articlesofcadence

[articlesofcadence]

I made a Ko-fi! If you like my content, please consider leaving a tip!

[articlesofcadence]

You may know NASCAR as the famous racing association loved by millions, but did you know that it owes its beginnings to the alcohol prohibition of the 20s and early 30s? I certainly didn���t before researching this article, so let’s dive in!

Robert Glenn Johnson Jr., also known as Jr. Johnson, was a moonshine runner who had a family farm that also made and transported moonshine. His family was making moonshine ever since the Whiskey Rebellion, but in 1935, authorities found the family’s stash of hooch and his father was arrested. A whopping 7,000 gallons of whiskey was found! Now that’s a lot of alcohol!

Before becoming a NASCAR racer in 1955, Jr. would go on to transport moonshine and even make modifications on his cars to outrun the authorities! These mods would include swapping out an engine to produce more power, adding heavy duty suspension components to safely carry extra weight, and even removing all but the driver’s seat to make extra room for all the choop! There were many other haulers who would also modify their cars to achieve the same results. Eventually the release of the Ford V-8 would make things a bit easier for them, though modifications were still made to boost the vehicle even more. It was speedy, roomy, and could tackle the mountain roads with ease.

In 1955, Jr.’s talent as a well-known moonshiner was discovered by NASCAR while it was still a budding association. He would go on to win 50 races in his career, cementing his name in NASCAR and American history. Well, prohibition history, I suppose. It’s always incredible to learn that even the most well-known and loved things in life has quite an interesting history!