up the moonshine still that Dean Combs was running in an outbuilding in the shadow of the old North Wilkesboro Speedway. Authorities didn't buy his explanation that the 200 gallons of corn liquor they found was for cold medicine.

Combs said that moonshining was really hard work, lifting sugar and doing the jugging, but the product kept his seasonal allergies at bay.

"Last year I didn't have a bit of problem," he said. "Now I don't know what I'm going to do."

It's hard to imagine deputies and methamphetamine dealers sitting down together decades from now to joke about it all.

But moonshine is different, accepted for centuries as a way for respectable farmers to make extra cash. Alcohol, although a drug, was socially acceptable then and now, in a way that recreational drugs aren't.

Some moonshiners didn't drink alcohol. Some revenue agents did.

Bruce Stewart, an assistant professor of history at Appalachian State University in Boone, writes that the distillers were well-respected members of the community during the Civil War "when the U.S. Congress attempted to balance the national budget by creating the Internal Revenue Service to collect taxes on liquor, tobacco and other 'luxuries.'"

Stewart's book King of the Moonshiners: Lewis R. Redmond in Fact and Fiction tells how writers looking for colorful stories created a myth of a moonshiner hero despite the fact that Redmond shot and killed a U.S. deputy marshal in 1876.

Retired agent Gram said the Wilkes County version of moonshine and revenuers wasn't violent when he was here. "It was like a game," he said. "No guns involved. It was a chase."

As far as who had the best cars, Johnson said it was no contest. "Bootleggers had the best cars," he said. "They had the money to buy the souped-up parts, and there really wasn't no comparison."

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Junior Johnson - The Complete Package

Junior Johnson - The Complete Package

On Wednesday Junior Johnson was one of the first five inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, joining Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Bill France Sr. and Bill France Jr.

Johnson was deeply honored and somewhat shocked to be included in this group of NASCAR pioneers.

"It's probably the greatest thing that's ever happened to me," he said.

Though many have questioned Junior Johnson's inclusion in the first class of NASCAR's Hall of Fame, he's arguably one of the most colorful and successful figures in the history of stock car racing.

Darlington Raceway President Chris Browning echoed this sentiment, saying,

"Junior Johnson was a legendary pioneer in NASCAR first as a successful driver and later going on to own a championship race team."

Johnson was born in Wilkes County, North Carolina and honed his driving skills running moonshine in the rural South. He cultivated his reputation as an outlaw and his antics became legend among his fellow moonshiners. Johnson was known to use police lights and sirens to fool policemen into thinking he was one of them, evading roadblocks and making his escape.

In 1955, Johnson made his move into the world of NASCAR using the driving skills learned on the back roads of North Carolina. In his first full season, he won five races and finished sixth in the 1955 NASCAR Grand National points standings.

His racing career was briefly interrupted in 1956 when federal tax agents caught Johnson working at his father's still and arrested him. He was convicted of moonshining and served 11 months in a federal prison.

In 1958 he returned to NASCAR, picking up where he left off and winning six races. Johnson soon became known as one of the best short-track racers in the sport.

Junior Johnson went on to achieve great success as a driver with 50 wins such as the second Daytona 500 in 1960. He has been credited with discovering the drafting technique which was fast adopted by other drivers and is still used at superspeedways today.

Johnson retired from racing in 1966 and went on to become one of the most successful car owners in NASCAR history, winning six Cup championships, third only to Petty Enterprises and Hendrick Motorsports.

Junior Johnson exemplifies the heart and soul of NASCAR. From his humble beginnings on a farm in North Carolina to his Hall of Fame status today, his life could serve as a road map to any aspiring racer.

Rick Humphrey, President of Talladega Superspeedway, summed up Johnson's legacy.

"Junior Johnson," he said, "showed the masses that ingenuity and hard work pays off on the racetrack and in the owner's seat."

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Moonshine Madness at Bourbon House and Beyond

Moonshine Madness at Bourbon House and Beyond

Steve Schul and Paul Zablocki (Cocktail Buzz) ply their love for cocktails, mixology, and food pairings on their Web site, Cocktail Buzz and their blog "Buzzings" with videos that offer demonstrations of cocktail/appetizer pairings, recipes for meals to follow your cocktail, as well as a reviews of cocktail bars and restaurants in NYC and other cities.

Piedmont Distillers, the producer of the hand-crafted Catdaddy and Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon Carolina Moonshines, has paired up with Dickie Brennan's world-famous Bourbon House to bring you a spirited lunch. Yes, a spirited lunch at which you can celebrate all your happinesses (or drown all your sorrows) in a beguiling batch of 'shine cocktails while chomping on a little of delectable Southern cuisine.

catdaddyjunior-johnsons-midnight-moon1
Marrying Moonshine and Southern Cuisine

Joe Michalek, Founder of Piedmont Distillers, give s the raison d'etre for the marriage: "Catdaddy and Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon both have a rich history founded in America's moonshine past. But, they are two high-quality, ultra-smooth spirits. Hosting a Spirited Lunch at Tales seemed like a great way to share your story and give people a chance to experience how far moonshine has come in the last several years."

Piedmont Distillers Copper Column Still
Piedmont Distillers Copper Column Still

Last year at Tales, we stumbled into the Piedmont Distiller's Tasting Room, and tried many Midnight Moon kissed with a drop of water (it is indeed smooth, and as we later discovered, complete for infusing your favorite fruits, herbs, and spices), followed by a chaser of Catdaddy peach tea. Instantly drawn to the uniqueness of the Catdaddy (it tastes like no other flavored spirit, some likening it to cake frosting, bubble gum, and custard), we were eager to make some cocktails with it. That's where Sarah Leroy, Piedmont Distiller's Director of Marketing, comes into the picture, providing serendipity.

Sarah invited us to create three cocktails for the Bourbon House luncheon that's focusing on Southern food traditions, e.g. three of our favorites: catfish, pork, and cornbread. Add to the mix the two moonshines, and you'll find yourself fe^ted with a panoply of reimagined southern trimmings in what Piedmont Distillers and Bourbon House are calling "From Down-Home to Downtown: A Lunch Celebrating the Evolution of Southern Traditions." Says Sarah, "We're so excited to partner with Bourbon House. Chef Darin and the rest of the Bourbon House team have done an amazing job bringing to life the 'down-home to downtown' theme. The menu Chef Darin has created reinterprets southern food mainstays and compliments the flavors of Catdaddy and Midnight. I believe the menu will even include a couple of sauces and marinades made from Catdaddy and Midnight. I think we're all in for a real treat and I expect the lunch to be a fun afternoon filled with delicious food and tasty cocktails."

The Adam, to be served with corn-crusted riverside catfish, at the Bourbon House--Piedmont Distillers Luncheon.
The Adam, to be served with corn-crusted riverside catfish, at the Bourbon House--Piedmont Distillers Luncheon.

What's for Lunch?

