Forgive me for playing into stereotypes, but I think it's just a little bit newsworthy that 77-year-old early-NASCAR superstar Junior Johnson would publicly endorse a black liberal Democrat for president the way that he did via email this week.

Wait, did I say newsworthy? I meant awesome.

And Junior Johnson isn't just any old NASCAR legend. The winner of 50 races, he started, like many drivers in the early days, by running moonshine. In fact, he was arrested at his father's still in Wilkes County, North Carolina, in 1956-- after having already been named NASCAR's rookie of the year in 1955-- spending 11 months in prison for the offence. He received a presidential pardon from Ronald Reagan in 1986, making the Obama endorsement perhaps a little more significant.

Johnson was also profiled by Tom Wolfe in an essay titled "The Last American Hero", which appeared in the seriously, seriously outstanding collection of Wolfe's mid-60s work, The Kandy-Kolored Tangering-Flake Streamline Baby. This was eventually turned into a 1973 movie starring Jeff Bridges (yes, the Dude abides).

So, I guess maybe maybe he can get away with pissing off NASCAR Dads, confident that his legacy will remain intact. Uh... not that NASCAR Dads would be pissed off or anything. . .