Anyone ever heard this story before?
If it weren't for Junior Johnson we may not have had a modern era...
In 1970 he went to see Ralph Seagraves, who was an executive at R.J.Reynolds and a huge Junior Johnson fan. All Junior wanted was for RJR to sponsor his car. Johnson wanted RJR to put up $100,00 to cover his cars, engines and parts. In return he'd advertise Winston cigarettes on the hood and sides of his race car. At the same time, Bill France and Junior Johnson knew that sponsorship from corporations would benefit the sport and break the grip of the manipulative car companies.
What Junior didn't know was RJR wasn't really interested in putting up a measly $100,000 for one car. They had millions of dollars to invest. And because Congress had passed a law prohibiting the advertising of tobacco on TV, RJR wanted to find another way to get people to buy Winston cigarettes. NASCAR seemed like the way to go.
In 1971, when Ralph Seagraves told Junior Johnson what RJR had in mind, Junior said "Well, hell, why don't you just sponsor the whole show then?" Junior called Bill France and told him about the idea, and took RJR to meet with Mr. France.
A month later, RJR and Bill France came to an agreement on a multi-million dollar sponsorship agreement. NASCAR crafted a new schedule and a new format to determine the driving champion. This is also when NASCAR started closing tracks and reduced the number of races each year like Bob Tanner said in his post. They also decided to use more cash benefits as incentives to compete for the championship.
(side note: there's also a story that R.J. Reynolds sent thousands of gallons of red and white paint to refurbish allot of the racetracks that year, many of which were on the verge of bankruptcy. Not sure if it's true, but I remember reading it somewhere.)
So far, it's all been planning, but in 1972, it all came to pass. NASCAR began running with R.J. Reynolds as it's sponsor as The Winston Cup, with a new schedule, and a new points system.
All because Junior Johnson had the foresight to take R.J. Reynolds to see Bill France.
If it weren't for Junior Johnson we may not have had a modern era...
In 1970 he went to see Ralph Seagraves, who was an executive at R.J.Reynolds and a huge Junior Johnson fan. All Junior wanted was for RJR to sponsor his car. Johnson wanted RJR to put up $100,00 to cover his cars, engines and parts. In return he'd advertise Winston cigarettes on the hood and sides of his race car. At the same time, Bill France and Junior Johnson knew that sponsorship from corporations would benefit the sport and break the grip of the manipulative car companies.
What Junior didn't know was RJR wasn't really interested in putting up a measly $100,000 for one car. They had millions of dollars to invest. And because Congress had passed a law prohibiting the advertising of tobacco on TV, RJR wanted to find another way to get people to buy Winston cigarettes. NASCAR seemed like the way to go.
In 1971, when Ralph Seagraves told Junior Johnson what RJR had in mind, Junior said "Well, hell, why don't you just sponsor the whole show then?" Junior called Bill France and told him about the idea, and took RJR to meet with Mr. France.
A month later, RJR and Bill France came to an agreement on a multi-million dollar sponsorship agreement. NASCAR crafted a new schedule and a new format to determine the driving champion. This is also when NASCAR started closing tracks and reduced the number of races each year like Bob Tanner said in his post. They also decided to use more cash benefits as incentives to compete for the championship.
(side note: there's also a story that R.J. Reynolds sent thousands of gallons of red and white paint to refurbish allot of the racetracks that year, many of which were on the verge of bankruptcy. Not sure if it's true, but I remember reading it somewhere.)
So far, it's all been planning, but in 1972, it all came to pass. NASCAR began running with R.J. Reynolds as it's sponsor as The Winston Cup, with a new schedule, and a new points system.
All because Junior Johnson had the foresight to take R.J. Reynolds to see Bill France.
