Johnson Sells Race Teams

Junior Johnson, one of the last of the pioneers of big-time stock car racing, has sold his teams, published reports say.

The Charlotte Observer, citing an unidentified source, reported that the 64-year-old Johnson has sold one of his teams to Brett Bodine, who drove for him last season. The other team went to Arkansas lawyer David Blair.

The newspaper said Bodine purchased the No. 11 - a car in which Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip combined to win six NASCAR Winston Cup championships - for a price estimated at $3 million to $5 million.

Johnson, the subject of Thomas Wolfe’s essay, “The Last American Hero,” won 50 races as a driver and 139 as an owner.

Yarborough is now retired as a driver, but campaigns a car of his own.