In NASCAR, there are many talents that come and go, but not all sustain the longevity to become true stars of the sport. Things happen, and the same talent that could go on to become a household name ends up being a ‘what could have been’ story. One such story was of Lennie Pond.

He was the 1973 Rookie of the Year, and he stayed in form for those few years post that. But one call, and an entire career trajectory flipped. How? Dale Jr recently spoke about the oddness of his career and of the sport itself.

Dale Earnhardt Jr felt that Lennie Pond had a great future ahead of him

When Dale Sr made his debut, Pond was racing for Kennie Childers Racing, driving the #12 Chevrolet. Unfortunately, his tenure with the organization lasted only eight races, despite two Top 10 finishes consecutively.

Dale Earnhardt Jr spoke on the Dale Jr Download, “You remember coal miner Kennie Childers with his #12 Chevrolet? Well, he’s fired Lennie Pond, leading into the race, and he’s tabbed short track ace Jack Ingram to drive for the weekend.”

The reason for that firing is unknown, but the consequences were big. Big enough to affect his entire career. Pond was subsequently let go, and short track expert Jack Ingram was drafted in at the Bristol Motor Speedway. He was in good form until then, winning a ton of top-5s and top-10s. Junior mentioned how this just added to the oddness he already felt from Pond’s character.

“Lennie, for me, is one of the oddest characters in NASCAR. Maybe somewhat because of his demeanor and mostly because of his career. He was the 1973 Rookie of the Year, he wins a race and gets 25 Top 5 finishes in a 3-year span. That, to me, is a great career start that’s going to turn into something long-term.

“But he only gets two more Top 5 results in the remaining years of his career before retiring. It’s just odd to me, some of these things don’t seem to work out, things that seem like they should.”

This shows how Lennie Pond’s career was a puzzling one, not because he was less talented, but because NASCAR can be brutally unpredictable at times. Enough to change somebody’s career upside down.

The two-time Daytona 500 winner also revealed that he got a chance to race against Pond in 1994. Though it was not on the NASCAR race track, but in a Late Model Stock event at East Carolina Motor Speedway. Apparently, this was just a one-off event, but Lennie Pond raced door-to-door with Earnhardt Jr and proved that he never lost his edge.

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How did Pond’s NASCAR Winston Cup career actually pan out?

Since being let go from Kennie Childers Racing, Lennie Pond became a bit of a journeyman. He began racing for a variety of teams with varying degrees of success in the stock car racing arena. Unfortunately, it was clear that his best days were behind him, with his one and only win coming in 1978 at Talladega.

In that same year, he finished 7th in the championship, thanks to 10 Top 5 finishes, his one win, and eight Top 10s. However, his career-best finish was 5th in 1976, with 10 Top 5 finishes and nine Top 10 finishes.

After 1979, though, he only finished in the Top 5 two more times, as Dale Earnhardt Jr mentioned. His final race was in 1989 at the Richmond Raceway, where he finished in a respectable 11th.

Tragically, he passed away in 2016 at the age of 75. As per reports, the culprit was complications arising from a cancer diagnosis. Needless to say, he was a respected person in his heyday.