There's a handsome painting of Hans Hermann driving his racing car, a factory Porsche, in the 1954 Mexican Road Race, the La Carrera Panamericana for those who know Spanish, and it hangs in Carl Picelle's Franklin Square Deli in Kent.

The picture is an indicator of Carl's favorite pastime, auto racing. He engages in road racing on a part-time basis, usually weekends, when his busy schedule permits. Carl's a well-read auto racing fan too, an expert on the sport, which, some say, in terms of fans support, is the most popular sport in America.

Early last September, that picture led to an unexpected encounter with Herschel McGriff, one of American auto racing's great iconic figures.

McGriff and his wife, Sherrie, had stopped to eat lunch at Franklin Square Deli. They were in Kent because Mrs. McGriff is a Kent State alumna, whose good friend is married to the president of Park Industries. Their daughter was enrolling at Kent State and the McGriffs were in town to help out.

The encounter was so enjoyable for Carl that he eventually wrote up an account of it and recently shared it with us. Much of what follows is set down in Carl's own words.

"I was taking sandwiches and soups out to a table in the restaurant to a couple," Carl's account begins, " when I noticed the youngish female standing next to the picture, pointing at some of the written details, talking to the older gentleman who was sitting down."

Carl identified the painting for them, explaining it was a painting of Hans Hermann in his Porsche from the Mexican Road Race, a popular road race that the Mexican government sponsored beginning in 1950 to celebrate the opening of the Mexican portion of the Panamerican Highway. That highway traverses through mountains and deserts, its altitudes going from 500 feet above sea level to in some instances mountainous passes of nearly 10,000 feet. Like similar races that were staged to promote auto racing in Europe in the 1950s, the Mexican Road Race, which featured a variety of cars, eventually was discontinued because of its dangers and casualties.

Carl writes he set the food down that the couple had ordered and, "was commenting further on the picture, now standing next to the woman, when from behind me I heard the man mumble, 'I won that race!'"

Carl politely acknowledged the comment, but then went on talking to the lady, thinking the comment a joke.

"No, I won that race!!," the man said.

Carl said he stopped. "Who are you?", he asked.

"Herschel McGriff," the man answered.

Carl knew enough about the history of auto racing to think the man sitting at the table looked way too young to be the man who in 1950 won the first La Carrera Panamericana, a better than 1,000 mile road race that in 1950 went from Ciudad Juarez on the U.S. – Mexican border south all the way to Guatemala.

Still, he kept looking and then, astounded, realized the man at the table before him was one of the major figures of auto racing history, past, present and future.

Tires Key to Winning Race

Now 85 years old, McGriff described to Carl how he won the La Carrera Panamericana.

McGriff, Carl said, told him he had driven his racing car, an Oldsmobile 88 that he used in local races at his hometown, Portland, Oregon, down to Juarez with two sets of tires and a friend who would ride along as mechanic and navigator.

Early on, however, McGriff realized the two extra tires he brought along would not be sufficient to finish the race. At the end of each day's segment, he sought tires without success, but eventually found a Mexican dealer with 6-ply tires, the rough equivalent of today's light truck tires.

The tires sat his Oldsmobile a bit high, but fortunately, McGriff told Carl, "I bought 'em."

The final day of the race went over a 100 mile stretch of the Pan American Highway that the Mexican government decided not to pave, hoping that would keep tourists in Mexico from heading further south into Guatemala.

McGriff told Carl he started the final day eight minutes behind two factory backed Italian Alfa Romeo's that had led most of the race plus a host of other American race car drivers.

One by one, McGriff recalled, the leading cars fell out of the competition because of tire problems. The two Alfa Romeos, he said, said rode so low that the rough gravel Mexican highway ground their engine oil pans open and they had to retire.

Riding on his 6-ply truck tires enabled McGriff to cross the rough road segment without incident. He finished first by 27 seconds over the next car.

"The reward," Carl wrote, "was instant worldwide fame, a million pesos (which turned out to be about $17,000, not bad for 1950) and a kickoff to a successful professional career at car racing, although McGriff told Carl he always kept his day job to fall back on, and still works for Park Industries.

The first place finish in the first Mexican Road Race also enabled McGriff to meet Bill France Sr., the father of NASCAR racing, and racing legend Curtis Turner in Mexico. Bill France invited him to race in the inaugural Southern 500 at Darlington, South Carolina so McGriff drove his Oldsmobile back to Portland for repairs and then drove it all the way to Darlington where he raced in the vehicle, finishing 8th.

A young 85 years old, McGriff, Carl said, still competes in the NASCAR K&N series, formerly the Winston West, and in a new Master Series, in a spec built race car with other past masters of the sport. McGriff, Carl said, was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame and voted "Most Popular Driver" 12 times.

Encounter Turns Into Friendship

In addition to Franklin Square Deli, Carl said, McGriff and his wife made another local business stop. They visited Dale Adams Enterprises, the company on Gougler Avenue that does such incredible restoration work on classic automobiles for elite collectors worldwide.

"McGriff was very impressed by the work he saw going on," Carl said.

McGriff and Carl met up a few weeks later at the Piston Power Show at the Cleveland IX Center, where McGriff had on his display his K&N race car and artifacts from his racing history with McGriff Motorsports.

"When my wife and I arrived," Carl said, "I was amazed to find on display the original trophy from the 1950 La Carrera Panamericana, still absolutely stunning to view."

There, McGriff autographed Carl's personal copy of a book about the great Mexican Road Race.

Whereas most long road races held in many countries during the 1950s are no longer operated because of their dangers, shorter road races and races on tracks featuring factory made cars continue.

Carl has raced in some of them and followed others, meeting along the way the late Paul Newman, who was a road racing enthusiast and driver, and almost annually for awhile raced at Nelson Ledges Roadway.

"When racing, he was just one of the guys," Carl said, "and wanted to be treated as such."

"But he did have the bluest eyes of anyone I've ever seen."

As for Herschel McGriff, Carl said, "he looks 20 years younger than he is and he couldn't be nicer."