Richie Evans facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richie Evans
Evans at New Smyrna Speedway in 1985
Nationality	American
Born	Richard Ernest Evans (1941-07-23)July 23, 1941 Westernville, New York, U.S.
Died	October 24, 1985(1985-10-24) (aged 44) Martinsville, Virginia, U.S.
Winston Modified Tour
Years active	1985
Teams	B. R. DeWitt
Starts	28
Wins	12
Poles	4
Best finish	1st in 1985
Previous series
1965–1984	NASCAR Modified Division
Championship titles
1985 1982–1985 1973, 1978–1984	Winston Modified Tour Winston Racing Series Northeast NASCAR Modified Division
Awards
2011	NASCAR Hall of Fame

Richard Ernest Evans (born July 23, 1941 – died October 24, 1985) was an American race car driver. He was known as the "Rapid Roman" because he was so fast and came from Rome, New York. Richie Evans won nine NASCAR National Modified Championships. This amazing achievement included winning eight championships in a row from 1978 to 1985. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame calls this "one of the supreme accomplishments in motorsports."

Evans won almost every major race for asphalt modified cars, often winning them more than once. He won the Race of Champions three times. On June 14, 2011, Richie Evans was chosen for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He was one of the first 15 people to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was also the first Hall of Famer who raced mainly in the Modified Series, not the top NASCAR Cup Series.

Richie Evans' Racing Start

Richie Evans left his family's farm in Westernville, New York when he was 16. He went to work at a garage in Rome, New York. He first found success in street racing, then became a winner in drag racing. Someone suggested he try building a car to race at the nearby Utica-Rome Speedway.

In 1962, he raced his first oval-track car. It was a 1954 Ford Hobby Stock car. He called it PT-109, like John F. Kennedy's boat from World War II. By 1965, he moved up to the Modifieds, which was the top racing division. He won his first big race on the very last night of that season.

King of Modified Racing

In 1973, Richie Evans became the NASCAR National Modified Champion. This was a huge win! Then, in 1978, he won a second championship. After that, he kept winning for the next seven years in a row. This means he was the champion from 1978 all the way to 1985.

Evans won over 400 feature races at tracks from Canada to Florida. He had just won NASCAR's first-ever Winston Modified Tour (now called the Whelen Modified Tour) championship a week before. This happened at Thompson, Connecticut.

Winning Regional Races

In 1982, NASCAR started a new series called the Whelen All-American Series. It was known as the Winston Racing Series back then. This series was created to reward successful short-track racers. It also encouraged them to support their local weekly short tracks. These are now known as NASCAR Home Tracks.

When Evans raced, this series was based on different regions. Now, it's an international series. Richie Evans won the Northeast Region championship all four years he competed in it. He won from 1982 through 1985. However, he did not win the national championship for the series.

Richie Evans' Last Race and Legacy

On October 24, 1985, Richie Evans was practicing for a race at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. He had already won the 1985 National Modified title the week before. During practice, he had a serious crash in turn 3. The 44-year-old driver passed away in the accident.

The racing world was very sad about losing Richie. But his many fans have worked hard to keep his memory alive.

Safety Changes in Racing

After Evans' crash and other fatal accidents in the late 1980s, people started asking questions about how safe the Modified cars were. This led to important safety changes. For example, straight frame rails were no longer allowed. New car frames had to have a "step-up" design. This design could bend in a hard crash. This helped to absorb the impact force instead of sending it all to the driver.

Many racing safety experts believe that Richie Evans' death was caused by a "head-whip" injury. This is the same type of injury that also caused the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001.

Remembering a Legend

Richie Evans had six children: Jodi Lynn, Janelle Ralaine, Jill Ann, Jacqueline Marie, Richard Edwin (who raced as "Richie Evans Jr."), and Tara Denise.

Richie Evans' famous orange Modified car had a special paint scheme. It was a GMC truck color called Omaha Orange, with black numbers and white shading. In 2003, this design was used on a Busch Series car. Martin Truex Jr. drove this car in his first year in the series. Steve Park also used a Richie Evans tribute paint scheme in 2010. This was for a race at Daytona.

During a draw for an IROC race years ago, one of the cars was called "Evans Orange." That car had a small "61" on the back bumper. This was the same number and font used on Richie's last race cars. Ray Evernham Jr., who raced against Richie, even wrote the introduction for a book about him.

On June 14, 2011, Richie Evans was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He was the first driver who mainly raced Modified cars to be chosen for the Hall of Fame. On January 20, 2012, he was officially inducted. During the ceremony, Darrell Waltrip praised Richie. He said, "Richie Evans was the best wheel man I ever saw when he raced at Martinsville."

Awards and Honors

Track Championships

Richie Evans won 30 championships at 11 different tracks in 4 states. All of these wins were in the Modified division on paved tracks.

