[IndyBound]

Twenty six years ago today "The Rapid Roman" lost his life in a practice accident at Martinsville, Va.. Richie will be one of the group inducted into the Nascar Hall of fame during the next induction process. Richie's nine championships were won in the famous orange #61 Modified, Richie also climbed behind the wheel of the Stanley (Skip) Matczak #3 supermodified a few times.

While this isn't sprint car related thought I would share it with all of you. I know there are several other members on the board like myself that grew up watching "The Rapid Roman" race.

RIP Richie


Patti

[Mud Packer]

Thanks for sharing Patti. A great racer who didn't get the credit he deserved in my opinion.

[nathans1012]

Originally Posted by Mud Packer Thanks for sharing Patti. A great racer who didn't get the credit he deserved in my opinion.

I agree Richie was a he!! of a racer. There has aways been alot of talent in the East cost NASCAR style modifieds and Richie Evans was the cream of the crop for many many years. Words don't do him justice; you need a few pictures as well.. Many years later he still very well missed.

[racephoto1]

I was born in and lived in Massachusetts as a child. I grew up watching guys like Don Mactavish, Pete Hamilton, Hop Harrington, and Ed Flemke to name a few. It was one tough group of racers. Big blocks and coaches, boy do I miss those days. Poor Richie, really was under rated, and got absolutely zero respect from Nascar, even though he was their many time champ.

[Rhody]

My racecars are usually black and.orange, and my number is usually 91, inspired by Richie. 91 not 61, because 61 will ALWAYS be Richie's number. (This year I'm 7 because the car is NSCHoF raffle car #7). I'm glad that I'm not the only person in sprint car land who knows what Richie meant to the sport.
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[apexonephoto]

For the past two seasons I have made the 6-7 hour trip up to Central New York state in late July for some racing. I usually manage to fit in a couple of new tracks and string together 5-6 straight days of racing.

This year I went to Utica-Rome for a Lucas Oil race (won by home state driver Tim McCreadie). Although the track has been dirt since the late 80's (I believe) and a few hours from the Canadian border, I was surprised to see three flags flying in the infield.




Richie was a hero at this place and I am glad I got to experience this track.

[tamale wagon]

Richie was remembered this year on the R.O.C. modifieds with a #61 on the side of each car at Oswego Speedway.

[JJMooney]

As an ex-pat upstate New Yorker with close ties to the modified division back there, I probably saw Richie Evans win over a hundred races when I was a kid. His death was one of those events were you still remember exactly where you were when you heard about it.

If you’ve never read Bones Boucier’s book on Richie Evans, do yourself a favor, find a copy and read it. It doesn’t matter if you’re not from the Northeast or if you never saw Richie Evans race, I think it’s one of the best books ever written about short track racing.

[IndyBound]

Originally Posted by JJMooney As an ex-pat upstate New Yorker with close ties to the modified division back there, I probably saw Richie Evans win over a hundred races when I was a kid. His death was one of those events were you still remember exactly where you were when you heard about it. If you’ve never read Bones Boucier’s book on Richie Evans, do yourself a favor, find a copy and read it. It doesn’t matter if you’re not from the Northeast or if you never saw Richie Evans race, I think it’s one of the best books ever written about short track racing.

Thanks for the reminder, I have Bones Boucier's book on Richie this might be a good time to read it again. It is one of the best books I have ever read also on short track racing. Also on You Tube there is a video Richie Remembered done by Thomas Video, of course there is alot of coverage of Richie at Oswego on that video. I have watched it several times over the past 24 hours, it brought back alot of memories.

You are right I will always remember where I was when Richie died, the same is true for Gary Witter, Jimmy Shampine, A. J. Michaels and Russ Sauter.

A few of my friends were on Richie's crew and while we no longer see each other weekly at Oswego when we do their stories about Richie always got told.

Patti

[Andrew S. Quinn]

My Richie Evans shirts are packed away after they were worn one final time after he was killed in 1985. He had just won at Oxford Plains Speedway,my home track,just a couple weeks before he was killed at Martinsville.

Richies book,and a lot of other good books can be found at http://www.coastal181.com/