Top 5 Worst Performing Junior Johnson & Associate Drivers

Top 5 Worst Performing Junior Johnson & Associate Drivers

By Brian Cotnoir

Towards the end of 2019 we lost Junior Johnson.  The man Tom Wolfe called “The Last American Hero” and first ballot NASCAR Hall of Famer won 50 career races as a driver, but never a championship.  As an owner he would find even more success.  Junior Johnson fielded cars driven by future Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, as well as Bill Elliott, Neil Bonnet, and many others.  As an owner Junior Johnson’s cars won 132 races and 6 drivers championships!  However, towards the end of his team he had some pretty lackluster drivers and teams, and today I’m going to talk about those drivers.  These are the 5 Worst Performing Junior Johnson & Associate Drivers

5.)  Sterling Marlin

Sterling Marlin drove 2 seasons for Junior Johnson and actually did pretty well despite never winning a race.  He finish 7^th in the final point standings his first year with the team, and 10^th the following year.  He actually had five 2^nd places finishes with the team, but unfortunately would have to wait 2 more years before he achieved his first win with the Morgan-McClure team

4.)  Brett Bodine

Brett Bodine drove the final season for Junior Johnson’s in his famous #11 car.  Bodine in the iconic Lowes Paint Scheme (The first time Lowes sponsored a NASCAR team) would not have much success with the team, and the following year he would actually buy the 11 team from Junior Johnson and would start Brett Bodine Motorsports, where he’d race full-time as an Owner/Driver for the next 7 seasons

3.)  Jimmy Spencer

The man called “Mr. Excitement” actually scored 2 wins while driving for Junior Johnson; they’d be the only 2 NASCAR Cup series victories of his career, and the last for Junior Johnson as an owner.  Despite winning two races, Jimmy Spencer still struggled throughout the 1994 season.  His final finish was 29^th in the points, and although he’d go on to have better average finishes over the next few years, Spencer was never able to win in the Cup Series Again

2.)  Hut Stricklin

I only remember Hut Stricklin for one reason: he was the first NASCAR driver I ever met.  I was 6-years-old, it was at New Hampshire International Speedway, my dad introduced me to this man, and told me he was a NASCAR driver, I had no clue who he was, so I just shook and then immediately after I remember meeting Mark Martin and being more excited about meeting him.  Stricklin’s best finish for Junior Johnson was his first ever start with the team where he finished 4^th at the 1993 Daytona 500.  He only had one other finish in the top 10 the rest of the season, and finished an unimpressive 24^th in the final driver’s standings.

1.)  Elton Sawyer

Again, I might be “Cheating” a little bit by including a part-time driver, but in Junior Johnson’s final season as an owner, fielded 2 cars.   Elton Sawyer ran most of the season in the 27 car.  He had 2 DNQ’s and his best finish was a 14^th at Talladega.  Sawyer would finish 38^th in the final standings, and after the assets of the 27 team would be sold and become David Blair Motorsports, Sawyer would return to the 27 car, but would be out of the ride after the 1995 Coca-Cola 600.