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.
Tommy Hoston brings his Southern Biscuit Flour Buick to pit road during the Friday night August 23, 1985, Busch Series race at Bristol during a caution due to a wreck. Houston would later drop out of the race on lap 144 with the reason listed as engine. Brett Bodine, seen coming through turn four, would win the race in a Rick Hendrick # 5 Levi Garrett Chevrolet. The 200-lap race had 6 cautions for 49 of those laps. This photo appeared in the book "Second To None: The History of the NASCAR Busch Series," by Rick Houston.
Bobby Labonte in the Penrose Firecracker Oldsmobile on the way to his first NASCAR Busch Series win at the spring Bristol race in 1991. He would go on to win the Busch Series Championship that year. It was also a big win for me in several ways. I had been working in public relations for teams and drivers in the Busch Series since 1983. After working PR in over 200 NASCAR Busch Series races, this was my first time to go to victory lane with a team I was representing. I also had a hand in the design of this car with Steve Bennett. We had worked hard to come up with a paint scheme that related to the packaging of the product being sold, the Penrose Firecracker Hot Sausage, and for the car to be TV friendly for visibility in the Sponsors Report that gauged a sponsor's monetary exposure value during a televised race.