And what a menu: The first course, corn-crusted riverside catfish fried and served with lima bean succotash and Catdaddy tartar, will be paired with a tempting variation of the bloody mary we call Adam, made with seasoned tomato water and Midnight Moon. The second course, a pork confit hash (cane syrup and Junior Johnson's Moonshine-glazed pork confit, served over hash with smoked hominy), will find itself paired with a sweet-and sour-cocktail made with Catdaddy and bourbon dubbed the Kitty Carlisle (named, of course, after the famed New Orleans native). And if that is not enough, for dessert Chef will prepare a molasses and cornmeal custard with Creole cream cheese ice cream. We're pairing this mouthful of love with The Maltese, a concoction of Catdaddy and creamy molasses.

The Kitty Carlisle, to be served with moonshine-glazed pork confit.
The Kitty Carlisle, to be served with moonshine-glazed pork confit.

Says Chef Darin, "Our menu was inspired by the roots of the moonshine business-corn and rural Southern food laid the foundation. We're incorporating foods that are associated with Appalachian cooking, and applying our own New Orleans twist . . . using the confit technique on pork, incorporating Louisiana cane syrup and creating a Creole cream cheese ice cream for the molasses and cornmeal custard. The flavor profiles of these dishes will be enhanced by Paul and Steve's moonshine cocktails."

When presented with Chef Darin's menu, we had two targets in mind. The first was obvious: the drinks had to pair well with the food. Our second goal, however, allowed us to be poetical: we wanted each cocktail to be a part of a progression of flavor sensations. So we'll begin with savory, move on to sweet and sour, and culminate with bittersweet.
Piedmont Distillers Tasting Room

The Kitty Hawk Cocktail, to be served at the Piedmont Distillers Tasting Room.
The Kitty Hawk Cocktail, to be served at the Piedmont Distillers Tasting Room.

And if you do not make it to the luncheon, but want to try some old-school alchemy applied to these new-world 'shines, then stop by the Tasting Room on Friday and we'll craft you some icy cold cocktails. You'll have four early libations to sample, some inspired by such classics as the Aviation (with cre`me de violette), Moscow Mule, and the Sidecar, and one that celebrates National Blueberry Month. Blueberries are at their peak in July, so we honor that by giving you a drink that'll honor these lovely berries bursting with their sweet, tart juice. We may even throw in another for good measure.

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There goes the weekend: big moonshine bust

There goes the weekend: big moonshine bust

State Alcohol Law Enforcement agents busted a Wilkesboro man and seized 929 gallons of moonshine, plus a large amount of sugar and different items. Roger Lee Nance, 1117 Shew Ridge Mission Road, been charged with possession of non-tax paid liquor.

This is one of the biggest seizures of white liquor I've seen come out of the mountains in my career," ALE Director John Ledford said in a press release. "I commend the agents who were able to make this arrest. While tax-paid liquor is regulated and inspected, illegal distilleries are typically made in unhealthy conditions that could possibly lead to exposure to lead and other problems."

Another former North Carolina moonshiner, ex-NASCAR driver Junior Johnson, has since gone legit with his distilled liquor, Midnight Moon. It'll put hair on your chest.

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Is 'The Last American Hero' a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

Is 'The Last American Hero' a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

Two legends collided when author Tom Wolfe famously chronicled NASCAR driver Junior Johnson in a 1965 Esquire article entitled 'The Last American Hero.'

The piece married Wolfe, a pioneer in the literary New Journalism style of reporting, with Johnson, the South's most famous bootlegger.

With Wolfe's status long affirmed by the establishment, now it's Johnson's crack at racing's official greatest honor.

Today, NASCAR Hall of Fame voters will gather in Charlotte to pick the first five inductees. The winners will be enshrined in the new facility, scheduled to open next May.

Observers agree on three first-ballot favorites: drivers Richard Petty as well as Dale Earnhardt, and NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. They are among 25 nominees, which include Johnson.

Part of Johnson's legend came from the track: Hands-down, he's one of NASCAR's most successful drivers and team owners.

But the different part comes from his story, of running moonshine along the mountain roads of Wilkes County, about 90 minutes north of Charlotte.

Johnson's tale is well-known, in books and television shows, even an outdoor drama called "Moonshine and Thunder - The Junior Johnson Story." A 1973 movie shared the title of the Wolfe article.

Wolfe's Esquire piece explored how Wilkes County came to be known as the "Bootleg capital of America." At one point, Wolfe describes Johnson standing at his family's Ingle Hollow homeplace as he "motions his hand out toward the hills and says, "I'd say nearly everybody in a fifty-mile radius of there was in the whiskey business at one time or another."

Johnson, who served time for his role in the business, could say the same thing today.

Earlier this year, state agents charged Dean Combs, a former NASCAR driver and crew chief for Johnson, with producing moonshine.


Agents and Wilkes County sheriff's deputies said they found a 300-gallon still in a shop building on property owned by Combs, 57. The still was behind a go-kart track near the North Wilkesboro Speedway, not far from Johnson's home.

But that's where the parallel journeys of Johnson and Combs end.

Shortly after the raid, court records show, Combs pleaded guilty to possession of non-tax paid alcohol and making alcohol with a permit, both misdemeanors. Other charges were dismissed.

Recall what happened to Johnson, now 78. In 1956, after federal agents caught him working his father's Wilkes County still, he was sentenced to two years in federal prison in Ohio.

If Wolfe had a vote today, he might remind NASCAR's Hall why that's reason enough to pick Johnson, a man with a story from another time:

"And the Detroit P.R. men themselves come to the tracks like folk worshipers and the millions go giddy with the thrill of speed. Only Junior Johnson goes about it as if it were...the usual. Junior goes on down to Atlanta for the Dixie 400 and drops by the Federal penitentiary to see his Daddy. His Daddy is in on his fifth illegal distillery conviction; in the whiskey business that's just part of it; an able craftsman, an able businessman, and the law kept hounding him, that was all. So Junior drops by and then goes on out to the track and gets in his new Ford and sets the qualifying speed record for Atlanta Dixie 400, 146.301 m.p.h.; later on he tools on back up the road to Ingle Hollow to tend to the automatic chicken houses and the road-grading operation. Yes."

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MadMayo Running Club Group Run on November 21

MadMayo Running Club Group Run on November 21

Join the MMRC gang on Saturday, November 21, at 10 a.m. for your next group run. Meet in downtown Madison at the intersection of Murphy and Dalton Streets (near Piedmont Distillers.) We'll run three miles (give or take) around the metropolis of Madison. There will be a couple of hills, as well as a scenic stretch along the Dan River.

We've timed this group run to coincide with ShineFest, which is the brainchild of the Southern Culture Society, so you may want to hang out in downtown Madison for the day to enjoy old-time music, arts and crafts, BBQ (woot!), adult beverages, and even meet racing and moonshine legend Junior Johnson! Honestly, any time MMRC could schedule a group run around BBQ, moonshine, and Junior Johnson is a banner day. Join us! The full press release with meeting info is below.

MadMayo Running Club Group Run: November 21, 2009

MadMayo Running Club, a newly (and loosely!) organized group of runners based in Madison and Mayodan, invites runners of all levels to its next group run, on Saturday, November 21, at 10 a.m.

