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Tatooine's Jawas are well known as passionate scavengers and junk collectors that were usually first on the scene of a crashed starship lurking to haul its debris but in the film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace we only see two Jawas - apparently as spectators (using their common expression: "Utinni!").

Are we to assume that they were camping out and waiting for the inevitable wrecks to cart away still-smoking machinery for salvage? We don't see it in the film, but is there a canon reference about the Jawas hauling away the debris during the Boonta Eve Classic?

Still from The Phantom Menace where two Jawas watch a podracer

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This is addressed in the Inside the Worlds of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace factbook. Jawas do indeed try to scavenge the crashed remains of podracers.

Grainy scanning of Jawas watching a podracer. The caption under the image is reproduced below.
"For Jawas, Podraces are fabulous scavenging opportunities. These cloaked Tatooine natives work in teams to cover as much of the circuit as possible, competing with P-100 Salvage Droids to pick up scrap engine parts from crash sites"

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    crazy co-incidence that the factbook uses the same image as the OP
    – AncientSwordRage ♦
    Commented May 19, 2021 at 11:36
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    @AncientSwordRage Since the Jawas are only on-screen for a second or so and don't move much during their appearance, it's not that much of a coincidence.
    – Ross Presser
    Commented May 19, 2021 at 14:07
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    @DarrelHoffman - There were camera bots all along the track. Anakin's mom has a screen that allows her to see the action and there were screens near the trackway; youtu.be/6AtIRu0034E?t=55
    – Valorum
    Commented May 19, 2021 at 17:00
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    @DarrelHoffman - Also really not any different than, for example, the Monaco Grand Prix, where you can see a maximum of about 5% of the course; enterf1.com/monaco-grand-prix/where-to-sit-at-monaco. Most of the excitement at events like this comes from being in the crowd, the loud noise, getting drunk, eating spicy/greasy/sugared food, chatting with friends and other racegoers, etc. The race really is a relatively small part of the experience.
    – Valorum
    Commented May 19, 2021 at 17:02
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    @AncientSwordRage It looks like that image is an official production still, and can be found on the Star Wars website here. It's not a frame grabbed from the film because there's no motion blur on the pod racer, unlike in the film itself.
    – Miles
    Commented May 19, 2021 at 23:56

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