NASCAR didn’t quite have the glamour to it as it does now back in the 50s and 60s. It has its roots deep into moonshining and bootlegging, where moonshiners hired bootleggers to transport the illegal liquor they produced, hidden from the authorities. Morgan Shepherd grew up in such an environment.

Shepherd has repeatedly opened up about his beginning in the sport as a bootlegger. He was introduced to it by his father in the early 50s. In his late teens, Shepherd himself became a bootlegger alongside his friend Clifford Baker. 

During his recent appearance on Dale Jr’s "Dale Jr Download" podcast, the four-time NASCAR Cup series race winner opened up about his last time as a bootlegger that almost went sideways. 

"We were going up to pick up some (liquor) so we could make a delivery. This was on the old Highway 70, just a mile from the racetrack.  Must’ve been 25 or 30 ABC people in all."

Despite bribing the local authorities, the site was raided. It was this police raid that became a turning point for Shepherd.

Dale Jr asked the veteran why he didn't go build another still once the first one was blown up, to which Shepherd replied, saying, "No, I hope I was smarter than that. I didn't let that happen."

Shepherd made his Cup debut back in 1970 and went on to become the oldest driver at 72 to start a Cup Series race.  Shepherd has over 1027 starts across all three series. He also won the Late Model Sportsman division in 1980.

Morgan Shepherd is widely regarded as one of the last people who are actively connected to the Moonshiners era. Becoming a bootlegger was one of the riskiest jobs, as described by Shepherd. 

However, despite the risks involved, Shepherd was not the only driver to enter NASCAR via the Bootleggers route.

Junior Johnson’s Moonshine Runs to NASCAR Journey

Junior Johnson's household was different from that of many American households that struggled to put food on their plates during the great depression and the Prohibition period. 

To make ends meet, he took the illegal route of becoming a bootlegger in the 1970s. However, this also became the introduction to auto racing for many, like Johnson. 

During an interview in the 90s, Johnson spoke about working as a bootlegger. He said:

"Moonshining was part of my growing up, but it was also part of my training in auto racing. Being in that business, you had to have a very fast car, and you had to be able to outrun the revenuers or highway patrol or sheriff or whoever tried to pursue you to try and apprehend you."

Junior Johnson got into the business at the age of 14. He stopped the business for good once he was caught and sentenced to jail for two years, but was released after 11 months. 

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Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Yask Kotak