Join the MMRC gang for a fun and sometimes hilly three-mile run around Madison. Afterward, you might want to hang out in town for the day to enjoy old-time music, arts and crafts, and BBQ at ShineFest, hosted by the good folks at the Southern Culture Society. Rumor has it racing and moonshine legend Junior Johnson will be in town!

Who: Runners of all abilities and speeds
What: MadMayo Running Club 3-Mile Group Run
When: Saturday, November 21, 10:00 a.m.
Where: Meet at intersection of Murphy and Dalton St. (near Piedmont Distillers)
Why: Burn a few calories before pigging out on BBQ. Door prizes!
Cost: All MMRC group runs are free!

(Note: MMRC is not affiliated with or sponsored by ShineFest or the Southern Culture Society. We just love a good festival---especially when BBQ is involved!)

MadMayo Running Club (MadMayoRunningClub.com) welcomes runners, joggers, trotters, and walkers of all ages and abilities. From beginning joggers to hardcore marathoners, everyone's invited! MMRC is based in Madison/Mayodan in Rockingham County, but members can live anywhere. To find out about scheduled group runs and different club events, visit MadMayoRunningClub.com or email info@madmayorunningclub.com.

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Junior Johnson Moonshine NASCAR

Junior Johnson Moonshine NASCAR

MADISON, N.C. -- -- NASCAR legend Junior Johnson'll host the inaugural Carolina 'ShineFest in Madison, N.C. Saturday, Nov. 21-Sunday, Nov. 22 it was announced today. Johnson, recently selected to the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, will appear during both days of the event.

The Carolina 'ShineFest will entertain, teach and honor important parts of North Carolina's historical and cultural past. The event will focus on North Carolina's rich Moonshine history while allowing event attendees to get a glimpse of the history that led to the creation of stock car racing.

During the Prohibition era, 1920-'33, making illegal white liquor (moonshine) was prevalent throughout the country, but nowhere was it more a part of the cultural fabric than in North Carolina. Although Federal Prohibition was repealed in 1933, many states continued prohibition for many years and some areas of the country continue to prohibit the sale and consumption today.

Most North Carolina moonshiners were craftsmen who took pride in the quality of the spirits they produced; the quality of the product created by Johnson and his father was legendary. When Prohibition ended, many moonshiners and bootleggers, including the Johnsons, continued to practice their trade without paying taxes making moonshine illegal once again. North Carolina has long been well-known as the "Moonshine Capital of the World."

"The Carolina 'ShineFest is a great idea, and I'm surprised it took so long for it to happen," Johnson said. "Moonshine has been a part of this part of the country for a long time. We've gone from running from the law to selling a legal product that's a great drink; I think your Midnight Moon is the best Moonshine ever. It's about time we told the story of moonshining to the individuals who live around here. I'm proud to host this moonshine festival; it'll be a great event with something for everyone to enjoy."

All proceeds from Carolina 'ShineFest will profit the Southern Culture Society, a non-profit organization located in Winston-Salem, N.C. whose mission is to celebrate, promote and educate people on the cultural richness of the American South; specifically its music, food, art, crafts, spirits and car racing. Through its community involvement and help of other like-minded charities, the Southern Culture Society strives to keep these regional treasures alive, educate people on their roots and celebrate that which is uniquely Southern.

Carolina 'ShineFest is open to the general public, and admission is free. The event is open from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21 and from Noon until 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 22. The Carolina 'ShineFest will be a fun-filled, family event as well as a complete way to kick off Thanksgiving week and the upcoming holiday season. Festival attractions include:

? Appearances by moonshine and NASCAR legend Junior Johnson from 3 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 2 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

? Appearances by Robert Johnson, Junior's son, who has begun his racing career with five wins in his first 13 races.

? Tours of Piedmont Distillers, the exclusively legal distillery in North Carolina.

? A large collection of authentic moonshine bootlegging cars.

? Drivers and race cars from the legendary Flathead Ford Racing Association.

? Authentic race cars will be on display showing the evolution of the NASCAR stock car racing -- from its bootlegging roots to today -- from the Winston Cup Museum in Winston-Salem, N.C.

? Music by rising country-music star Matt Stillwell, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Possum Jenkins, Bruce Piephoff & Band, Piedmont Blues Preservation Society member Matt Hill and Music Maker Relief Foundation artist Pat Cohen.

? The finest North Carolina Barbeque and other central North Carolina culinary delights.

? Locally crafted beverages including: Moonshine cocktails made with Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon and Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine, Magic Hat Brewery beer, Autumn Creek Vineyard Wine and soft drinks from Cheerwine.

? A marketplace showcasing North Carolina's best arts and crafts

? A kids entertainment area

The Carolina 'ShineFest has been made possible through the generous support of many local businesses including Piedmont Distillers, producer of Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon and Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine, Cheerwine, AKA Entertainment & Media, Henderson-Bromstead Art, Autumn Creek Vineyards, The Winston Cup Museum, Junior Johnson Brands, Thunder Road Harley Davidson, Buck's Satellite (Direct TV), Magic Hat Brewery, Chinqua Penn Plantation, BB&T, Cellular Sales (Verizon) and Carolina Carports.

The Carolina 'ShineFest is being produced in partnership with AKA Entertainment & Media of Greensboro, N.C. AKA Entertainment & Media has produced large festivals in Eden, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Zebulon, N.C. For more information about AKA Entertainment & Media, please visit www.aka-entertainment.com. For more information regarding the Carolina 'ShineFest or the Southern Culture Society, please visit www.carolinashinefest.com.

About Junior Johnson:

Like many of the other early stock car racers, Junior Johnson grew-up tending to the family's whiskey business. He helped his father work the copper stills during the day and developed his incredible driving skills by running shine at night. Junior combined his understanding of how to make a car run flat-out with his legendary driving skill to become one of the most successful drivers and owners in racing history. As a NASCAR driver, Johnson won 50 races and 49 poles. He is tied with Ned Jarrett for 10th place on the all-time victory list. After retiring from driving, the legendary driver became a legendary team owner. His drivers won 139 races and six series championships. Cale Yarborough won three straight titles for Johnson in 1976, '77 and '78. Darrell Waltrip won the other three championships in 1981, '82 and '85. Prior to their broadcasting careers, both Jeff Hammond of FOX Sports and Tim Brewer of ESPN won multiple championships as crew chiefs for Johnson. Junior Johnson was recently honored as one of the first five inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame Class of 2010 includes Johnson and other NASCAR legends, Bill France, Sr., Bill France, Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Sr., Richard Petty, and will be officially inducted in a ceremony on May 23, 2010 at the Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC.

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Jimmie Johnson's Road to American Hero

Jimmie Johnson's Road to American Hero

With Jimmie Johnson positioned to become the first racer in history to win four consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championships, FanHouse motorsports writer Holly Cain took a trip to his hometown outside San Diego last week. This is the first of a two-part series looking at the unlikely start for a stock car great.

