NASCAR loses Ron Bouchard at age 67
HIGHLIGHTS
-
Ron Bouchard was the 1981 Cup Series Rookie of the
Year
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In 160 Cup starts, he posted 19 top-five and 60
top-10 finishes
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Winner
of 1981 Talladega 500 in a photo finish (see video
below)
BY TOM HIGGINS -
Correspondent
Ron
Bouchard, winner of NASCAR’s 1981 Talladega 500 in a
furious three-abreast finish, died Thursday of cancer in his
native Fitchburg, Mass. He was 67.
Rookie Bouchard overtook and edged runner-up Darrell Waltrip
and third-place Terry Labonte by 2 feet at what is now the
2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
The triumph led to Bouchard becoming that season’s Cup
Series rookie of the year.
After the wild win Bouchard seemed a bit stunned, even
during the victor’s press box interview.
“I was lucky in a lot of ways,” he said. “The biggest one
being that my race car was parked next to Buddy Baker’s in
the garage area. Buddy gave me advice on the aerodynamic
draft, which is so important at this track. I believe Buddy
could find good air off a paper bag.”
Bouchard, who someone nicknamed “A Yankee in King Richard’s
Court,” referring to NASCAR legend Richard Petty, was asked,
“Is there anything you don’t like about the South?”
He elicited laughter with this reply: “I don’t like Brits,
that stuff you have for breakfast.”
He meant grits.
[GUEST BOOK: Post memories,
condolences]
Ron Bouchard
began racing in 1963 in Massachusetts, subbing in his dad’s
car for the regular driver, who was ill. He became a major
star in New England, winning championships in late model and
modified divisions.
Team owner Jack Beebe and crew chief Bob Johnson brought him
to the NASCAR big time in ’81 as driver for a Kings
Mountain-based team.
Bouchard started 160 times through 1987 at stock-car
racing’s major level, posting 19 top-five and 60 top-10
finishes. He was eighth in the 1982 points standings.
After leaving NASCAR, Bouchard returned to New England,
owning and operating auto dealerships.
He is the third former Cup Series driver with Charlotte-area
connections to pass away this year, following Baker of the
Denver area of Lake Norman and Jim Vandiver of Huntersville.
Read more here:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nascar-auto-racing/thatsracin/article49128425.html#storylink=cpy
Ron
Bouchard, the 1981 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year and
winner of the August 1981 race at Talladega
Superspeedway, has died. Later in his life Bouchard had
cancer and succumbed to it at age He 67.
