That was the statement NASCAR's vice president for corporate communications Jim Hunter used to start his introduction. “Here’s the last American hero, Junior Johnson,” he finished, making a reference to the quote that put Junior into the public eye and led to the movie named after the appellation.

Johnson is one of the 5 candidates selected for the initial inductees to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in May, 2010. Junior Johnson appeared at the Lowes Motor Speedway earlier today and talked about his career and Hall of Fame induction.

In recounting the accomplishments that led up to this historic moment, Junior touched on some of the most controversial circumstances he’d worked through.

Addressing his history and later split with Bobby Allison, “If Bobby had stayed with me Richard Petty’s record wouldn’t be what it is today, it’d be Bobby’s record.” Bobby left Junior’s team to start one of his own with encouragement from Chevrolet. “Everything Chevrolet sent me, I put in a warehouse,” Junior stated, and then described preparing or assembling his own blocks, crankshafts, and parts. Nothing Chevrolet gave to Bobby was the same thing that Junior had, who likened the supplied parts to “passenger motors.”

Jim Hunter recounted an occasion near Johnson’s home in Wilkes County, early in Junior’s career. Hunter asked a local fan on the then recent change of car make Junior would drive, “What do you think of Junior Johnson driving a Dodge,” to which the fan made a reply Hunter called almost the same as “Crap.” Jim Hunter chalked that up as brand loyalty among hardcore race fans.

On the engine that blew up as Darrell Waltrip crossed the line to win the 1985 All-Star race here at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Junior responded, “I have a unique way of building engines to go as far as they need to go; that one did just that.” Hardcore race fans will laugh as hard as the press did to that statement. Later, Junior revealed one part of the approach was to take 10 degrees of timing out and put it back in near the end of the race (the now standard dual timing box system would have made that simple, but at the time it involved a quick turn of the screwdriver during a pit stop) knowing the increase in performance would result in an engine that would only “last 10 laps.”

So many years as a driver, owner, and colorful personality did not come without a price. Recently Junior suffered through an intensive back operation. He described how many years ago he’d had one small surgery to “fix just one little thing” that turned into another trip then another. Finally fed up with the approach, he now has a titanium rod and carbon fiber parts holding his back together; nearly the same construction and technology used in competition cars today to protect drivers!

Jim Hunter claimed Johnson certainly deserved his entry during the inaugural ceremonies at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Junior repeatedly made comments to the effect that “This is the biggest thing (in racing) to happen to me, no doubt about it!”

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