Dick Batchelder

Car Owner, Competitor
CLASS OF 2008

Dick Batchelder raced from, the 1960s into the 1990s, and won an estimated 35 features in the highly competitive Super Modifieds between 1965 and 1980. His first ride, however, was a 1931 Chevy 6 cylinder car that he bought from Mel Clark in 1960. He won his first feature, a Class B win at Dover (NH) Speedway and pocketed a whopping $35. “I thought I was rich”, Dick remembers.

Between 1965 and 1980, Batchelder took down 24 NESMRA wins. In 1979, he won the NESMRA Championship, notching an amazing 19 top 4 finishes in 24 starts.

He won 10 features in 1981 competing in the Auto Racing of New England series, including a victory in the Star Speedway Classic, on his way to winning his second Star track championship. A few short months later, he found himself racing at Sunshine Speedway in St Petersburg, FL where he won the 1982 NESMRA Florida W International Series Championship, running against top super modified & sprint car drivers from all over the country.

Dick’s career ended in 1990, when he crashed in the Oswego Classic 200, leaving him with a dislocated hip and broken ribs. “Racing folks are a special breed”, Dick says. “If I could, I’d do it all over again.”