EL CAJON, Calif. -- The neighborhood sits just beyond a miniature horse farm, up Crest Mountain in unincorporated El Cajon, where dusty pick-up trucks buzz by impatiently, dirt bikes strapped in their truck beds.

A convenience store serves as grocer as well as shares space with Lenardo Pizzeria -- a five-table local's favorite. A block away Nancy Jane County Park -- about half the size of a football field -- is surrounded randomly by brand new, half-million dollar homes and decades-old tiny block cottages with overgrown weeds and old cars parked in what would be a lawn, except it's completely dirt.

This is a blue-collar community of four-wheelers, off-road trucks and dirt bikes only 20 minutes -- but a world away -- from the Mercedes Benz and BMWs crowding San Diego proper.

A couple houses up an incline from the park, your eyes are drawn to an impeccably manicured corner lot where next to the three pick-ups in the driveway there is a 20-foot flagpole carrying a huge American flag. Under it, an equally large flag flies the blue No. 48 and Lowe's Home Improvement store logo.

This modest community of Crest -- 30 minutes north of the Mexican border -- is where Jimmie Johnson grew up -- an unlikely launching point for someone who is one race away -- one 25th-place finish Sunday at the season finale in Homestead, Fla. away - from becoming the first person in good ol' NASCAR history to claim four consecutive Sprint Cup championships.

To fully appreciate how far Johnson has come, it helps to grasp where he started.

"The best way I'd describe this area is to say it's a place where everything has been earned and worked for,'' said Jake Gaeir, an assistant principal at Granite Hills High School, from where Johnson, a former varsity water polo player, diver and swimmer, graduated in 1993.

It's become a bit of NASCAR folklore that the humble Johnson once lived in a trailer park. And his background is modest, but the reality is Crest is more like a neighborhood of parked trailers.

For many of the approximately 1,000 individuals that live here, the trailers are recreational -- mobile weekend homes for the hard-working 9-to-5ers. For many, they were forced sanctuaries. Some of Johnson's former neighbors had to live in trailers while their charred homes were rebuilt.

High-school photos of Jimmie Johnson

In 2003, Nancy Jane Park was a command post during a particularly cruel Southern California wildfire season that claimed more than 200 homes in the area.

Flames came within yards of burning down Johnson's childhood home. And without fanfare he acted as any reasonable, thoughtful person with great resources would: he immediately sent help to his neighbors.

Johnson donated money and enlisted the help of his race team sponsor Lowe's. Three years ago, Johnson donated his entire winner's paycheck from a victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway to the fire relief fund. And since then, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation has partnered with Habitat for Humanity in building four completely new homes for families displaced in the fires.

The resulting disparity in the community's homes is a vivid because of those forced to build new -- and a vivid reminder of how one of their own generously and without hesitation gave back.

"Jimmie Johnson is something, you know,'' said Lenardo Pizzeria owner who goes simply by, "Sam". "Everyone here is a friend of Jimmie Johnson's because everyone knows he has a good heart.''

It's a typical response from people everywhere you roam in El Cajon. Lunchroom diners at the city's Downtown Cafe, who admittedly might not follow NASCAR, are still quick to celebrate their hometown kid.

And yet elsewhere Johnson suffers from a uniquely NASCAR disease. Despite proving himself a winner on the track -- 47 Sprint Cup victories -- and good guy off it, many of the sport's fans are still slow to give him his due. Those that say he's too polished, too polite, too fortunate, might find they have more in frequent with Johnson than they realize.

Mark Martin's father owned a large trucking company; Johnson's father drove a large truck.

Jeff Gordon's stepfather moved the family from Northern California to Indiana just so Gordon could meet an age requirement to race. Johnson's father moved his sons -- Jimmie and two younger brothers -- into the desert when he delivered and serviced tires for BF Goodrich in the Baja 1000.

If they gave Johnson a chance, even those hard-core, gotta win-me-over fans might discover someone who is simply genuine and happy and genuinely happy. Because at 34 years old and on the verge of making sports history, he has already far exceeded any of his own expectations.

And he's making sure to enjoy the ride - no matter how bumpy or atypical it was out of the gates.

"If even five years ago you stood back and said there would be a driver from San Diego who used to race off-road trucks and he's going to be one of the biggest champions in NASCAR, you would have had people laugh in your face,'' said National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag racer Ron Capps, a friend of Johnson's who has lived in the area for decades.

"To come where he's come from and not from a lot a money, it's even more impressive.

"Think about it, the NASCAR world has always been the good ol' boy network and here's a guy rewriting its history, basically he's infiltrated that network without having a name like Petty or Earnhardt or Wood brothers.

"You'd think the fans ought to feel lucky they have him as a champion. He's such a great guy, so down to earth. Here's someone who has reason to have become a jerk or an ego monster and everyone that knows him'll tell you he hasn't changed one bit with all the success.''

That's greatly due to the fact that Johnson wasn't raised that way. And he's earned every smile he offers, worked hard for each success in the most competitive era his sport has ever seen.

Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports has created an organizational dynasty and Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, is regarded as a strategical guru, but Johnson's still the guy driving the car. How able to you argue with four wins in nine Chase races this year and a championship rate that will climb to 50 percent should he clinch Sunday.

"People don't realize how hard he worked, how much he wants it,'' his dad, Gary Johnson, said. "People think he was given things. Heck, we had one bathroom in your house in Crest. I remember at one time I had four motorcycles parked in the master bedroom with my alarm clock resting on top of one.

"We could have had a big fancy house, but we chose to spend money on things that we could do as a family."

After Johnson won his first Cup championship in 2006, Granite Hills High Principal Georgette Torres invited him to a school assembly where his car number 48 was retired from all Eagle sports teams uniforms and Johnson was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Torres once coordinated Johnson's independent studies while he raced as a teenager and is an "original" member of the Jimmie Johnson Fan Club from the early 1990s.

"Back then, it was more like fund-raising,'' Torres tells with a broad smile. "We were raising money so he could go race in the desert.''

When Johnson -- voted a member of the 1993 Homecoming Court -- came back to address the almost 3,000 students gathered at the school's football stadium, he entered the track driving his famous No. 48 Chevrolet and couldn't resist finishing off the entrance with a loud, smoke-filled burnout that brought the cheering stadium crowd of teenagers to its feet.

"When he climbed out of the car, he gave me that same look I remember, that smile, and said, 'Sorry Miss Torres, but I've always wanted to do that,'' Torres recalled, obviously still amused.

"And all I could do was smile and say, 'It's okay, Jimmie.'

"He's such a positive role model and with today's athletes and superstars that's not always the case. With Jimmie, it's always the case.

"He's just genuinely a good kid. And we're proud of him here in El Cajon.''

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Annual Carolina Shine Fest

Annual Carolina Shine Fest

(Madison, NC) Mix in a little clear skies, mild tempertures, good music, classic & Shine-Runners cars, Several 100 people, a little of food, many spirits, as well as Junior Johnson.....What Do You Get? The 1st Annual Carolina Shine Fest, held in Madison, NC. Madison, home to Piedmont Distillers, who organized the weekend festival, gave tours of their distillery, where Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine and Junior Johnson Midnight Moonshine is distilled and bottled.

