'It's In the Blood': Robert Johnson discovers aptitude for racing - but don't call him Junior

Junior Johnson, the Last American Hero, isn't the last of his lineage in stock-car racing. A sequel, so to speak, is in the making.

Johnson's son, Robert Glen Johnson III, has emerged from a vastly different world than his father's moonshine-hauling days, but he has discovered the same interest and aptitude for speed and competition. The younger Johnson seems intent on establishing his own racing legacy, and in the process, he has his legendary father back and involved in the sport in a hands-on way.

Robert, as poised and polished as perhaps a 16-year-old can be, is a sophomore honors student at Forsyth Country Day School with a goal of attending Duke University and studying motivational psychology. He is also set on a racing career, with plans to eventually become a Sprint Cup contender.

He said he wasn't always interested in following his father into racing. He wasn't at all fond of the sport as a toddler, when he was lugged down pit road as Junior Johnson was ending a career as a car owner in the mid-1990s.

"I remember it was really loud," Robert Johnson said.

He is making noise of his own now.

Robert Johnson won the first race he entered, last May in a Sportsman division at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro. He went on to win four more races.

"It felt really natural to race," he said. "I think it's in the blood, but I don't race because of Dad's legacy. I race because I like it. I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't right for me."

That's fine by his father.

"He accepts the fact that he's going to be different from me, and he's doing his own thing and not trying to impress people because he's my son," Junior Johnson said.

Still, Robert Johnson recognizes that being the son of a Hall of Fame driver is very much part of it all, and for a while at least, his father's name will be a constant in conversations.

"It's great to be able to talk about Dad's legacy. He's a cool guy,'' he said. "I remember at Bristol about eight years ago I went over to get Jeff Gordon's autograph. I was a big Jeff Gordon fan. I was star struck to get to meet Jeff Gordon. And I think Jeff Gordon was star struck to see Dad. I remember it hitting me then what Dad means to the sport."

Robert Johnson has stepped up to Late Model competition this year and plans to run a full 16-race schedule in the touring UARA Series, as well as five races in the Whelen All-American Series.

He is driving car No. 11 for the revived Junior Johnson & Associates. The team is operating out of JKS Motorsports in Welcome. Ed Berrier, a veteran NASCAR driver, is the crew chief, and the team is getting some technical support from Richard Childress Racing just down the road.

Junior Johnson is enjoying it all.

"He's smiling like a possum," said Will Spencer, the owner of JKS. "He's very opinionated about what we need to do and how we need to do things. He's very observant how the car is acting on the race track and how Robert is driving the car. He has no problems telling us if we're doing something wrong. So, yes, he's involved.

"Robert having Junior as a father really adds to the way he delivers because he's got somebody that's been there, done it, lived it and stepped away from it and is now very recognized for what he contributed to the sport," Spencer said. "And for Junior to step back in after a 15-year hiatus is great."

Robert Johnson had a solid start in the UARA Series earlier this month, finishing eighth at Hickory, where Junior Johnson registered his first victory in 1955.

"He picks up on things real quick," Junior Johnson said. "He drives with his intelligence, I drove like I was crazy. There's a lot of difference in our style. I went to the front until either the car tore up or I won the race. He takes care of his car and does what he needs to. He's been good to save his car, to use it when he needs to and not tear it up."

Robert Johnson, meanwhile, said that he has been "compared more to David Pearson than Dad, just because my style seems to be more endurance, where I seem to come in late in races when everybody else has sort of killed their cars. I try to take it easy at first and then get after it the second half."

But some of the Junior Johnson aggressiveness, and telling determination, comes through. Asked if there was anything he didn't like about racing, he said, "I don't like it when I'm slow."

Robert Johnson doesn't have time to go slow. He commutes to and from home in Hamptonville to Forsyth Country Day, and he has little free time between keeping up with class work and preparing for races.

tbowman@wsjournal.com


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Robert Johnson

• Age: 16.

• Hometown/Birthplace: Hamptonville.

• Education: Sophomore at Forsyth Country Day School.

• Experience: He won his first race last May at Caraway Speedway after minimal practice. He will compete in UARA and
Whelen All American Late Model races this year.

• Family: Son of Junior and Lisa Johnson. He has a 14-year-old sister, Meredith, but she will leave the racing legacy to him. "She wants to be a fashion designer," Robert said.

• Quote/Philosophy: Racing advice given to him by his father Junior Johnson: "It's more of what he hasn't said," Robert said. "He hasn't tried to prevent every little mistake I've made. He's sort of let me make my mistakes and learn from them."