Let's Not Forget The Rookies
The year was 1973. I was a high school sophomore and Lennie Pond was the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. You'll hear Lennie's name from time to time and usually out of "Jaws", D.W. Lennie beat out Darrell for the Rookie honors. It was one of the tightest contentions for the Rookie title of all time, but Waltrip went on to become a Champion and Lenny... well he had the makings of a champ but had too much bad luck. He had many runner up finishes but only one victory in his 17 years... Talladega in 1978. I cannot locate anything on what he does today or where he is. This is the case of many past greats.2007 Rookie of the Year... looks like it's going to Montoya. Not a surprise, but it's been a boring season for the rookie contenders. The '08 season promises to be better, with several open wheeler's coming into NASCAR. My money is on Franchitti next year.
7 comments:
Lennie is working as a sales associate at Heritage Chevrolet in Chester, Virginia. I've heard that he loves people to come by and talk about the "old days".
There's a picture of him on their website http://heritagechevrolet.com
I think Ragan is close enough that a few good runs to close could win the ROY for him. Who saw that coming? Not me.
OK I had never even heard of Lennie Pond. For some reason I was getting Lennie confused with Lake Speed. I guess it was b/c of one guy's name is Lake and the other guy's name is Pond.
I agree with Franchitti....Lennie Pond a name from the past....you have prompted me to go back in the archives for a trip down memory lane....ps... Inspired by your pwer shopping prowess I picked up a Dale Jr. AC Delco Bush car diecast...for the princely sum of 12 bucks....
I think it could be David Ragan just as well as JPM. I had doubts about Ragan at first, thinking he would wreck a lot of cars, but he learned fast, and Jack Roush proved once again that he has the best eye for talent in the sport.
Thanks for the link John... I found Lennie's pic and email. Cool!
Mike & Jim... Ragan is a good possibility and I didn't give him a thought until you guys mentioned him.
Starla... funny!!
Mudge... nice purchase!! I got another.. the '05 #38 M&M ESad Taurus for $25 from www.ruby lane collectibles.. I'll have it in a few days. I wanted one of these because of the M&M switch to Kyle
Classic foto '57, thanks!
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