Meet the Legends
SMOKEY
This former Piston Cup team owner teamed up with the Fabulous Hudson Hornet (voiced by Paul Newman in the original Cars movie) back in the Fifties. His gruff exterior and strong opinions served him well as crew chief, and he still wrestles with trusting his head over his gut. Smokey, portrayed as a Hudson pickup truck, was inspired by real-life legend Henry “Smokey”Yunick. A racer and designer in NASCAR’s early days, Yunick was best known as a mechanic, builder and crew chief. He was twice named NASCAR mechanic of the year, and his teams won 57 NASCAR Cup Series races, including two championships in the early 1950s.
JUNIOR ‘MIDNIGHT' MOON
Piston-Cup legend Junior Moon, a 1940 Ford Standard, got his start running homemade‘fuel’ through the wooded back roads with only the moon to light the way. NASCAR legend Junior Johnson both inspired and lends his voice to the character. Johnson won 50 NASCAR races in the 1950s and 1960s. He got his start in an unconventional way—making moonshine runs for his family business throughout the mountains of eastern North Carolina. The recipe was later shared with Piedmont Distillers and is sold under the label Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon.
LOUISE ‘BARNSTORMER' NASH
Known as the ‘First Lady of Racing,’ Louise Nash didn’t have an easy start as one of the first and only females in racing—she had to steal her racing number to compete in her first race. Nash took on the Fabulous Hudson Hornet in the early days of the Piston Cup, winning three back-to-back races. NASCAR’s Louise Smith inspired the character. Refusing to just watch her first NASCAR race, Smith entered it—but ultimately rolled her family’s new Ford coupe. She went on to win 38 races during her seven-year career.
RIVER SCOTT
This in-house design‘car-acter’came from modest beginnings, but his hard drive and never-quit attitude made him a trailblazer in the Piston Cup—racking up seven circuit wins in the early Fifties. Scrappy and improvisational, Scott wore his dents proudly. NASCAR’s Wendell Scott, who in 1963 became the first African-American driver to win the Grand National Series at Jacksonville’s Speedway Park, inspired the character. Scott was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015.