by Molly Shato
As the Sprint Cup Series in NASCAR heats up and the release of the new movie Lawless, based on the true stories of three brothers in the bootlegging business who are under threat by local authorities, hits theaters August 31; who would have thought these two topics would have anything in common. On the race track you’re running to beat someone on the moonshine highways you’re running for your life.
NASCAR mythology is said to have roots back to the Prohibition Era, when runners-people delivering moonshine souped up their cars to outsmart and outdrive the law. Most of these moonshine runners were ordinary citizens carrying on a tradition and making a little money to supplement slight incomes. Moonshining was a good business when it came to avoiding taxes but to avoid the law required stealth.
A moonshine running car was designed to look as common as possible, it had to look stock but these cars were anything but “stock.” In addition to the biggest supercharged Cadillac engine they could find, moonshiners also installed rear suspensions, heavy shocks, and springs that were ultra stiff and ready to conceal the weight of more than 100 gallons of white lightning. A sagging car was a tell tale sign for the police when playing the cat and mouse game through the countryside. But when the jig was up and the law had you pegged, the car had to be ready to go, go, go and the driver had to know how to handle all that horsepower. They knew how to drive, they knew every curve with the lights off they drove by the light of the moon; even if some of them got killed doin it.
Skilled driving and fast maneuvering brought on bragging rights, so they held informal races to determine which runner was the fastest and essentially the best. By the 1940’s, these contests had become an organized sport with the meeting of drivers, car owners and mechanics to establish standard rules for racing. On December 14, 1947 then and there the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) was conceived.
Furthering the NASCAR Moonshine running myth was the fact that many of the early racers were themselves former or current moonshine runners. One particular legendary moonshine runner turned NASCAR STAR was that of Junior Johnson. He was such a proficient driver that he even invented a legendary move called the “bootleg turn” where he would spin his car 180 degrees and speed off in the opposite direction to evade capture. The police never even knew what hit them. Johnson knew he was a force to be reckoned with so in 1955 he gave up the booze and took to the NASCAR track like a fish to water. By 1958 with 11 wins under his belt Johnson became regarded as the best short track driver on the circuit. Johnson ended his career with 50 victories and past on his knowledge as a car owner with the likes of Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Sterlin Marlin, and Bill Elliot just to name a few. Johnson has since gone back to his moonshine days (legally) by teaming up with Piedmont Distillers in Madison, North Carolina creating the company’s second moonshine called Midnight Moon.
If you would like to try your hand at moonshine running on the highways of the legends you can do so on the White Lightning Trail in Northeast Tennessee. The trail spans hundreds of miles across nine countries and is one of 16 self-guided driving trails that have opened or are being developed. Johnson also has a stretch of highway, the same highway he used to run moonshine, named after him by the state of North Carolina.
I’m sure the NASCAR drivers of today didn’t get their talents from running moonshine but they learned from the legends of their past with a few sips of ‘shine’ for the courage on a tight turn.
Please always remember to drive responsibly!
NASCAR mythology is said to have roots back to the Prohibition Era, when runners-people delivering moonshine souped up their cars to outsmart and outdrive the law. Most of these moonshine runners were ordinary citizens carrying on a tradition and making a little money to supplement slight incomes. Moonshining was a good business when it came to avoiding taxes but to avoid the law required stealth.
A moonshine running car was designed to look as common as possible, it had to look stock but these cars were anything but “stock.” In addition to the biggest supercharged Cadillac engine they could find, moonshiners also installed rear suspensions, heavy shocks, and springs that were ultra stiff and ready to conceal the weight of more than 100 gallons of white lightning. A sagging car was a tell tale sign for the police when playing the cat and mouse game through the countryside. But when the jig was up and the law had you pegged, the car had to be ready to go, go, go and the driver had to know how to handle all that horsepower. They knew how to drive, they knew every curve with the lights off they drove by the light of the moon; even if some of them got killed doin it.
Skilled driving and fast maneuvering brought on bragging rights, so they held informal races to determine which runner was the fastest and essentially the best. By the 1940’s, these contests had become an organized sport with the meeting of drivers, car owners and mechanics to establish standard rules for racing. On December 14, 1947 then and there the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) was conceived.
Furthering the NASCAR Moonshine running myth was the fact that many of the early racers were themselves former or current moonshine runners. One particular legendary moonshine runner turned NASCAR STAR was that of Junior Johnson. He was such a proficient driver that he even invented a legendary move called the “bootleg turn” where he would spin his car 180 degrees and speed off in the opposite direction to evade capture. The police never even knew what hit them. Johnson knew he was a force to be reckoned with so in 1955 he gave up the booze and took to the NASCAR track like a fish to water. By 1958 with 11 wins under his belt Johnson became regarded as the best short track driver on the circuit. Johnson ended his career with 50 victories and past on his knowledge as a car owner with the likes of Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Sterlin Marlin, and Bill Elliot just to name a few. Johnson has since gone back to his moonshine days (legally) by teaming up with Piedmont Distillers in Madison, North Carolina creating the company’s second moonshine called Midnight Moon.
If you would like to try your hand at moonshine running on the highways of the legends you can do so on the White Lightning Trail in Northeast Tennessee. The trail spans hundreds of miles across nine countries and is one of 16 self-guided driving trails that have opened or are being developed. Johnson also has a stretch of highway, the same highway he used to run moonshine, named after him by the state of North Carolina.
I’m sure the NASCAR drivers of today didn’t get their talents from running moonshine but they learned from the legends of their past with a few sips of ‘shine’ for the courage on a tight turn.
Please always remember to drive responsibly!
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