by Wendy Venturini/SPEED's NASCAR RaceDay,

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Wendy Venturini: Junior, you grew up in Wikes County, not far from here, basically running moonshine is how you perfected racing. Didn't you gain that experience?

Junior Johnson: Well, it was a bit of training for me. I felt like when I got on the race track I was already trained and ready to go racing. And a lot of stuff that was gifted thing to me that I had learned in the moonshine business so I was not a trainee. I was already trained when I got to it.

Wendy Venturini: The NASCAR rule book, for what it was back then, was pretty thin. But by the time your career ended and you retired as a driver, it was probably about three times as thick. Talk about working in that gray area all those years.

Junior Johnson: Well, when I first started running cars, they had about four or five rules. Then as time went along, NASCAR wanted everybody to run the same so all the cars would be boxed up, and they equalized people...

Wendy Venturini: Now that you've walked away from the sport, you're retired, enjoying your farm out here, what's the biggest trick you got away with in NASCAR?

I don't know if one of them stood out over the other. There's a lot of gray areas in cars. I tried to outsmart them and outrun them. I did pretty good at that.

	NASCAR TV schedule and more
Programs of the week Sunday, 3/22 on FOX 1:30 pm: Food City 500 This week on SPEED Friday, 3/20 Noon: Cup practice 1:30 pm: N'wide practice 3:00 pm: NASCAR LIVE 3:30 pm: Cup qualifying 4:30 pm: N'wide practice 7:00 pm: Trackside Saturday, 3/21 11:00 am: Cup practice 12:20 pm: Cup practice Sunday, 3/22 11:00 am: NASCAR in a hurry 11:30 am: NASCAR Raceday 8:00 pm: Victory Lane All times ET Race Trax: Updates, live results NASCAR on SPEED schedule

Wendy Venturini: Our own Jimmy Spencer drove for you for a while. What's your funniest story of Jimmy Spencer?

Junior Johnson: I don't know. Jimmy's a great guy. He's a one of a kind type person. He don't take no junk off of nobody. When gets in a race and somebody does a little something to him, he wants to stop and fight. He don't want to keep on racing.

Wendy Venturini: What do you think about Spencer's career in TV now, working for SPEED?

Junior Johnson: Well, I think it fits him. He's pretty good about running his mouth.

Wendy Venturini: What do you think about the Chase, and if you had a say, would you change anything about it?

Junior Johnson: If I was running it, I'd go to the last 10 races, and I'd throw it all out. You've got 10 more races — the best man wins. Sometimes, you leave out a good driver that wants and stands a chance to win. I don't think that's right. The fans don't get what they need to get with a guy like Tony Stewart sitting on the sidelines. Of course, the best car doesn't always win all the time either.

Wendy Venturini: That's true.

Junior Johnson: And I don't think that's right.

Wendy Venturini: Alright Junior, give me your pick for the championship this year.

Junior Johnson: You got about three guys that's capable of winning that thing. Matt Kenseth, I think he's still got a chance. Jeff's (Gordon) got a chance. I like their odds better than the rest of them. Now, Richard Childress has got his act together. Kevin's (Harvick) a good race driver. I think Jeff's going to lay around 'til about halfway through that thing, and I think he's going to come alive.

Wendy Venturini: How do you think your legacy will be remembered?

Junior Johnson: Probably mean, rough and tough.

After all these years, one thing remains the same. Junior Johnson had it right — you have to outsmart them and outrun them. It was very pleasant talking to him that week.