Junior Johnson
Junior Johnson is known by most for his career in NASCAR. He was a successful driver who was nicknamed “The Last American Hero.” He won 50 races during his career as a driver and he retired in 1966. He next went on to be a NASCAR team owner with racing legends like Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip. He now owns a line of fried pork skins and country ham. In 2007, he returned to his family roots and began working with Piedmont Distillers of Madison, North Carolina to introduce their Midnight Moon Moonshine.
It is his last venture that points to the reason for his pardon. He was born in Wilkes County, North Carolina to the Johnson family of moonshiners. His father was a life-long bootlegger and spent twenty years in prison for his crimes. The Johnsons were so well known for their moonshine that their home was constantly raided by revenue agents. His family was even part of the largest alcohol raid in United States history with 400 gallons of moonshine being removed from the house.
Junior Johnson was part of the family business. It was his role that landed him a future in NASCAR. He would take to the highway in a souped-up car that would be filled with the family’s moonshine. Johnson was known to be a natural on the road and there was never a revenue agent that could catch him once he hit the highway. It was a point of pride with him that he was never caught while behind the wheel. He would eventually get caught during a revenue raid at his father’s home when his father sent him to the still to light a fire.
Johnson spent a year in prison and lived the rest of his successful life with a felony charge. It was on December 26, 1985 that he was granted a full pardon by President Ronald Reagan. The pardon did not erase the conviction or suggest that Johnson was innocent. Rather the pardon restored the civil rights that had been taken from Junior Johnson when he received the felony charge. Johnson was amazed by the pardon and said that he could not imagine anything better.