Rene Charland

Competitor
CLASS OF 1998

Born in Chicopee, MA, Rene Charland’s extraordinary career spanned 35 years starting with his first race at Riverside Park Speedway in 1949 and ended at Fonda Speedway in 1984. During that time it is estimated that he won over 700 races. He raced with ease on either dirt or asphalt often running alternate nights on different surfaces with the same car. He was mostly closely identified with the Number 3.

Known everywhere as “The Champ”, Rene won an unprecedented 4 NASCAR National Sportsman championships from 1962 through ’65. His quest for a fifth title ended when he was seriously injured in the famous fiery crash Memorial Day weekend at Malta in 1966. He was forced to sit out the rest of the season but at that point he had already earned 5700 points, enough for a third place finish.

A member of the famed “Eastern Bandits” with Ed Flemke, Red Foote & Denny Zimmerman, Charland won track championships at Stafford Speedway (1961-62), Utica Rome Speedway (1961-62), Norwood Arena (1961) plus other titles at Rhythm Inn Speedway, Brattleboro Speedway, Islip Speedway and Fort Dix Speedway among others. He also won 4 Canadian National championships.

Rene had 9 NASCAR Cup Series starts, including the 1966 Daytona 500. His best finish came at Fonda Speedway in July of 1966 when he finished 3rd behind David Pearson & Richard Petty.

Beyond his racing success, Rene Charland was one of the sports earliest colorful characters, best known as a cigar chomping prankster. He was inducted into the DIRT Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1996. He passed away on September 30, 2013.