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Dr. Jeff Golub-Evans, DDS | Jeff Golub-Evans | NY Dentist nyccd.com | Evans City Pharmacy / Evans City Apothecary and Wellness Center evanscitypharmacy.com | Alun Evans' Dermatology - About Dr Alun Evans southwalesdermatologist.c... | Evans Medical Group - Primary care physicians, Evans Georgia evansmedicalgroup.com |
For other persons of the same name, see Richard Evans.  Richard Ernest Evans (July 23, 1941[1] – October 24, 1985), 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".[2] Evans won virtually every major race for asphalt modifieds, most of them more than once, including winning the Race of Champions three times.[1]
[edit] Early careerEvans left his family's farm at age 16 to work at a local garage in Rome, NY. 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. [3] [edit] National championshipsIn 1973, Evans became the NASCAR National Modified Champion. In 1978, the "Rapid Roman" 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 NASCAR's inaugural Winston Modified Tour (now known as Whelen Modified Tour) championship. [edit] Regional championshipsIn 1982, NASCAR created its Weekly Racing Series (then sponsored by Winston) to reward successful short-track racers and to provide incentives for them to support their local NASCAR-sanctioned tracks. Evans won the Northeast Region championship all four years that he competed in it, from 1982 through 1985.[4] [edit] PosthumousRichie's death in 1985 came from a bad practice crash into the third turn Martinsville wall on Thursday, October 24. Richie had clinched the '85 NASCAR Modified Tour title with a sixth place finish at the previous Thompson event. People were sad and amazed at the loss of Richie. Years later other deaths came in the Whelen Modifieds including Charlie Jarzombek at Martinsville in 1987, Corky Cookman at Thompson in 1987, Don Pratt at the Pocono R.o.C. in 1989 and Tony Jankowiak at Stafford in 1990, occasional competitor and two-time defending track champion Tommy Druar in a Lancaster event in 1989, Tom Baldwin, Sr. at Thompson in 2004, and John Blewett III at Thompson in 2007. Officials made more safety features. Evans' crash, along with other fatal crashes in the late 1980s, led to questions about excessive frame rigidity of the Tour Modifieds, and safety changes resulted. In particular, straight frame rails were phased out, with new chassis required to have a step-up which could bend in hard impacts rather than transmitting all its impact force to the driver. Though not recognized at the time, many racing safety experts have concluded that Evans' death resulted from the same type of "head-whip" injury and resultant Basilar skull fracture, which also claimed the life of Dale Earnhardt in 2001. Evans was the father of six children: Jodi Lynn (Evans) Meola, Janelle Ralaine (Evans) Walda, Jill Ann Evans, Jacqueline Marie (Evans) Williams, Richard Edwin Evans and Tara Denise Evans. Evans' signature orange Modified paint scheme (GMC truck color Omaha Orange; black numbers with white shading) was replicated in 2003 on a Busch Series car driven by New Jersey native Martin Truex, Jr. in his first year on the series driving for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s Chance 2 Motorsports. It was heard during the draw for an IROC race a few years back that they called the color of one of the cars "Evans Orange." Ray Evernham, Jr. raced against Richie in the Modifieds and also wrote the forward in the "Richie! The Richie Evans Story" by Bones Bourcier; he also worked on them at the IROC shops in his native NJ and was involved with that aspect. John Bisci's input: "GM Omaha Orange matches his early coupes. Yes, people say it's Dupont Swamp Holly Orange but it's hard to find. When Richie built his last coupes and first Pintos, he switched to Ford Grabber Orange. Also, you have to watch what you use as a primer underneath - it bleeds through the orange or tints it. Never use gray primer under the orange! Richie used red oxide primer which would tint the oranges a little darker...." [edit] National championships in touring series
[edit] Track championships(26 championships at 11 tracks in 4 states. All were in the Modified division on paved tracks.)[3]
[edit] Feature race victories(478 feature wins known in Modifieds and 2 in other divisions, at 38 tracks in 14 states and provinces. One track with incomplete records has none of Evans' wins there included.)[3]
[edit] Recognitions
[edit] References
8. ^ Mark Southcott/NYRaceZone.com [edit] Further reading
[edit] External links |
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