Richie Evans
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Richard Ernest Evans (b. July 23, 1941 - d. October 24, 1985), better known as Richie Evans, was an American racing driver who won nine NASCAR National Modified Championships, including eight in a row from 1978 to 1985. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame lists this achievement as 'one of the supreme accomplishments in motorsports' ([1]).
Evans left his family's farm at age 16 to work at a local garage. After he found early success in street racing, then became a winner in drag racing, an associate suggested he try building a car to race at the nearby Utica-Rome Speedway. He ran his first oval-track car, a 1954 Ford Hobby Stock numbered PT-109 (after John F. Kennedy's torpedo boat in World War II), in 1962. He advanced to the Modifieds, the premier division, in 1965, winning his first feature in the season's final night. In 1973 he became the NASCAR National Modified Champion.
In 1978 he won a second title and did not relinquish his crown during the next seven years. Evans took over four hundred feature race wins at racetracks from Quebec to Florida before he was killed in a crash at Martinsville Speedway while practicing for the Winn-Dixie 500 Tripleheader in late 1985 (three races in one day -- a 200-lap Modified race, a 200-lap Busch Series race, and a 100-lap Late Model race). Before his fatal crash, Evans had clinched the inaugural Winston Modified Tour (now known as Whelen Modified Tour) championship.
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[edit] Posthumous
Evans' crash, along with other drivers' fatal crashes in the late 1980s, led to questions about car rigidity with Tour Modifieds, and safety changes. In particular, straight frame rails were phased out, with new chassis required to have a step which could bend in hard impacts rather than passing the force to the driver.
The #61 is unofficially retired in both NASCAR Whelan Modified Tour divisions, out of respect for the late driver.
Evans' son Richie Jr. has raced Modifieds in the Northeast, but in recent years he has raced sporadically, frequently carrying the #61.
Evans' signature orange Modified paint scheme was replicated in 2003 on a Busch Series car driven by New Jersey native Martin Truex, Jr. in his first year on the series for Chance 2 Motorsports.
[edit] National Championships
- NASCAR National Modified Champion: 1973, 1978-84
- NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: 1985 (inaugural year)
[edit] Track Championships
(26 championships at 11 tracks in 4 states. All were in the Modified division on paved tracks.)
- Thompson Speedway (Thompson, CT): 4 (1980-81, 1983, 1985)
- Utica-Rome Speedway (Vernon, NY): 4 (1972-74, 1978)
- Fulton Speedway (Fulton, NY): 3 (1970-71, 1974)
- Holland Speedway (Holland, NY): 3 (1978-80)
- Shangri-La Speedway (Owego, NY): 3 (1975, 1977, 1982)
- New Egypt Speedway (New Egypt, NJ): 2 (1979, 1982)
- Spencer Speedway (Williamson, NY): 2 (1983, 1985)
- Stafford Speedway (Stafford Springs, CT): 2 (1980-81)
- Chemung Speedrome (Chemung, NY): 1 (1978)
- Oswego Speedway (Oswego, NY): 1 (1983)
- Riverside Park Speedway (Agawam, MA): 1 (1980)
[edit] Feature race victories
(477 feature wins known in Modifieds and 2 in other divisions, at 37 tracks in 13 states and provinces. One track with incomplete records has none of Evans' wins there included.)
- Shangri-La Speedway (Owego, NY): 66 (1972-85)
- Spencer Speedway (Williamson, NY): 49 (1969-85)
- Fulton Speedway (Fulton, NY): 42 (1968-77), and 1 Limited Sportsman win
- New Smyrna Speedway (New Smyrna Beach, FL): 39 (1976-85)
- Stafford Speedway (Stafford Springs, CT): 38 (1975-85)
- Utica-Rome Speedway (Vernon, NY): 33 (1965-78)
- Riverside Park Speedway (Agawam, MA): 32 (1978-84)
- Thompson Speedway (Thompson, CT): 32 (1975-85), and 1 Supermodified win
- New Egypt Speedway (New Egypt, NJ): 23 (1978-85)
- Lancaster Speedway (Lancaster, NY): 22 (1969-76)
- Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Malta, NY): 17 (1970-76)
- Islip Speedway (Islip, NY): 17 (1970-83)
- Oswego Speedway (Oswego, NY): 12 (1972-85)
- Holland Speedway (Holland, NY): 11 (1977-85)
- Martinsville Speedway (Martinsville, VA): 10 (1973-1983)
- Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, NH): 3 (1978-81)
- Pocono Raceway (Pocono, PA): 3 (1979 on 2.5-mile superspeedway, 1972 and 1980 on 3/4-mile oval)
- Bowman Gray Stadium (Winston-Salem, NC): 2 (1979-80)
- Caraway Speedway (Asheboro, NC): 2 (1973, 1979)
- Chemung Speedrome (Chemung, NY): 2 (1978)
- Daytona International Speedway (Daytona Beach, FL): 2 (1979-80)
- Freeport Stadium (Freeport, NY): 2 (1972, 1976)
- Hickory Speedway (Hickory, NC): 2 (1978-79)
- Oxford Plains Speedway (Oxford Plains, ME): 2 (1982, 1985)
- Seekonk Speedway (Seekonk, MA): 2 (1979, 1983)
- Trenton Fairgrounds Speedway (Trenton, NJ): 2 (1973, 1978)
- Claremont Speedway (Claremont, NH): 1 (1985)
- Deux Montagnes Speedway (St. Eustache, Quebec, Canada): 1 (1979)
- Evans Mills Speedway (Evans Mills, NY): 1 (1970)
- Franklin County Speedway (Calloway, VA): 1 (1979)
- Kingsport Speedway (Kingsport, TN): 1 (1979)
- Metrolina Speedway (Charlotte, NC): 1 (1974)
- Riverhead Raceway (Riverhead, NY): 1 (1985)
- Star Speedway (Epping, NH): 1 (1979)
- Wall Stadium (Wall Township, NJ): 1 (1971)
- Weedsport Speedway (Weedsport, NY): 1 (1971, Evans' only win on dirt)
- Capital City Speedway (Stittsville, Ontario, Canada): multiple wins (records incomplete, none included in total)
[edit] Hall of Fame inductions
- Named #1 on NASCAR's Modified all-time Top 10 list (2003)
- National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Hall of Fame (1986)
- International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1996)
- New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame
- New England Auto Racing (NEAR) Hall of Fame
- As part of NASCAR's 50th Anniversary celebration in 1999, Evans was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers of All Time.
[edit] References
- Bourcier, Bones. RICHIE!: The Fast Life and Times of NASCAR's Greatest Modified Driver (1st ed., 2004). Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA: Coastal 181. ISBN 0-9709854-6-0.
- Zanardi, Pete. Stock Car Racing, April 1974. (Richie Evans biography article.)
- "61 at 61", Speedway Illustrated, Volume 3, Number 8, August 2002. (Tribute on what would have been Evans' 61st birthday.)
