By John Berti, Karnac.com Senior News Editor
NASCAR Hall of Fame class of 2012 was announced this past Tuesday and it’s a good one.
Richie Evans, one of the most successful and popular drivers in the history of NASCAR Modified stock car racing, was posthumously elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.
Joining Evans as part of the shrine’s third five-man class were NASCAR Cup Series legends Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, crew chief Dale Inman and pioneering driver Glen Wood.
“It was a very good feeling, a very good feeling,” said Byron DeWitt, 59, son of Evans’ former sponsor, Gene DeWitt.
“He got his due. He deserves to be in there. It’s a very good situation. I actually didn’t think it would happen. They have the big boys in there, but Richie has a lot of loyal fans around here and in the eastern part of this country. His fans keep his name out there. It was a very good feeling to see his name announced.”
Evans, a native of Rome, NY, nicknamed “The Rapid Roman”, was a nine-time NASCAR National Modified Champion. He raced at tracks up and down the Eastern seaboard and was a yearly visitor to New Smyrna (FL) Speedway for the World Series of Stock Car Auto Racing during Speedweeks in February.
“He not only won, but he was the most popular driver,” Byron DeWitt said. “A lot of times when drivers keep winning, they lose support. But his fans always supported him. He would stay there the whole night signing autographs. He was just a people person, a people’s champ.”
Evans had the distinction of winning thirty track championships at 10 different tracks in four states. All were in the Modified division.
All were paved tracks. He was the NASCAR National Modified Champion in 1973 and 1978 through 1984. Evans won virtually every major race for asphalt modifieds, most of them more than once, including winning the Race of Champions three times.
His familiar orange No. 61 was sponsored by B.R. DeWitt, Inc., of Pavilion, NY. The car was known as “Gene’s Machine,” a tribute to his longtime sponsor Gene DeWitt who sponsored Evans from 1973-1985.
“He was a very smooth racer but an aggressive racer,” Byron DeWitt said. “He put the two together, he put it all together. He raced small tracks and he won down there at Daytona. He could do it all.”
Evans had already clinched the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship in its 1985 inaugural year a week before he died, on October 24, 1985, in an accident during practice for The Winn Dixie 200, the tour’s season finale, at Martinsville (VA) Speedway. He was 44.
Evans was elected to the National Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1986 as the 34th driver to be inducted and the first from NASCAR’s modified division. In 1998, he was named to NASCAR’s “50 Greatest Drivers of All-Time.” In 2003, he was No. 1 in NASCAR’s modified all-time Top 10 list. He was NASCAR Most Popular Modified Driver nine times.
“I just can’t express my feelings enough, how happy we are,” DeWitt said. “It’s well-deserved.”