Without a doubt, one of the greatest drivers of all time. Saw him do stuff in a race car no one else could do. Absolutely relentless driver. The pride & joy of my extensive racing memorabilia collection is a beautiful framed color photo of Richie on the starting grid of the Budweiser 200 @ Oswego in 1984. Thanks to Patti & everyone who shared Richie stories & photos in this thread.
One video clip of Richie I like watching from time to time is this footage from the 1982 Oswego Speedway Modified 200 featuring Evans winning his qualifying heat going away after starting in the last row. He’s interviewed in the pits afterwards:
Just a few of things about this video:
- The first few seconds of this video feature the Oswego Speedway's TV commercial that the track ran in 1982 promoting their weekly supermodified show. These spots ran on TV stations all throughout Central NY.
- Jack Burgess, Oswego’s announcer back then, is the man behind the mic calling the heat race. He was the THE voice we heard growing up at places like Oswego, Weedsport and the New York State Fairgrounds. Hearing his voice echo around the track always takes me back.
- Richie Evans takes the race lead in this heat from Gary Iulg, another highly versatile driver from upstate New York. Some may remember Iulg as a driver of the Genesee Beer Wagon USAC sprint car back around 1980.
- This Oswego footage was shot on the same night that another legendary driver, Jim Shampine, was killed. Shampine’s tragic accident took place during the modified 200 lapper later on this night in 1982.