Junior Johnson, Good-Old-Boy Auto Racing Star, Is Dead at 88

Junior Johnson, a teenage moonshiner from the North Carolina hills who became one of the greatest drivers in stock-car racing and the personification of its country roots, died on Friday at an assisted living facility in Charlotte, N.C. Long before NASCAR grew into a force in auto racing, the good old boys of the hardscrabble rural South in the 1940s were racing souped-up autos at small-town dirt tracks.

By the time he retired in 1966 he had won 50 races on what became the NASCAR circuit.

After competing in NASCAR for 12 seasons, Johnson became one of stock-car racing’s leading team owners, with 132 victories and six points champions.

He was an inaugural inductee of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.