Ray Hendrick in the Junie Donlavey #90 in the 1978 Permatex 300 at Daytona International Speedway. He would start 5th and finish 4th in the race. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007 and in 1998, he was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers. During his 36-year career in motorsports he collected more than 700 victories.
In April of 1980 I visited the home of Ray and Janet Hendrick with Randy Hallman to photograph Ray in his trophy room for an article Randy was writing for the Richmond News Leader. We had heard that it was very special, and we weren't disappointed. Ray is said to have won more than 700 races and there were trophies covering the walls around the room. Among them were trophies from Talladega Superspeedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Langhorne Speedway and the Moyock Dog Track. And since he is first on the all-time winners list at Martinsville Speedway with 20 wins between 1963 and 1975, there were some grandfather clocks. We set this one up with the checkered flag since one was waved over Ray and whatever car he was driving, every time he won one of these beauties. Interestingly this is not the image made that night that was used in Randy's article, the one that was used is seen on this site too.
In April 1980 I went with Randy Hallman to see the Ray Hendrick trophy room in his Richmond, Virginia home and to take some photographs for an article Randy was writing for the Richmond News Leader. After all the posed pictures, with Ray and Janet some including their dog, Ray with various trophies and a checkered flag, everyone sat down and relaxed. Then I noticed Ray put on his glasses and wander past the pool table, taking another look at some of the trophies. He seemed to be looking back to when and where they had been won. I quietly picked up the camera again and was able to capture this intimate moment. This was the shot that the News Leader decided to print in the May 1, 1980 edition that carried Randy's story. And this is the one that was run in several other publications and has been seen on numerous internet web pages.
