Richie Evans Totally Explained

Everything about Richie Evans totally explained

Richard Ernest Evans (b. July 23 1941 - d. 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". Evans won virtually every major race for asphalt modifieds, most of them more than once, including winning the Race of Champions three times.

National championships

In 1973, Evans became the NASCAR National Modified Champion. In 1978 he won a second title and didn't 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.

Regional championships

In 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.

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 officially retired in both NASCAR Whelen 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's raced sporadically, frequently carrying the #61JR.
   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 driving for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s Chance 2 Motorsports.

National championships in touring series

NASCAR National Modified Champion: 1973, 1978-84
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: 1985 (inaugural year)

Track championships

(26 championships at 11 tracks in 4 states. All were in the Modified division on paved tracks.)

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)

Catamount Stadium (VT): 1 (1970)

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)

Recognitions

Named #1 on NASCAR's Modified all-time Top 10 list (2003)

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.Further Information

Get more info on 'Richie Evans'.

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