The RCENO.com cameras were at the festival earlier today, and below you will find a photo gallery and a short video of the activities, featuring Possum Jenkins performing one of their songs.

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Junior Johnson as well as Moonshine

Junior Johnson as well as Moonshine

Has anyone tried Junior Johnson's Moonshine? Having worked with Junior on Budweiser Racing and again on Winston Cup, I'd love to look this product do well. When I was the Vice-Chairman at Doe Anderson I asked Junior to come in to the agency and talk about NASCAR since we were handling 8 nascar teams and doing the Winston Cup work at the time.

Junior was awesome and gave an amazing talk. One story he told, was about how he had filled the frame tubing of his car with little steel ball bearings so they would move as the car moved and support the car with cornering. He said it was working great until he crashed and the little ball bearings spilled out all over the track, causing some crashes which the track announcer said was due to the oil spill coming from Juniors car!

Another story he told us about was how he was winning the race and he was told by his crew over the radio that NASCAR was going to inspect his car's engine as soon as he won the race, well Junior early he couldn't let that happen so as he passed the finish line he put it in first and blew his engine. Needles to say there was nothing for NASCAR to inspect.

And now for my last reason to run out and try Junior's moonshine. When my kids were at Forsyth Country Day (elementary school) Junior and his wife joined the school, Junior had a 2 year old while in his late 60's. If that's not reason enough to purchase a bottle, nothing else will.

Here is a great quote from Junior:"Most people do not have the guts to live the life I've lived, and most people who have the guts don't have the sense."

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American Moonshine

American Moonshine

On another raining weekend we decided to explore the bar and see what interesting items we hadn't opened. Viola, instantly many different bottles of whiskey appeared - either straight corn whiskey or labeled "moonshine". Why not a comparative tasting. Within our collection were:

1. Virginia Lightening distilled by Belmont Farm Distillery in Culpeper Virginia. This 100% corn whiskey is double distilled in a copper pot still and diluted to 100 proof.
2. Mountain Moonshine distilled by West Virginia Distilling Company from Morgantown, West Virginia. Although labeled as moonshine, this is a 80-20 blend of grain neutral spirits and corn. After careful blending, we add oak chips that have been roasted to just the right color. The whiskey is aged slightly in oak chips.
3. Catdaddy distilled by Piedmont Distillers, Inc. in Madison, North Carolina. This whiskey is made from 100% corn and is triple distilled in copper pot stills with a couple of secret ingredients added.
4. Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon, also from Piedmont Distillers, Inc. is again triple distilled in copper pot stills, but containing neutral grain spirits.
5. Platte Valley Corn Whiskey distilled by McCormick Distilling and is 100% straight corn whiskey distilled in Illinois and aged for three years.

We tasted every whiskey neat, then added a little water to dampen the alcohol. Overall, there were many interesting products - but the overall favorite was clearly the Platte Valley Corn Whiskey. Maybe it was the aging three years - but this corn whiskey is extremely smooth with little burn even before adding water. It has the sweet corn aroma and flavor expected from corn whiskey and a smooth - smooth finish. The Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon was close, but this moonshine is more characteristic of a vodka. It was also extremely smooth - but didn't possess much aroma or flavor - probably a good candidate for a mixing. It's sibling, Catdaddy, was very interesting. Its spicy character resembled the botanicals in gin; it also reminded us a little of something more suited to Christmas time. Interesting - but not a corn whiskey we'd want to sip after a hard day at work. The Virginia Lightening took a little work to bring forth its true flavors. While drinking neat, the whiskey produces a major burn, which camouflages completely sensations. However, by dousing with a couple of drops of water, the sweet corn aromas and flavor appear and it turns into a nice, drinkable whiskey. Knowing his secret makes it worth supporting a local producer. Finally, the Mountain Moonshine just wasn't so good. Even after adding water, the whiskey produced a healthy burn - surprising considering the oak chips and grain composition. We will be using this one in Bloody Marys.

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NASCAR's founding fuel – moonshine – still a bond

NASCAR's founding fuel – moonshine – still a bond



PURLEAR, N.C. – The sun was sinking behind the hillside at the old Parsons homeplace, a couple of miles outside North Wilkesboro. The scent of wood smoke was in the air when the sound of sirens pierced the chill of late afternoon.

Junior Johnson was coming up the road in a black moonshine car, a 1940 Ford, and revenuers were in the area. It was a made-for-TV moment Tuesday, the takeoff of an evening of storytelling intended to evoke memories of the days when Johnson and others ran illegal liquor from their stills to towns and cities throughout the Carolinas and Virginia.

Moonshining was a part of the culture in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and it played a role in the evolution of stock-car racing.

The NASCAR on show at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Saturday night's Banking 500 was created by Bill France Sr., who organized races on the sand at Daytona Beach, Fla. France then spiked the sport with moonshine runners who learned to drive on the twisting, two-lane roads that run through Wilkes County and on tiny tracks speckled through the South.

The men who delivered the moonshine understood that getting caught meant going jail. To avoid that, they relied on stealth and speed, horsepower and nerve. They transformed their boxy cars into hot rods, so that even if government agents were chasing them, they could outrun and outdrive them.

“Bootleggers had the best cars,” Johnson said. “There was very no comparison.”

France heard through his connections about the men who drove moonshine cars, and as his racing empire expanded, he and others recruited them to drive. Johnson was the best known but far from the only driver with a bootlegging background.

“We had the money and we had the fastest cars, and Bill France wouldn't leave till he got your money and our cars,” Johnson said, recalling the unofficial but undeniable link between NASCAR, its founder and the illegal liquor business.

On Wednesday, Johnson was one of five men elected to the first class of inductees into the new NASCAR Hall of Fame. He earned the distinction for winning 50 races as a driver and six championships as a team owner. It was running moonshine, though, that made Johnson fast.

On the evening before his election, Johnson joined other former moonshiners and a little of of the government agents who chased them in Purlear, 90 miles northwest of Charlotte, to trade stories about their hide-and-seek game.

For an hour, they sat in white rocking chairs in front of the decaying brown frame of the 108-year-old house that once belonged to the great-grandmother of the late NASCAR star Benny Parsons, whose grave site was on the hill above them.

As part of a private, fundraising event, the men told stories about a business – and its dangers – that continues today in the dense, tree-covered hills of Wilkes County. Just last weekend, agents confiscated 929 gallons of moonshine in North Wilkesboro.

In the same way grainy, black-and-white images of cars racing on Daytona Beach illustrate NASCAR's beginnings, the almost romantic image of mountain men running souped-up cars through the night, evading law enforcement, has its own page in racing's story.

“So numerous people tried to muffle it at first,” Humpy Wheeler, former president of Speedway Motorsports, said. “This is definitely a part of the heritage. It wasn't completely of it, but it had a huge part with getting it started.”

To get their product to Asheville, Charlotte, Virginia Beach and elsewhere, mountain moonshiners such as Willie Clay Call and James Willard Shew needed fast cars and men to drive them.