• Thompson Speedway (Thompson, Connecticut): 5 (1980–81, 1983–1985)
• Utica-Rome Speedway (Vernon, New York): 4 (1972–74, 1978)
• Holland Speedway (Holland, New York): 4 (1978–80, 1982)
• Spencer Speedway (Williamson, New York): 4 (1977–78, 1983, 1985)
• Fulton Speedway (Volney, New York): 3 (1970–71, 1974)
• Shangri-La Speedway (Owego, New York): 3 (1975, 1977, 1982)
• New Egypt Speedway (New Egypt, New Jersey): 2 (1979, 1982)
• Stafford Speedway (Stafford Springs, Connecticut): 2 (1980–81)
• Chemung Speedrome (Chemung, New York): 1 (1978)
• Oswego Speedway (Oswego, New York): 1 (1983)
• Riverside Park Speedway (Agawam, Massachusetts): 1 (1980)

Other Acknowledgements

• NASCAR Connecticut State Champion (1980–1981)
• NASCAR Winston Racing Series Northeast Region Champion (1982–1985)
• New Smyrna World Series of Racing Modified Champion (1977, 1979–1981, 1983–1984)
• 2-time Daytona International Speedway Modified Race winner (1979–1980)
• 3-time Modified Race of Champions winner:
  • 1973 – Trenton (NJ) Speedway (1.50 mile track)
  • 1979 – Pocono (PA) Raceway (2.50 mile track)
  • 1980 – Pocono (PA) Raceway (0.75 mile track)

Feature Race Victories

Richie Evans won an amazing 518 feature races! This includes 516 in Modifieds, 1 in Limited Sportsmen, and 1 in Supermodifieds. He won at 40 tracks in 12 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces.

• Shangri-La Speedway (Owego, New York): 66 (1972–85)
• Spencer Speedway (Williamson, New York): 52 (1969–85)
• Fulton Speedway (Fulton, New York): 44 (1968–77), and 1 Limited Sportsman win (1970)
• New Smyrna Speedway (New Smyrna Beach, Florida): 39 (1976–85)
• Stafford Motor Speedway (Stafford Springs, Connecticut): 38 (1975–85)
• Utica-Rome Speedway (Vernon, New York): 33 (1965–78)
• Riverside Park Speedway (Agawam, Massachusetts): 32 (1978–84)
• Thompson Speedway (Thompson, Connecticut): 35 (1975–85), and 1 Supermodified win
• New Egypt Speedway (New Egypt, New Jersey): 25 (1976–85)
• Lancaster Speedway (Lancaster, New York): 23 (1969–76)
• Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Malta, New York): 17 (1970–76)
• Islip Speedway (Islip, New York): 18 (1970–83)
• Oswego Speedway (Oswego, New York): 13 (1972–85)
• Holland International Speedway (Holland, New York): 11 (1977–85)
• Martinsville Speedway (Martinsville, Virginia): 10 (1973–1983)
• Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, New Hampshire): 3 (1978–81)
• Pocono Raceway (Long Pond, Pennsylvania): 3 (1979 on 2.5-mile superspeedway, 1972 and 1980 on 3/4-mile oval)
• Bowman Gray Stadium (Winston-Salem, North Carolina): 2 (1979–80)
• Caraway Speedway (Asheboro, North Carolina): 3 (1973-79)
• Chemung Speedrome (Chemung, New York): 3 (1978)
• Daytona International Speedway (Daytona Beach, Florida): 2 (1979–80)
• Freeport Stadium (Freeport, New York): 3 (1975-76)
• Hickory Speedway (Hickory, North Carolina): 3 (1972–79)
• Oxford Plains Speedway (Oxford, Maine): 2 (1982-85)
• Seekonk Speedway (Seekonk, Massachusetts): 2 (1979-83)
• Trenton Fairgrounds Speedway (Trenton, New Jersey): 2 (1973-78)
• Catamount Stadium (Milton, Vermont): 1 (1970)
• Plattsburgh Speedway (Plattsburgh, New York): 1 (1971)
• Devil's Bowl Speedway (West Haven, Vermont): 1 (1971)
• Twin State Speedway (Claremont, New Hampshire): 1 (1985)
• Deux-Montagnes Speedway (Saint-Eustache, Quebec): 1 (1979)
• Evans Mills Speedway (Evans Mills, New York): 1 (1970)
• Franklin County Speedway (Callaway, Virginia): 1 (1979)
• Kingsport Speedway (Kingsport, Tennessee): 1 (1979)
• Metrolina Speedway (Charlotte, North Carolina): 1 (1974)
• Riverhead Raceway (Riverhead, New York): 1 (1985)
• Star Speedway (Epping, New Hampshire): 2 (1979-84)
• Wall Stadium (Wall Township, New Jersey): 1 (1971)
• Weedsport Speedway (Weedsport, New York): 1 (1971, Evans' only win on dirt)
• Capital City Speedway (Stittsville, Ottawa, Ontario): 18 (1967-76)

Recognition

• Named No. 1 on NASCAR's Modified all-time Top 10 list (2003)
• His number, 61, is unofficially retired in NASCAR's Whelen Modified Tour. This means no one else uses it.
• As part of NASCAR's 50th Anniversary in 1998, Evans was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers of All Time.
• Fans voted him NASCAR Modifieds' Most Popular Driver nine times.
• Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1996)
• Inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Hall of Fame (1986)
• Inducted into the New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame.
• Part of the first group inducted into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame in 1998.
• Inducted into the FOAR SCORE Hall of Fame in 1986 (first group).
• Inducted into the Oswego Speedway Hall of Fame (2000).
• As part of the 25th anniversary of the NASCAR Weekly Series in 2006, Evans was named one of the series' All Time Top 25 drivers.
• His No. 61 was retired at his home track, Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York, in 2008.
• In the 1985 IROC Series, every orange car had a '61' on the back fender to honor Evans and his orange No. 61 car.
• Elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame on June 14, 2011. He was inducted with Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Inman, and Glen Wood.
• Inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC, on January 20, 2012.
• Named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers (2023).

Motorsports Career Results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Whelen Modified Tour