Very few sports in the world have as big an array of peculiar personalities as NASCAR has had in its relatively short history. But then there are those who stand out despite being a part of this pool of unique individuals. One such legend was Junior Johnson.
Such was his life that even Hollywood couldn’t have come up with his character. In fact, it was the opposite. ‘The Last American Hero’, the 1973 flick starring Jeff Bridges, was based on the Hall of Famer’s life.
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Think about it, just how many individuals on the face of the earth could’ve publically called out a recently crowned back-to-back-to-back champion such as Cale Yarborough?
Johnson did, as another Junior, Dale Earnhardt Jr., described earlier this year.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. recalls insane Junior Johnson story involving Cale Yarborough
Speaking in an episode of his podcast show, the Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt described to guest Doug Yates just how eccentric but committed to his endeavor Junior Johnson really was.
“I’ve read some books about Junior and I know Junior was the boss. He called the shots. He said, ‘Come down the pit road’, Darrel Waltrip or whoever it was, they better get their tail down on the pit road,” Dale Jr. described.
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The NASCAR Hall of Famer narrowed down to the point in history when Cale Yarborough had just won his three Cup championships in a row in 1976,1977, and 1978, behind the wheel of Johnson’s fast and dominant car.
“Cale didn’t do something or Cale said something about the car and Junior, in quotes, in the media after the race is like, ‘Man go drive somebody else’s car. He gonna stop talking about my car like that,’” Earnhardt Jr. continued.
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“That’s the way he was.”
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