As the founder, president, booster and sole member  of NASCAR Jews For Obama I’m really happy about an email I just read. NASCAR legend Junior Johnson has endorsed Barack Obama.

I know it sounds funny but I am a HUGE NASCAR fan and I’m tired of one of my favorite sports being associated with the Republican Party.

Junior Johnson is a legendary figure in the NASCAR having won fifty races before he retired in 1966. In fact he began his racing career delivering moonshine, before moving over to the race track. 

After serving eleven months of a two-year prison term in 1956, Johnson devoted more of his time to professional racing than bootlegging, and proceeded to revolutionize the sport with an intimidating driving style. It included the first use of aerodynamic drafting — driving in the vacuum developed behind the bumper of a leading car to save fuel, which increases the speed of both vehicles in a push-pull dynamic-in the 1960 Daytona 500. He also pioneered the use of two-way radios between the driver and pit crew.

Johnson owned the cars driven by NASCAR legends as Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip. (Waltrip currently works as an announcer for NASCAR Races on Fox.)

Anyway here is his email endorsing Barack Obama:

Dear Ari,

My family and I have given this election a lot of thought.

Our country is in a rough spot, and we’re going to need some serious change. There’s only one candidate ready to deliver it — and that’s Barack Obama.

Every day I talk to someone else who’s never voted for a Democrat, but now they’re voting for Barack Obama. They realize that Barack understands what we’re going through here in North Carolina. And they’re ready for change.

So I’ve made up my mind, and I’m ready to get involved. I know that I could never have won a race without my pit crew, and I know Barack can’t win this one without us.

Can you sign up to volunteer this last crucial week?

When I talk to folks about why I support Barack, I just tell it like I see it.

There’s been a lot thrown at him this election, and he’s stayed calm, positive, and focused. I know a little something about how important it is to stay cool under pressure.

And with all the dangers in our world today, that’s the kind of rock-solid leadership our country needs.

These days, I run a small country ham and pork skins business. Barack Obama will fight for a fair economy where small businesses like mine have the freedom to grow, and he’ll defend the Second Amendment to protect the hunter’s way of life.

But the most important reasons I’m speaking out for Barack Obama are named Robert and Meredith, my two children. My wife Lisa and I talked it over, and honestly, we know in our gut that their future is more secure if Barack Obama is president.

At the end of the day, there’s just nothing more important than that.

That’s why I’m going to talk to my neighbors this week, and I’m asking you to do the same. This election in North Carolina is going to be one of the closest ever, and we all need to lend a hand.

Join me by volunteering this week:

http://nc.barackobama.com/NC100kHours

I’ve been in a lot of races in my life. But this may be the most important one of all. So let’s all get in gear and win it together.

Yours,

Junior Johnson

P.S. — I know what it means to run an aggressive race, but I also know what it means to compete with integrity. Have you gotten one of these pre-recorded calls that are flooding our state smearing Barack Obama’s character and questioning his patriotism? That’s crossing the line, and North Carolinians deserve better. Help fight back by canvassing this week to tell your neighbors the truth about Barack:

http://nc.barackobama.com/NC100kHours