A Penny For Your Thoughts!

Regardless of the photos you have or seen, there are some that always "jump out" when you see them. This is one of my favorites from a period when NASCAR was still "in touch" with grass roots racing.

Taken during the time when you could see a Grand National race on a half mile track, even with a dirt surface sometimes!

This picture has always captured the essence of candid photographs to me. Ned Jarrett with his finger in the Pepsi bottle, relaxing with a far-away look on his face says it all perhaps.

The group had raced at Watkins Glen for 150 miles on the road course on Sunday and now they were in New Oxford, Pa. on a Tuesday night for the "Pennsylvania 200", on Lincoln Speedways half mile dirt surface. You can't help but wonder, was he thinking about the nights race, contemplating getting on the road and heading for home or just nothing at all.

Yes, even "The King" long before his signature sunglasses and cowboy hat could sit and relax. I wonder if David Pearson was thinking about the $1,000. purse he was going to win later that night while driving the Cotton Owen's 64 Dodge

Of all the speculation and thoughts this photo has generated, the most cherished was to see Ned Jarrett's face fade into a similar look as he studied my print before he autographed it at the Motorsports show a decade ago.

Richard Petty earned $600. for second at Lincoln and Jim Pardue got $400. for finishing 3rd, 6 laps down. Ned Jarrett earned $100. after dropping out on lap 32 with a blown engine.

Senior Moment By: Russ Dodge
Statistics from Greg Fielden's Forty Years of Stock Car Racing 1959-64

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