1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, Lennie Pond's funeral was Monday, February 15 - Valentine's Day...
Here's a link to a story titled, "Richard Petty, Others Remember Lennie Pond"
http://www.richmond.com/sports/auto-racing/article_f18639fa-c7b2-5fa9-9837-1a11ca95de94.html
Lennie Pond's obituary:
Obituaries & In Memoriam
posted February 12th, 2016 
POND, Lennie Wayne, 75, of Chester, Va., passed away on February 10, 2016. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ashton and Janie Pond; and wife, Jane Lindsey Pond. He is survived by his loving wife, Catherine Pond; children, Lindsey Pond, Kent Pond and Laura Pond; grandchildren, John and James Pond; brother, A. Wright Pond Sr. and wife, Cindy; nephews, Ashton Pond Jr. and wife, Leah, Dylan Thomas; nieces, LeeAnn Pond Wilson, Georgia Thomas; mother-in-law, Arlene Thomas and husband, Brent; father-in-law, David McLauchlin; brother-in-law, Kevin Thomas and wife, Dana; numerous extended family and friends. Lennie always loved to go fast and would race anything that had wheels on it. He was a five-time late model Sportsman State Champion. He was named NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year in 1973 and won the Talladega 500 in 1978. Lennie was a familiar face at Heritage Chevrolet in Chester, Va., where he worked for over 28 years. The family will receive friends from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, February 14, 2016, at the Chester Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home, 3050 W. Hundred Rd., Chester, Va. 23831. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, February 15, 2016, at the funeral home. Interment will follow in Sunset Memorial Park. Condolences may be registered online at www.jtmorriss.com .
Chase, regarding Richard Petty and Lennie Pond, here is a quote from Lennie's former car owner, Ronnie Elder inan updated Lennie Pond obituary feature by Randy Hallman:
Ronnie Elder said Mr. Ponds move from Late Model Sportsman to NASCARs top series, the Cup series, came after some friendly advice from NASCARs most famous driver.
We were buying parts from Richard Petty, Elder said. Lennie and I drove down to his shop in Randleman (N.C.) to pick something up. Richard was there and he said, You boys are pretty good why dont you move on up?
The photo above of Lennie & Richard pitting posted by Andy Towler is an ISC Archive photo.
RR members have posted (and reposted) several photos of Lennie & Richard, as well as Lennie and King's crew....
Photos by Donald Evans:
Posted by Ricky Poole, Jr:
Posted by J.C. Hayes:
Posted by Andy Towler:
Sad news that 1973 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year Lennie Pond has succumbed to cancer.
http://www.richmond.com/sports/auto-racing/article_c3296b46-bf18-52c1-a31d-46e6036b9edb.html
Rest in peace, Lennie. You were one of the good guys.
Condolences to family and friends.
Photos from Saturday, February 6, 2016 by RR member, Randy Hallman of Bobby Allison giving the command to start engines at the Arena Racing Lennie Pond tribute event in Richmond that featured Bobby's grandson - Davey Allison's son, Robbie. Special to the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
There's a good story inthe Richmond paper about Bobby Allison appearing at a Lennie Pond tribute and watching his grandson race in Ricky Dennis' Arena Racing Series.
Bobby at Richmond's Southside Speedway for His 1st Big NASCAR Win - 1960
It was interesting to hear Bobby say in the video interviewthat the first major win of his career came in Richmond at Southside Speedway in the season ending 1960 Virginia 400 NASCAR Modified race.
http://www.richmond.com/sports/auto-racing/article_9d0afcca-83f4-5cd9-a1ca-59470dab9a46.html
Randy Hallman was a true giant in the field of motorsports writing for the now defunct afternoon Richmond News Leader. Although a "southern" writer,Randy's talents spanned the auto racing world. Hence, while the late Harold Pearson, Hallman's counterpart at the morning Richmond Times Dispatch, was serving as president of the stock car National Motorsports Press Association - NMPA, Randy at the same time was president of the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association - AARWBA -that also took in the IndyCar, sports car and drag racing arenas, in addition to stock cars.
In 1980 Randy was awarded the prestigious Bloys Britt Award by AARWBA. The award was named for the late Associated Press auto racing editor, Bloys Britt. Randy Hallman's name was added to the perpetual trophy that is an old AP Teletype machine which has been displayed in the Houston Lawing Press Box at Daytona International Speedway. That was an honor of the highest magnitude for a racing writer or broadcaster.
Those of you who've ever been to the Dover track may be familiar with the huge photo tower structure at the exit of Dover's pit road and the entrance to the Cup garage heading into turn 1. While in that structure, a railing collapsed and Randy almost fell to his death. His back was broken and he missed a year and a half on the auto racing beat. That was our loss and it was also our loss as racers when he moved from sports to news and business. My hat is off to one of the greatest auto racing writers who ever pounded a keyboard.
