RICHARD "DICK" HUTCHERSON - 11/30/1931 - 11/06/2005
was an American businessman and a former stock car racer. Hutcherson drove in NASCAR competition from 1964 to 1967. As he was racing in the Midwest, he kept hearing about the great racing and the big purses in NASCAR, so he moved south and started on the NASCAR Cup circuit. He made his first Cup start in March of 1964 in Greenville SC. He would win the pole in his first ever start; but end up 15th after leading 60 laps and shearing off his lug bolts causing him to fall out of the race. In 1965; again at Greenville, Hutcherson would claim his first ever Cup win. He would start second and lead 191 of the 200 laps beating Ned Jarrett by a car length. He would go on to win nine times in 1965 and finish second in the points. In 1966 he only ran in 14 of 49 races but still won on three occasions and posted nine top 10 results. 1967 would be the final year Hutcherson would race in the Cup Series. He would run in only 33 of the 49 events; but post two wins and finish third in the points standings on the strength of 20 top 5 finishes;... despite running only 33 times
compared to Richard Petty's 48 and James Hylton's 46. His final race win would come at Atlanta in the Dixie 500. He would take the green flag in eighth spot and lead 94 laps. Richard Petty led 127 of the first 261 laps; then he blew a motor and Hutcherson was there to assume the lead and drive to the victory. His final Cup start would come in the Western North Carolina 500 at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway in NC. He Started fourth and would lead three
laps in a race dominated by Bobby Allison. Hutcherson would take his final checkered flag in the fourth position. He won 14 NASCAR races in 103 starts in the #29 Holman Moody car from 1965 to 1967. Hutcherson retired at the end of the season to concentrate on his chassis-building business in Charlotte. After four years of top-level racing he became crew chief for his friend and fellow driver David Pearson in 1968. The combination won the championship in 1968 and 1969. In 1968 he also appeared in the Elvis Presley stock car racing movie Speedway. Another step in his career became a reality after his tenure with Pearson when he was named general manager of Holman-Moody, a
position he held until December 1971 when he and West Coast driver Eddie Pagan formed Hutcherson-Pagan Inc, a business to build and repair race cars. The two were very successful as they built cars for A.J. Foyt, Darrell Waltrip, Rick Wilson, and others. Dick become sole owner of the firm after the death of Eddie Pagan in 1984. It was one of the sport’s most successful car building operations over the last 50 years. Hutcherson-Pagan parts trucks are still a familiar site around the nation’s race tracks. After being a former owner, President, and one of the founders of Hutcherson-Pagan, Dick retired. He died on November 6, 2005 on his way home from Florida. For his career, Hutcherson ran in 103 CUP events, and won 14 races in four seasons. He had 64 top five finishes, and 73 top tens. He finished second in the CUP points chase in 1965, and third in 1967. Some info from Wikipedia
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