Vindication For The Wild Man

   During the 1970s and '80s an executive director of the N.C. Sports Hall Of Fame refused to count votes toward the induction of stock car racing's legendary Junior Johnson.

   The "one-man-ban" was based on Johnson's conviction on a moonshine liquor charge in 1956.

   Even after Johnson received a full pardon from President Ronald Reagan in 1985, ballots for him were blocked from being counted.

   Junior was a good enough man to be forgiven by the president of the United States, but not by the authoritarian honcho heading the N.C. hall.  Johnson didn't complain, but friends were aware that the slight hurt him deeply.

   Finally, a new leader took charge of the hall, and Wilkes County, N.C. native Johnson, a winner of 50 races at NASCAR's top level, was inducted in 1992.

   Further vindication recently came for Johnson, who also won 140 races and six Winston Cup Series championships as a team owner.   

   

   The storied 1963 Chevrolet that Junior drove to seven victories and 10 poles in only 33 starts has been put on display at the N.C. Museum Of History in Raleigh, where the Sports  Hall Of Fame is located.

   The big, white Impala is positioned in the expansive lobby, where no visitor can miss seeing it.

   The number adorning the car is 3. 

   Junior Johnson made that numeral famous in NASCAR long before the late Dale Earnhardt immortalized it for alltime while driving for Richard Childress Racing.

   Gov. Mike Easley accepted loan of the Chevy from Johnson and expressed the hope that "it will still be on display here in the museum's lobby 25 years from now."

   Added the governor, "Junior deserves the honor because he has brought the state fame well beyond our borders.  Junior is a good citizen and a credit to North Carolina."

   Said Reese Edwards, now the hall's executive director:  "Junior's rivals chased this car all over the South in 1963.  We've been chasing it for display here since 1992, and we're delighted that at last we have it."

   The Impala in which Junior sped to major 400-mile victories at both Atlanta and Charlotte is the second race car placed in the museum.  One of the Pontiacs that Richard Petty drove during a career that produced 200 triumphs and seven championships also is in the Raleigh hall.

   Early on during his driving career Junior was nicknamed "The Wilkes County Wild Man" on the basis of his full-bore, go-or-blow racing style.

   The monicker certainly applied in 1963 as Junior and his Ray Fox-led team won these races:

   --Feb. 22, a 100-mile qualifying event leading to the Daytona 500.  Junior was fastest in time trials for the 500 at 165.183 mph, but Fireball Roberts earlier had won the pole at 160.943.  Qualifying races at Daytona were officials events in those days.

   --March 10, an un-named 148.5-mile race at Orange Speedway near Hillsborough, N.C.  The bosomy actress Jayne Mansfield was the grand marshal at the 9/10ths-mile dirt track.  Junior remembers helping shield her in Victory Lane from excited fans who were pawing at her clothes.

   --March 24, the Hickory 250 at Hickory (N.C.) Speedway, then a 4/10ths-mile dirt track.  Junior was so dominant he lapped the field.

   --June 30, the Dixie 400 at Atlanta International Raceway, a 1.522-mile paved track.  Johnson finished three seconds ahead of Ford-driving arch-rival Fred Lorenzen.

   --Aug. 16, the International 200 at Bowman Gray Stadium, a 1/4th-mile paved track in an arena where Wake Forest and other schools played football.  Junior again lapped the field.

   --Sept. 6, a second Hickory 250 at Hickory Speedway.  Amazingly, Junior persevered to win after flipping the No. 3 Chevy in practice.

   --Oct. 13, the National 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile paved track.  Junior finished a commanding 12 seconds ahead of Lorenzen.

   Junior appeared headed to the World 600 checkered flag at Charlotte in May of '63, leading 279 of the race's 400 laps in the storied Chevy.  But with three laps to go a tire blew out and Junior had to pit.  He finished as runnerup to Lorenzen.  Junior was ahead by four seconds when the tire failed.

   His post-race interview is remembered as a humorous classic among those of us who heard it.

   A Charlotte television personality named Big Bill Ward was on the team broadcasting the race on radio.  Big Bill layed the excitement on thick about getting a word with Junior.  He shouted in breathless fashion, referring to Johnson's disappointment as if it was Armageddon.

   Poking a microphone in the window of the race car, Big Bill implored, "Junior!  What on earth happened!?"

   To which a drawling Junior calmly and matter-of-factly replied:  "Ah blowed a tar."

   Junior personally accompanied the transport of the '63 Chevrolet from his home in the Brushy Mountains of N.C. to Raleigh.

   "I'm really honored the North Carolina hall wanted one of my cars, especially this particular Chevy," said Junior, who posted a record 21 triumphs as a team owner at Bristol Motor Speedway, which the Nextel Cup teams visit this week.  "It's the favorite car I ever drove.  It's so well known that it  has been taken across the Atlantic Ocean twice to England for automobile festivals over there.

   "We bought the car back in the '60s right off the showroom floor at a dealership.  Me and the boys working for me turned it into a race car, changing the chassis, the suspension and building a good strong engine.

   "I'd say that 99 percent of the cars racing in NASCAR even now have the same chassis as the one we used in 1963.  Lots of museums and halls have wanted this car, but I'm tickled to have it in Raleigh more than any other place."