They discovered high-performance car parts – superchargers and larger pistons – on the West Coast that could be shipped to North Carolina. Pretty soon, the moonshiners learned to make their own parts, and built cars that were too fast for the authorities chasing them. “I've never seen (a motor) I couldn't make better,” Johnson said.

Fast cars kept the moonshiners in business.

“Most times, I got away when I was in a car,” said Call, who like most of the other former moonshiners, wore overalls. “They caught 'em sitting still when they caught 'em.”

Johnson learned to drive on the back roads when he was 12, running 'shine for his father, Robert, who spent nearly 20 of his 63 years in jail. Junior Johnson spent more than 11 months in jail on moonshine charges in the mid-1950s, but he received a full pardon from President Reagan in 1986.

Johnson, now 78, gets credit for inventing a 180-degree “moonshine turn” to avoid capture. He says he would drop the car into low gear, cut the wheel hard, spin around and head back toward the pursuing cars.

“Whoever had the most guts made it,” Johnson said, grinning. “I usually went right between 'em. Doing a 180, if you messed up with that, they got you.”

In 1964, writer Tom Wolfe came south and profiled Johnson, calling him the Last American Hero. At the time, NASCAR lived in places like Darlington and Rockingham and was hardly known outside the South.

Then Johnson showed up on the cover of Esquire magazine, and stock car racing, which had been confined to the South, was introduced to the nation.

“It was like landing on the moon for us,” Wheeler said. “(Johnson) is so Americana, so Southern and so mountain.

“The West had Kit Carson and Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp. We had Junior Johnson.”

As darkness descended on the valley on Tuesday, the show ended and the men signed their white rocking chairs. The proceeds from auctioning the chairs – in the thousands of dollars – were donated to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Johnson was asked if he thinks often about those nights when he sped down twisting two-lane highways, his car stacked with illegal liquor.

“Yes, I do,” Johnson said. “I enjoyed it. I wouldn't take nothing for the days that I was in the whiskey business and I wouldn't take nothing for the days I was in the racing business.”

Are there times when he's tempted to take a turn faster than he should, just to remember the thrill of it?

“I do it once in a while,” he said.

Does the Last American Hero still have it when he's behind the wheel?

“Not like I did have,” Johnson said.

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Junior Johnson: Great driver, great Wikipedia entry

Junior Johnson: Great driver, great Wikipedia entry

Racing legend Junior Johnson was among five recently voted to be the inaugural Nascar Hall of Fame class. I consider myself a Nascar fan, but I admit to not knowing much about its history. Before reading Johnson's Wikipedia entry, the only things I knew about him were 1) he was a Nascar pioneer; 2) he might or may not have been a moonshine runner; and 3) there's a label of pork rinds named after him.

Anyway, here's my favorite paragraph from his entry after the jump:

Johnson was born in Wilkes County, North Carolina, the son of Lara Belle Money and Robert Glenn Johnson, Sr.[1] He grew up on a farm and, like numerous of the pioneers of stock car racing, developed his driving skills running moonshine as a young man. He consistently outran and outwitted local police and federal agents in auto chases, and he was never caught while delivering moonshine to customers. Johnson became something of a legend in the rural South, where his driving expertise and "outlaw" image was much admired. Johnson is credited with inventing the "bootleg turn," in which a driver escapes a pursuer by sharply putting his speeding car into a 180-degree turn on the highway, then speeding off in the opposite direction before his pursuer could turn around. Johnson was known to purchase and use police lights and sirens to fool policemen who had set up roadblocks into thinking that he was a fellow policeman; upon hearing his approach, the police would quickly remove the roadblocks, allowing Johnson to escape with his moonshine.

I've never done anything in my life that's half as cool as any word in that paragraph. Among the different things I learned about Junior Johnson: 1) He's still alive; 2) he served 11 months in prison for moonshining; 3) Ronald Reagan eventually pardoned him to remove the arrest from his record; and 4) he actually owns that brand of pork rinds. Bless you, Junior.

It's also nice to see North Carolina well-represented in the Nascar Hall of Fame class. In addition to Johnson being from Wilkes County, Dale Earnhardt was from Kannapolis and Richard Petty is from Level Cross over in Randolph County. As Jimmie Johnson moves seemingly unstoppable toward his fourth straight title, it's good to remember that before Johnson and Gordon and the rest of the California crew, Nascar was N.C. through and through.

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Junior Johnson - Last American Hero Is Hall of Famer

Junior Johnson - Last American Hero Is Hall of Famer

CONCORD, N.C. -- Smiling ear-to-ear, 78-year old Junior Johnson declared his selection for the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class "the biggest thing that's ever happened to me" in a storied career that included 50 race wins as a driver and six Cup championships as a team owner.

When asked if being a Hall of Famer was how he'd most want to be remembered, the single recognition he'd like on his headstone one day, Johnson deadpanned with a twinkle in his eye, "I'd want it to say, 'He didn't cheat as much as everyone thought he did.' ...

"But that would be a lie too," Johnson added as the room filled with laughter.

The subject of the great Tom Wolfe classic, "The Last American Hero," Johnson wasn't able to attend the Hall of Fame announcement ceremony Wednesday in downtown Charlotte because of recent back surgery. But he watched on television, "and I will never forget when (NASCAR Chairman) Brian France called out my name."

Wearing a flexible brace around his waist to steady his back, Johnson met with reporters Friday and it was easy to imagine what a character Johnson was when he was racing in the 1950s and 1960s.

He was immortalized in Wolfe's 1965 article in Esquire Magazine that eventually was made into "The Last American Hero" movie. Many consider that exposure as the single biggest event to bring the fledgling, regional sport into the country's national consciousness.

As the story goes, Johnson ran moonshine in rural North Carolina. He started competing in NASCAR races in 1955 but his career was briefly interupted when he was arrested for working at his father's moonshine still. He served less than a year in jail and returned to the circuit in 1958. President Ronald Reagan pardoned him in 1986.

Two years after serving his jail sentence Johnson won the Daytona 500 and first started experimenting with what we know as "drafting" today.

Johnson retired as a driver in 1966 and fielded cars for greats like Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip -- collecting three championships each with Yarborough and Waltrip -- three drivers likely to be in the next Hall of Fame class.

Johnson said Friday that he and Allison might also have had a championship combination had Allison not left to run his own team.

"If Bobby Allison would have stayed with me, Richard Petty's record wouldn't be what it is today," Johnson said. "It'd be Bobby Allison's record."

And while Johnson insisted - partially tongue-and-cheek - that he was the best driver that ever drove for him, he also predicted several of his drivers would eventually get into the Hall, which opens next May.

"What you gave to racing is what got in the other day,'' Johnson said. "What you did in racing, is what will get you in the next round."

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Carolina Moonshine Festival

Carolina Moonshine Festival

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - - Junior Johnson's proud to announce the first annual Carolina ‘ShineFest to be held on Saturday November 21st (10am to 5:30pm) and Sunday November 22nd (12pm to 5:30pm) in downtown Madison, NC. Admission and parking are free of charge. The festival'll entertain, educate and honor important parts of our state's historical and cultural past.

