Johnson's advice: 'Let 'em run what they brung'

For NASCAR legend Junior Johnson, 78, life is pretty good right now.

He'd agree for many reasons.

He would also say that, after his long tenure in NASCAR as a driver and a team owner, he is aware of what is happening in racing today and is more than willing to express his opinions about what is right and what is wrong.

Nothing new there. He's been doing that since he was a very young man called away from plowing a field to race at North Wilkesboro – and a career began.

Now, Johnson has been selected as one of the first five inductees at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and will be enshrined in May.

His son Robert, after posting five wins in his rookie season in late model stocks, will run a full United Auto Racing Association schedule in addition to five Whelen All American events this year. He will race for the resurrected Junior Johnson & Associates out of the JKS Motorsports shops in Lexington, N.C.

Robert is a sophomore at Forsyth Country Day in Lewisville, N.C. He started racing at just about the same age as his father was when he became a car owner and whiskey hauler.

A delighted Junior will be heavily involved in his son’s exploits.

And the elder Johnson has been named the grand marshal for the Daytona 500 for, among other things, recognition of his status in NASCAR and his selection to the hall of fame.

His record in NASCAR includes a win in the 1960 Daytona 500 in which he raced an underpowered Chevrolet prepared by Ray Fox. It is widely recognized that Johnson first discovered the power of the draft en route to his improbable victory.

He won 49 more races as a driver. As an owner he won 132 races and six championships, three with Cale Yarborough (consecutive from 1976-78 until that record was broken by Jimmie Johnson) and three more with Darrell Waltrip.

Throughout his career Johnson was aggressive as a driver and equally so as an owner.

As an owner, "aggressive" meant "innovative," to shade it a little. Johnson was never afraid to test the rules or to find loopholes that would give him an advantage.

He was part of an era when teams had, at the least, some liberty to produce cars that may have at least looked somewhat like their street compatriots and were allowed, by NASCAR rules, some leeway in preparation.

The sanctioning body always provided – sometimes controversially – different legislation for the various manufacturers.

Today, given the new car and the stringent rules that have come with it, that no longer exists.

To which Johnson takes exception.

"I don't think NASCAR should have ever tried to re-invent itself, and I think that's what it has done," he said. "In my opinion, that could have been very wrong.

"Look at the cars of today. Nobody wants to see a Chevrolet, a Ford, a Dodge or anything else that all look alike, measure alike and are just pretty much the same car. The only way you can tell a difference is to look at the name on the car, if you care to.

"I'm just not not sure about that. I'm not sure the fans have ever liked that," he said.

"Maybe it would have been much better to 'let 'em run what they brung.' "

Johnson offered an opinion as to why it has all come about.

"I think I know one reason why NASCAR did it," he said. "It's dictated what the car will be and that's the way it wants it. There's no disagreement. That's it. And it makes inspection so much different.

"It's easier. There are fewer arguments. I can understand that. It makes it simpler for NASCAR and it holds the upper hand.

"But I'm not sure that has worked even though I understand what NASCAR tried to do. Look what it's doing now with some changes (most notably the rear wing replaced by a spoiler and larger carburetor plates).

"It looks like NASCAR is headed back in another direction. It looks like it is trying to find, somehow, the way it used to be."

But, Johnson was asked, is that the right thing to do?

"Well, there used to be a saying that what won on Sunday sold on Monday," he said. "I'm not sure the manufacturers want to go back to where it was, but I think it's headed in that direction – or it seems to be. If it comes to that and all the changes involved, how could the manufacturers complain?

"To me, overall, it might be much easier to go back in that direction to help racing, among other things. That might be what NASCAR is doing right now.

"Understand, I'm not saying NASCAR or anyone else has the answer. But NASCAR has to keep trying. I think that is obvious."