January 16, 2020 – Much deserved greatness has been written and said the past several weeks regarding the passing of NASCAR great Junior Johnson and his vast contributions to the sport as a driver, owner, businessman/entrepreneur/visionary, but not much has been mentioned about Junior’s connection to Pontiac as a driver.
Junior attained an outstanding start/win percentage of 10.7% piloting Pontiacs in the early ’60’s with 8 wins in 75 starts, and he also is one of only 2 Pontiac drivers (the other being Rusty Wallace) to win 3 consecutive races. The most impressive – and overlooked – statistic by all is that for Junior’s 3 consecutive Pontiac wins in 1961 (races 39, 40, and 41, at Weaverville, Richmond, and South Boston respectively, driving a 1960 model) Junior led every lap of competition even when not starting from the pole (he won the pole at Richmond, but started second at Weaverville and third at South Boston; Jim Paschal was on the Pole at Weaverville in a Pontiac and Cotton Owens was on the pole at South Boston in a Pontiac…this was a good time to be a Pontiac NASCAR fan). It is true that for Race 39 at Weaverville only 258 laps (out of a scheduled 500) were completed when race officials decided to call the race due to the track breaking up, but it should be noted that Junior won that race by 3 laps over second place Joe Weatherly (also in Pontiac).
Junior Johnson – NASCAR and Pontiac Legend, RIP.
Pontiac Racing 