Paul Richardson

Car Owner, Competitor
CLASS OF 2009

Paul Richardson began racing in 1965, at Oscar Ridlon’s Pines Speedway (MA), driving in the bomber class. The next year, he bought Al Riley’s “Little Princess” cutdown, and won the Hudson Speedway (NH) Class A points championship. “I had a wife, my first kid, and we lived in my mom’s house”, remembers Paul. “We had nothing. Not even a road car. But I’ll tell you this: We had the fastest race car around.”

By 1967, he began driving a cutdown for Jerry Dolliver. The next season, he moved to the Timmons family #427 super modified, and began competing in the early years of NESMRA. He was the Star Speedway Super Modified Champion in 1985, 1986, 1994 and 1997.

Paul went on to become 5th in all time wins in NESMRA. One particularly memorable finish was at Thompson, where he battled to a photo finish with “Big Daddy” Don McLaren. A not so positive finish was the end over end flip in Chet Richardson’s #52, when he landed in rows of parked cars.

Driving the Norseman Resorts late model in the 1980s, Paul won his first start ever at Catamount Stadium. He also won the prestigious Budweiser Showdown at Hudson Speedway in 1984.

Paul returned to the super modifieds, driving the Frank Barthell “SNAFU Special” and then the Bobby Witkum NAPA Super. He retired in 2004, finishing his career in a Busch North Series car owned by his wife, Marianne.