Dick McCabe
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- For the baseball player, see Dick McCabe.
Dick McCabe is a former NASCAR driver. He is known to most major NASCAR fans as a Busch Series winner, but he won the Busch North Series four times. His nickname was the "Irish Angel." He retired from racing in 1995. He was inducted in the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame in 2002.
[edit] Accomplishments before major NASCAR
McCabe built his first racecar, a '36 Chevy 6 cylinder "Bomber" coupe at age 14, and sneaked his way into a number of races. McCabe joined the NASCAR North (a regional racing series) in 1976, where he competed against Stub Fadden, Beaver and Bobby Dragon, and Robbie Crouch. McCabe won the Nascar North Championship in 1981, then repeated in '82, when he set the Nascar North record for the most top 10 finishes in a season. It was also during this period that he became the Oxford Plains Open Champion for 4 consecutive years from 1981-1984.
McCabe also ran a side business during this time as a bait salesman, Dick would drive his 18 wheel dump truck 12 hours a day to pick up and sell bait to fisherman. His business often appeared on his cars.
McCabe moved Busch North Series, where he again won back to back championships, in 1992 and 1993. The 1993 season was extra special, because Dick won track and Busch North Championships in the inaugural season at NHIS
[edit] Busch Series Career
As he was competing in the North Series, McCabe followed a common trend among most North drivers in running a part-time Busch schedule. McCabe made his debut in 1984 at Daytona, where he started 36th but finished 11th.
McCabe returned in 1985, when he ran the #80 McCabe Bait Pontiac to a twelfth place run in his return to Daytona. It was his only start in that year. McCabe made his Busch debut at Oxford Plains Speedway in 1986, earning his first career top-10 start, a ninth, but an early engine failure left him 43rd in the field. He started twelfth in the #0, the following year at Oxford Plains, and had a fourth place finish, his first career top-10.
McCabe made four starts in 1988. After a twenty-first place finish at Daytona, McCabe qualified seventh at Oxford, and led 102 laps en route to his first career Busch Series victory. McCabe also added a 19th at IRP before finishing 33rd at Dover.
McCabe returned to action for one race in 1989, starting last Richmond, before engine problems sidelined him to 26th. He made two starts the next year, finishing 26th at Oxford and finished 43rd at Loudon after a crash.
Despite a 38th place in his season debut at Oxford, McCabe recovered by piloting his #0 in both NHIS races to two top-10 finishes in 1991. He was 9th in the July race and 10th in the October race.
McCabe started off 1992 by qualifying for the outside pole at Nazareth Speedway. However, he was wrecked in that race early and finished 35th. He had a 12th place finish at Loudon that same year.
McCabe's two races in 1993 included his debut at Watkins Glen International, racing home to a 15th place. However, McCabe only completed 18 laps at New Hampshire before falling out of the race and to a 44th place finish.
McCabe made his last start in 1994, qualifying 38th and then finished 34th after a mid-race accident.
