Where is ... M. Panch?

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- He is a man who didn't stray far from his greatest moment in racing.

Marvin Panch -- all 81 years of him -- still resides near Daytona Beach, site of his 1961 Daytona 500 win. His wife of 54 years, Bettie, died late last year, and he now spends the majority of his time with his daughter Marvette.

Panch mainly lives in an RV that he frequently drives to Canton, N.C., where he lives for the summer months.

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Panch, who won 17 times in NASCAR's top division, has been working with his daughter to document his life in a multi-volume book, which is derived from scrapbooks maintained by his wife during his career.

Panch takes a replica of his Daytona 500-winning Pontiac on the road, where he shows it and signs autographs.

He tried to find the original Pontiac he drove in the win at Daytona, but the car was lost in a salvage yard. Panch found a similar chassis and prepared it to look like it did in 1961.

"I tow the car myself. Normally I have the car with me," said Panch, who drove from 1951 to 1966. "Depends on when [Marvette] has it booked."

The car Panch won the Daytona 500 with was a Pontiac, but Panch is probably best known for his stint with one of Ford's top teams -- The Wood Brothers -- for most of the 1960s.

When Ford pulled out of racing in 1966, Panch was left unemployed, and NASCAR president Bill France tried to help. France called him and told Panch of a one-race ride with Petty Enterprises at Charlotte.

He ended up winning the race despite driving a car that wasn't set up to run on asphalt. It was his final victory.

"I won Charlotte in 1966 while driving one of Petty's dirt cars," Panch said. "That was a real rough ride and the car was slow, but it was tough and I ended up winning the race."

Naturally, Panch's best memories revolve around the 1961 Daytona 500, which he entered at the last minute in a year-old Pontiac prepared by Yunick.

He even got an unexpected bonus for the win.

"To give you an idea as to what type of guy Smokey Yunick was, I had a 40 percent [salary] to drive his car," Panch said. "After the race he said, 'Anyone good enough to win the race is worth 50 percent.'"

The money wasn't much, and he jokes that he wishes he was running this year to get a taste of the seven-figure salaries enjoyed by today's drivers.

"I am jealous," said Panch, who earned just under $300,000 for his entire career. "They pay money now. I tell my friends, if they paid back then like they do now, I wouldn't even have to be nice to 'em."

Panch watched James Hylton's one-race comeback with intense interest this season. Hylton, a decade younger than Panch, attempted to make the 2007 Daytona 500 and nearly pulled it off until fading in the final laps of his 150-mile qualifier.

Panch understands why Hylton tried, and he says the feeling of experiencing speed never gets old.

"I would have liked to seen him made it. He almost got it," Panch said.