Ron Bouchard

Competitor
CLASS OF 1998

Ron Bouchard entered his first race as a 14-year old teenager in 1963 at Brookline Speedway in southern New Hampshire. He went on to win his first race the same year at the challenging Norwood Arena. It was the beginning of a storied career at New England tracks and beyond, with an estimated 200 trips to victory lane over his career. He often drove for car owners Bob Johnson and Marvin Rifchin plus other stints with Bob Judkins and Lenny Boehler.

He won championships throughout New England, including 5 at Seekonk Speedway (1967-1970, 1977), 2 at Stafford Speedway (1973, 1979), Westboro Speedway (1975) and Thompson Speedway (1978). Bouchard was the Yankee All-Star League Champion in 1976 and the World Series Modified Champion at New Smyrna, FL in 1978. He also won the Thompson 300 in 1980 driving for Dick Armstrong. Other tracks he scored Modified wins at include Waterford Speedbowl, Monadnock Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Kingsport Speedway and Pocono Raceway.

For the 1981 season, Ron paired up with car owner Jack Beebe to drive the Race Hill Farms #47 (with Bob Johnson as his crew chief) on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. In only his eleventh career start, he won the Talladega 500 with a last lap pass. That victory helped him win the Rookie of the Year in 1981. Bouchard raced on the NASCAR Cup series until 1987, and the Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) part-time from 1983-1987, scoring 2 wins at Darlington Raceway in 1984. He retired back to New England after the 1987 season.

Ron married Paula Flemke in June 1983. They had 5 children and remained together until Ron lost his battle with cancer on December 10, 2015.

Starting in 2016, Paula and her family started presenting the Ron Bouchard Memorial Award for lifetime achievement & positive impact on New England racing at the NEAR Hall of Fame ceremony each season. Ron’s brother Ken Bouchard, father-in-law Ed Flemke and brother in-law Ed Flemke Jr are all fellow members of the NEAR Hall of Fame.