Saturday, December 21, 2019

Remembering Junior Johnson


YOU MAY HAVE HEARD
 that Robert Glenn "Junior" Johnson Jr. died recently. I hadn't seen Junior since 2005, but I saw him pretty often from 1990 through about 2001.


Junior was one of my favorite car owners. He'd won six Winston Cup championships, three each with Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip, and he'd had winning teams with Bill Elliott and others. Junior's 11 team was one of the most important in NASCAR's top series.

Before that, he'd been one of the best drivers ever, winning 50 Cup races. He was one of the main reasons that Winston hooked up with NASCAR from 1971 until 2003; he'd introduced the two parties.

He's a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and other halls of fame.

But, to me, his teams and wins were not as important as his relationship with the media. While Elliott was tough to talk to by beat reporters (he was great with TV guys), Junior was always available to us and open with us.

When Darlington Raceway wanted me to do a program story on Elliott, I talked to Elliott, but I also talked to Junior. And I got more out of Junior.

I remember one phone interview that ended with Junior inviting me to visit his farm in Ronda, N.C. I never had the chance to do that, and I've always wished I had.

The last time I saw Junior was 2005, when the Winston Cup Museum opened in Winston-Salem, N.C. Sadly, we didn't talk. I had too many other people to deal with.

Among all the people I met on the NASCAR tour, Junior was one of the good guys.

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Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Are tires that important?


YEARS AGO, TWO COUPLES WERE TALKING, and someone mentioned that engine power was the most important thing in racing.


I said that the three most important things in racing are "tires, tires, and, of course, tires." It's an old axiom in stock-car racing.

This woman asked why tires would be that big a deal.

I mentioned that tires were the only thing touching the track. You bust a tire or you lose rubber, and you aren't going anywhere.

She looked at me with a strange look and didn't say anything.

MORE TIRES: You probably remember Dale Earnhardt's bad luck in the 1990 Daytona 500. He busted a tire on the last lap, and Derrike Cope won the race.

Several years later, we were in the Richard Childress Racing shop, and that tire was hanging on the wall. It was totally shredded. That shop is now the RCR museum.

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Friday, November 22, 2019

Kyle Busch is a bit like Dale


WHEN I WROTE MY SECOND EARNHARDT BOOK IN 2007, I was being interviewed on radio. The interviewer asked who the current Dale Earnhardt would be.


Obviously, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the "current" Dale Earnhardt at that time, but that wasn't what he meant. He wondered who was the most like Earnhardt (winning driver, relentless, willing to put a bumper to someone, willing to tick people off).

He suggested Kyle Busch, and I told him we probably ought to wait and see if Kyle grows up to be like Dale.

Well, Kyle wins races and championships, and he ticks off other drivers, crews, car owners and fans. So, yes, I'd say Kyle is a lot like Dale.

And I suspect there's a good guy in there somewhere, as there was with Dale.

Still, he doesn't have seven Cup championships and 76 Cup wins so far. He still has a way to go.


EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

More entries from TARJ
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)

EDITOR@WORK blog entries 

Entries from The Dog Blog

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie