Junior Johnson starts team

Junior Johnson has launched a race team that he hopes will propel his son, 17-year-old Robert, eventually to the Sprint Cup Series. The elder Johnson, who was enshrined in NASCAR's Hall of Fame as a member of its inaugural 2010 class of inductees, will run Junior Johnson Racing from shops on his 278-acre estate in Hamptonville, N.C. Keith Barnwell, JJR's executive vice president and general manager, said Monday he was standing amidst 800 head of cattle outside one of the two buildings the elder Johnson — who scored 50 victories as a driver, 132 as an owner and six Cup championships in his legendary career — had converted into his son's race shop. "We're going to run the full K&N Pro Series East and maybe the West Series' finale at Phoenix," Barnwell said. "On some of our off-weekends, we'll be running some UARA and Whelen All-American Series late model races. Johnson has hired two veteran mechanics with K&N Series experience, Craig Hermann and Robbie Harrison, to work on the operation. Barnwell said some Toyota stock cars have been purchased from the Red Bull Racing Team and that he and Johnson were in the process of making a final decision on what manufacturer they would align themselves with. NASCAR.com