Since Tuesday this blog has been focusing on the upcoming opening for the NASCAR Hall of Fame and listing the results of a poll regarding who should be the first 5 inductees into the inaugural class. So far we have 7-Time Cup Series Champions Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR, the cofounder of NASCAR Bill France Sr., and NASCAR legend David Pearson.

The fifth and final spot came down to a tie vote between two of NASCAR's early superstars, Lee Petty and Junior Johnson. Both men received 8 votes out of 28. While both men are sure-fire hall-of-famers, my vote for which one should go in first goes to the man who could haul ass on Sunday and haul moonshine on Monday.

Robert Glen Johnson, Jr., nicknamed Junior, grew up on a farm in Wilkes County, North Carolina as the son of a moonshiner. As a young man, Junior aided his father's moonshining business running 'shine through the Carolina hills. He consistently outran and outwitted local police and federal agents in chases, and was never caught while delivering moonshine to customers. After being talked into driving a car in a local dirt track race, Johnson found he enjoyed racing so much that he'd do it all the time. Working his way up through the ranks, he eventually started racing in the Cup Series in 1953. Although he'd officially given up on moonshining, Junior was helping out his sick father in 1956 by tending to his daddy's 'shining still when he was caught by federal tax agents who'd been staking out his father's operation for some time. He was charged with moonshining and sentenced to serve two years at the federal prison in Chillicothe, Ohio. He was released after serving 11 months and went right back to racing. During his career as a driver, Junior won 50 races out of 313 starts. He is credited with discovering "the draft" at Daytona, using the then-mysterious concept to win the 1960 Daytona 500. Junior retired from driving in 1966 but his life in racing was far from over. Johnson began his career as a car owner in 1965 and in 30 years of owning cars he'd amassed 132 wins and 6 NASCAR Cup Series Owners Championships. In that time span he fielded cars for some of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history. In 1986, Johnson, a life long Democrat, was given a Presidential Pardon from Ronald Reagan for his 1956 moonshine conviction. Johnson has seen and done it all in the sport and is deserving, in my opinion, of the final spot in the Inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame Class.

Most folks that watch NASCAR today have never seen Junior Johnson behind the wheel of a racecar, but tonight on ESPN2 there will be a race featuring some of NASCAR's legendary drivers of the past, including Junior Johnson. I emplore you to check it out tonight at 6PM.

I hope you've enjoyed this series on who might should go into NASCAR's first Hall of Fame class. If you agree or disagree with any of the names listed, leave me a comment and tell me why. Thanks for reading.