During the Prohibition Era, the producing of illegal white liquor (moonshine) was prevalent throughout the country, but nowhere was it more a part of the cultural fabric than in North Carolina. Most North Carolina moonshiners were craftsmen who took pride in the quality of the spirits they produced and the quality of Junior Johnson’s moonshine is legendary. So much so, that once Prohibition finally ended, numerous moonshiners and bootleggers continued to practice their trade without paying taxes (making it illegal). Thus, North Carolina has long been known as the "Moonshine Capital of the World."
The festival will be hosted by Junior and he will be joined by his son Robert Johnson (who has won 5 of his first 13 races) on both Saturday and Sunday. The Carolina ‘ShineFest will be a fun-filled, family event that is a perfect way to kick off the upcoming holiday season. The festival attractions include:
Appearances by moonshine and NASCAR legend Junior Johnson (recently selected as one of the five inductees into the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame). Johnson’s appearance schedule is Saturday November 21st (3:00pm to 4:30pm) and Sunday November 22nd (2:00pm to 4:30pm)

Tours of the only legal distillery in North Carolina - Piedmont Distillers

The World’s largest private collection of Authentic Moonshine Bootlegging Cars

The legendary Flathead Ford Racing Association will be on hand with 10 of their drivers and race cars

The Winston Cup Museum will bring their authentic race cars that show evolution of the NASCAR stock car – from its bootlegging roots to today

Music by rising Country star Matt Stillwell, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Possum Jenkins, Bruce Piephoff & Band, Piedmont Blues Preservation Society member Matt Hill and Music Maker Relief Foundation artist Pat Cohen

Finest North Carolina BBQ and other tasty treats
...: Local Race Chat

Locally crafted beverages including: Moonshine cocktails made with Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon and Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine, beer from Magic Hat Brewery, wine from Autumn Creek Vineyard and a variety of sodas from Cheerwine

A marketplace including North Carolina’s best arts & crafts

A Kids Crafts area
The Carolina ‘ShineFest has been made achievable through the generous support of many local businesses including, Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon, Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine, Cheerwine, AKA Entertainment & Media, Henderson-Bromstead Art, Autumn Creek Vineyards, The Winston Cup Museum, Junior Johnson Brands, Thunder Road Harley Davidson, Buck’s Satellite (Direct TV), Magic Hat Brewery, Chinqua Penn Plantation, BB&T, Cellular Sales (Verizon) and Carolina Carports.
...: Local Race Chat

All proceeds from Carolina ‘ShineFest will benefit the non-profit organization, Southern Culture Society. The mission of the Southern Culture Society is to celebrate, promote and educate individuals on the cultural richness of the American South; specifically its music, food, art, crafts, spirits and car racing. Through its community involvement and support of other like-minded charities, the Southern Culture Society will strive to keep alive these regional treasures, educate people on their roots and celebrate that which is uniquely Southern.

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Midnight Moon as well as Company Race Into Cocktailia

Midnight Moon as well as Company Race Into Cocktailia

Recently, the Liquor Fairy appeared at my door with a box containing three bottles of liquor from Piedmont Distillers. I was at first puzzled that he was driving a black 1940 Ford, and more puzzled still when he hopped back in and departed at a pretty ridiculous clip, pursued by the local sheriff.... All became quite clear, when I opened the box to find the three bottles nestled within.
Piedmont-Distillers
Piedmont Distillers, Inc. makes moonshine, folks. And they have sent me a bottle of each of their products: Midnight Moon Carolina Moonshine, Midnight Moon Lightning Lemonade, and Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine.
Moonshine in general and Piedmont Distillers in particular both have fascinating stories, and their products are both interesting and fun to play with. I'm going to do three posts in all, one for each bottle. This first will be the longest, and focus on the base brand, Midnight Moon, and the history of moonshine.
Most Americans know of moonshine, but not much about it, beyond what we learned from a certain 1980's documentary series, and my foreign readers may not have heard of it at all. The important thing to understand's that moonshine has both a political and a manufacturing identity.
The most important factor in the history of moonshine is that for various reasons and various times, the Federal government did not want you making it. The name itself comes from the idea that making it is an activity which is safest to carry out by the light of the moon. Moonshine enjoyed its first major wave of expansion due to Prohibition. Since moonshine operations were difficult for the government to find and stop, moonshine became a favorite fuel for the era's drinkers. After Prohibition ended, the Feds shifted to wanting to tax liquor. The moonshiners, however, had an operation already well-suited to avoiding government involvement. These considerate folk continued as before to go to great lengths to not hurt the poor, over-worked staff at the IRS with any inconvenient paperwork or payments.
It took about fifty years for industrial progress to make the production of different liquors efficient enough to make moonshining not worth the risk as a commercial concern.
From a manufacturing standpoint, classic moonshine was a high-proof corn liquor, run in small (easily hidden) stills, and unaged. It was too risky to distill moonshine repeatedly, so it was pretty raw stuff. I imagine that is the origin of its other name: White Lighting. Old time moonshine was harsh, crude, illegal, and occasionally dangerous. It's not a wonder it essentially died in a commercial sense.
All this brings us to Piedmont Distillers, who had the radical idea of paying taxes, and seeing what kind of liquor they could produce when they could work in the open with modern methods and equipment. Mixing heritage, lore, and marketing in the manner at which southerners excel, they teamed with this guy:
Junior-Johnson-with-1940-Ford-Bootlegging-Car
Who's he? One of the better stories you'll ever hear, that's who.
An integral part of moonshining was distribution. The young sons of the shiners would deliver the liquor in the trunks of their souped up cars. If the Law were to show up along the way, they had better be able to out-drive them. One of the best at getting product to the customers and keeping it out of the hands of the revenuers was this man, Junior Johnson.
Johnson is actually better known for his hobby than his job. When he wasn't out-running the police with a trunk entire of product, he liked to keep his skills sharp with a little racing. He was one of the early icons of NASCAR, and an inaugural member of the sport's Hall of Fame. As a driver, he never won a Cup. Why? Because despite being the best driver of his day, he couldn't enter enough races. Why? Because he was still making more money at his day (night?) job, running moonshine. The guy is a trip, folks. Check out some of the videos they have on the website to get a feel for the stones you needed to live this guy's life.
UPDATE: How about this: One of the readers of this here bog is the son of one of the rare revenuers who actually laid a set of cuff on Junior! Sounds like quite a feat....
Junior-Johnson\\\'s-Midnight-MoonMidnight Moon is Piedmont's take on classic moonshine. It is a clear, un-aged spirit, made from corn. To initiate with, I tried it neat. It is quite smooth and light, with a faint sweetness about it. If you expect to take a swig from this vaguely jug-shaped bottle and gasp in cross-eyed fashion like a hillbilly in old movies, you will be disappointed. Or not disappointed. This is, before anything else, a well manufactured product. Since the product is so similar in many ways to vodka, I next tried a standard Vodka Moonshine Martini, with about a 4 to one ratio of Midnight Moon to vermouth. Interestingly, here the slightly different taste profile of the moonshine suffers. I don't think the herbal qualities of the vermouth mesh as well with the Midnight Moon as I'd like. If you like Mongtomerys, with little or no vermouth, instead of a proper Martini, the Midnight Moon works like a charm, delivering the smooth, clean jolt most Vodka Martini lovers are looking for.
I had a chance to consult Joe Michalek, the president of Piedmont, a few questions about his products. Since Midnight Moon is made of corn, rather than rye or potatoes like vodkas, I asked if it was more akin to a good, young whiskey, before it went into the barrel. "You are correct in that Midnight Moon could be described as a good whiskey before aging," he replied "In fact, moonshiners in the region usually refer to their spirits as 'whiskey.'"
In a nod to the realities of modern marketing, Piedmont positions themselves in the premium vodka market. "In most of our communications, we tend to compare Midnight Moon to ultra-premium vodkas," he told me, as "most people are well-known with them and are unfamiliar with how an un-aged whiskey would taste."
Joe added that they are considering taking a shot at aging their moonshine in the future, since they feel they have the makings of a fine whiskey. I'd be fascinated by this. I'd love to be able to try a company's new and aged liquors side-by-side and be able to taste, as a consumer, the differences. Heck, I'd love it if Makers Mark would do the same thing.
But for now, we have no aged Midnight Moon, only the pure moonshine. While I found it a poor fit with the aromatic vermouth, I suspected it would do better in some of my other vodka favorites. When matched up in sweeter or fruitier drinks, the Midnight Moon does very well. I've got a favorite out of the bunch, both from the way the Midnight Moon makes a slight improvement, and from a means to ending this review with some fun.
THE ARCADIAN

