Richie Evans
Quite possibly the greatest asphalt Modified stock-car driver in history, Richie Evans (July 23, 1941 – October 24, 1985) of Rome, New York, established records that will forever be seen as the goals to which others aspire. The winner of nine NASCAR National Modified Championships (1973 & 1978-1985), Evans won on tracks of every size and shape throughout the East and into Canada, and his signature orange No. 61 B.R. DeWitt Construction-sponsored race cars – be they his early 1936 Chevrolet coupes or his later Ford Pinto- or Chevrolet Cavalier-bodied entries – were an iconic part of his legendary racing career.
Evans was a winning drag racer when it was suggested that he try oval-track racing. So, at 21 he began racing a 1954 Ford Hobby Stock – numbered PT-109 after the U.S. Navy Torpedo Boat John F. Kennedy commanded during World War II – at the Utica-Rome Raceway. He then moved up to Modifieds in 1965 and won his first feature on the last night of the season.
From that point on the “Rapid Roman” devoted his time and efforts into being a professional Modified stock-car racer with no real thoughts of ever moving up into what might be seen by some as NASCAR’s more glamorous Cup Series.
The winner of over 500 races on 38 tracks in 14 states and provinces, Evans won 26 track titles at 11 tracks in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey. And for three con-secutive years he won the most races in the Northeast – 52 in 1979, 45 in 1980 and 38 in 1981.
One of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers and the No. 1 Driver in NASCAR’s All-Time Modified Top 10, Evans was so dominating that in 1979 he won 37 of the 60 NASCAR National Modified Series races that he entered and he finished in the Top-5 a spectacular 54 times.
Outstanding on the nation’s short tracks, Evans was also tough on the superspeedways.
On February 16, 1979, he won the NASCAR Modified 200 on the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway at Daytona Beach, Florida, in his orange No. 61 Chevrolet Camaro. One year later on February 15, 1980, he won what was billed as the NASCAR Modified/Grand American 200 from the pole, and in 1979 he won a Modified race on the 2.5-mile Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. And in four NASCAR Late Model Sportsman races (1973-1976) at Daytona his best finish in the Permatex 300 was sixth in 1974 in his No. 61 1969 Mercury.
But Evans really shined on the asphalt short tracks, especially in extra-distance races.
On August 11, 1970, he won a 100-lap All-Star League race at the one-third-mile Catamount Stadium in Milton, Vermont, and then on August 14 he won a 100-lap NASCAR race on the one-third-mile Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, New York. He also won twice (1972 & 1980) on Pocono’s old three-quarter-mile infield track and in 1985 he won the 100- and 300-lap NASCAR races on the five-eights-mile Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway.
At the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in 1980 Evans won the Azalea 150 and the 250-lap Modified portion of the Cardinal 500. And he was also a three-time (1978, 1981 & 1983) winner of the 250-lap Modified portion of the Dogwood 500, with his 1983 victory coming from the pole. It was also at the legendary Martinsville “paperclip” where his career would end as he was killed there in a crash while practicing for a 200-lap Modified race.
The fitting consensus by all in racing is that Richie Evans meant as much to Modified stock-car racing as fellow EMPA Hall of Famers Richard Petty did to NASCAR’s Cup Series and A.J. Foyt did to open-wheel Championship Car racing. Thus, in this regard NASCAR retired his No. 61 – the only time it has done so in any of its divisions.
In recognition of his great career, the Eastern Motorsport Press Association annually cites a driver with the Richie Evans Memorial Northeast Driver of the Year Award.
Evans was a winning drag racer when it was suggested that he try oval-track racing. So, at 21 he began racing a 1954 Ford Hobby Stock – numbered PT-109 after the U.S. Navy Torpedo Boat John F. Kennedy commanded during World War II – at the Utica-Rome Raceway. He then moved up to Modifieds in 1965 and won his first feature on the last night of the season.
From that point on the “Rapid Roman” devoted his time and efforts into being a professional Modified stock-car racer with no real thoughts of ever moving up into what might be seen by some as NASCAR’s more glamorous Cup Series.
The winner of over 500 races on 38 tracks in 14 states and provinces, Evans won 26 track titles at 11 tracks in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey. And for three con-secutive years he won the most races in the Northeast – 52 in 1979, 45 in 1980 and 38 in 1981.
One of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers and the No. 1 Driver in NASCAR’s All-Time Modified Top 10, Evans was so dominating that in 1979 he won 37 of the 60 NASCAR National Modified Series races that he entered and he finished in the Top-5 a spectacular 54 times.
Outstanding on the nation’s short tracks, Evans was also tough on the superspeedways.
On February 16, 1979, he won the NASCAR Modified 200 on the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway at Daytona Beach, Florida, in his orange No. 61 Chevrolet Camaro. One year later on February 15, 1980, he won what was billed as the NASCAR Modified/Grand American 200 from the pole, and in 1979 he won a Modified race on the 2.5-mile Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. And in four NASCAR Late Model Sportsman races (1973-1976) at Daytona his best finish in the Permatex 300 was sixth in 1974 in his No. 61 1969 Mercury.
But Evans really shined on the asphalt short tracks, especially in extra-distance races.
On August 11, 1970, he won a 100-lap All-Star League race at the one-third-mile Catamount Stadium in Milton, Vermont, and then on August 14 he won a 100-lap NASCAR race on the one-third-mile Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, New York. He also won twice (1972 & 1980) on Pocono’s old three-quarter-mile infield track and in 1985 he won the 100- and 300-lap NASCAR races on the five-eights-mile Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway.
At the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in 1980 Evans won the Azalea 150 and the 250-lap Modified portion of the Cardinal 500. And he was also a three-time (1978, 1981 & 1983) winner of the 250-lap Modified portion of the Dogwood 500, with his 1983 victory coming from the pole. It was also at the legendary Martinsville “paperclip” where his career would end as he was killed there in a crash while practicing for a 200-lap Modified race.
The fitting consensus by all in racing is that Richie Evans meant as much to Modified stock-car racing as fellow EMPA Hall of Famers Richard Petty did to NASCAR’s Cup Series and A.J. Foyt did to open-wheel Championship Car racing. Thus, in this regard NASCAR retired his No. 61 – the only time it has done so in any of its divisions.
In recognition of his great career, the Eastern Motorsport Press Association annually cites a driver with the Richie Evans Memorial Northeast Driver of the Year Award.