Thursday, December 27, 2012

What was NASCAR legend Junior Johnson doing on this day in 1957?



   He was getting out of jail!

    While getting his NASCAR career going, Junior Johnson continued to work for his father and on June 2, 1956, he was caught at the still and charged with making non-taxed whiskey. He pled guilty, paid a $5,000 fine and spent 11 months and three days of a two-year sentence in the federal prison in Chillicothe, Ohio. He was released on Dec. 27, 1957.

    However, he continued delivering illegal liquor because the money – $500 a night – was just too good to pass up. And it was not until 1960 when Johnson – who was pardoned by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 – decided to just concentrate on his race-car driving.

    And NASCAR was glad he did.