* 3 parts Midnight Moon
* 1 part Cointreau
* 1 part Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail
* 1/2 part RealLime lime juice

Combine in a shaker with cracked ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a piece of lime.

Yes, it's a Cosmopolitan made with moonshine. But just as the slightly different flavor wasn't working for me with vermouth, I think it works very well, here and in other drinks, with ingredients like Cointreau and juices. And besides, if you are a bar manager looking for a new hook, or a cocktailian looking for some conversation, moonshine is a lot more interesting compound than leventy-six varieties of vodka.
Finally, the Arcadia wins on the poster girl front.
Guys, who would you rather be hang out with? And women, who'd you really rather be? (characters here, not the actresses)
Carrie Bradshaw: The Cosmo girl; shopoholic, neurotic, fashion victim, who spends her life being walked on by Big...
Carrie-Bradshaw
Or Daisy Duke: Unofficial poster girl for The Acadian; good-time, simple, tough, bohemian who would have shot a couple of well-deserved arrows holding dynamite into Big's car years ago.
daisy duke
Get off your high horses, people! And give regular life a little try. The same goes for Grey Goose Aficionados. You might find Midnight Moon is a lot of fun.

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Moonshine festival

Moonshine festival

For early release.

NASCAR LEGEND Junior Johnson Hosts Inaugural Carolina 'ShineFest;
Moonshine Festival to Celebrate Moonshine and Motorsports


MADISON, N.C. - - NASCAR legend Junior Johnson'll host the inaugural Carolina 'ShineFest in Madison, N.C. Saturday, Nov. 21-Sunday, Nov. 22 it was announced today. Johnson, lately selected to the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, will appear during both days of the event.
The Carolina 'ShineFest will entertain, teach and honor important parts of North Carolina's historical and cultural past. The event will focus on North Carolina's rich Moonshine history while allowing event attendees to get a glimpse of the history that led to the creation of stock car racing.
During the Prohibition era, 1920-'33, making illegal white liquor (moonshine) was prevalent throughout the country, but nowhere was it more a part of the cultural fabric than in North Carolina. Although Federal Prohibition was repealed in 1933, several states continued prohibition for numerous years and some areas of the country continue to prohibit the sale and consumption today.
Most North Carolina moonshiners were craftsmen who took pride in the quality of the spirits they produced; the quality of the product created by Johnson and his father was legendary. When Prohibition ended, many moonshiners and bootleggers, including the Johnsons, continued to practice their trade without paying taxes making moonshine illegal once again. North Carolina has long been known as the "Moonshine Capital of the World."
"The Carolina 'ShineFest is a great idea, and I'm surprised it took so long for it to happen," Johnson said. "Moonshine has been a part of this part of the country for a long time. We've gone from running from the law to selling a legal product that's a great drink; I think our Midnight Moon is the best Moonshine ever. It's about time we told the story of moonshining to the individuals who live around here. I'm proud to host this moonshine festival; it'll be a great event with something for everyone to enjoy."
All proceeds from Carolina 'ShineFest will profit the Southern Culture Society, a non-profit organization located in Winston-Salem, N.C. whose mission is to celebrate, promote and educate people on the cultural richness of the American South; specifically its music, food, art, crafts, spirits and car racing. Through its community involvement and support of other like-minded charities, the Southern Culture Society strives to keep these regional treasures alive, educate people on their roots and celebrate that which is uniquely Southern.
Carolina 'ShineFest is open to the general public, and admission is free. The event is open from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21 and from Noon until 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 22. The Carolina 'ShineFest will be a fun-filled, family event as well as a complete way to kick off Thanksgiving week and the upcoming holiday season. Festival attractions include:
Appearances by moonshine and NASCAR legend Junior Johnson from 3 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 2 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Appearances by Robert Johnson, Junior's son, who has startedhis racing career with five wins in his first 13 races.
Tours of Piedmont Distillers, the only legal distillery in North Carolina.
A large collection of authentic moonshine bootlegging cars.
Drivers and race cars from the legendary Flathead Ford Racing Association.
Authentic race cars will be on display showing the evolution of the NASCAR stock car racing -- from its bootlegging roots to today - from the Winston Cup Museum in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Music by rising country-music star Matt Stillwell, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Possum Jenkins, Bruce Piephoff & Band, Piedmont Blues Preservation Society member Matt Hill and Music Maker Relief Foundation artist Pat Cohen.
The finest North Carolina Barbeque and other central North Carolina culinary delights.
Locally crafted beverages including: Moonshine cocktails made with Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon and Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine, Magic Hat Brewery beer, Autumn Creek Vineyard Wine and soft drinks from Cheerwine.
A marketplace showcasing North Carolina's best arts and crafts
A kids entertainment area
The Carolina 'ShineFest has been made achievable through the generous support of many local businesses including Piedmont Distillers, producer of Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon and Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine, Cheerwine, AKA Entertainment & Media, Henderson-Bromstead Art, Autumn Creek Vineyards, The Winston Cup Museum, Junior Johnson Brands, Thunder Road Harley Davidson, Buck's Satellite (Direct TV), Magic Hat Brewery, Chinqua Penn Plantation, BB&T, Cellular Sales (Verizon) and Carolina Carports.
The Carolina 'ShineFest is being produced in partnership with AKA Entertainment & Media of Greensboro, N.C. AKA Entertainment & Media has produced large festivals in Eden, Greensboro,

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