Racing was put on the back burner in 1972 when family duties called but the desire to return to the track emerged in 1983 when Richard bought a 1970 Chevelle sporting a big block 454 under the hood.  For several years he raced the 4 speed LS6 that ran in the high 12 second zone of fun.  While on his way to Lebanon Valley’s dragstrip in 1989, a terrible traffic accident stopped Richard’s life in its tracks.  He recalled, “I had the Chevelle on the trailer headed to the track when a guy ran a stop sign in front of me.  To avoid him, I swerved and flipped down into the ditch at 50 mph.”  The accident totaled both vehicles and when the roof collapsed he suffered major spinal damage.  Initially after the wreck, doctors told Richard “in 4 or 5 years you will be a hopeless cripple.”  Refusing to accept their diagnosis and in almost unbearable constant pain, he visited a specialist in Springfield VT, and with a lot of physical therapy, natural medicines and years of hard work, he made those early predictors eat a big plate of crow because here he is still drag racing and loving life 25 years after the fact.

In 1996 the drag racing bug bit with Richard hitting the strip in his current ride, a 1965 Mercury Comet Caliente he bought in 1980.  “I purchased the car from the original owner, a doctor’s wife from Long Island for $2200.00.  I fell in love with the car, it still has the original paint and interior to this day.”   With the 2 barrel fed 289 the Comet turned laps of 17.4 seconds at 81 mph.  After the original engine broke badly, a 302 block was bored .30 over and uses an Eagle stroker crank kit to up the cube count to 331 utilizing a 10.5 to 1 compression ratio.  Matched Elelbrock Victor Jr. aluminum heads and intake are fueled up by a 750 Holley 4 barrel carb.  Backing up the potent small block is a 2600 stall speed converter sending power through a highly modified C-4 tranny. The rear end is an 8 inch unit with a set of Mark Williams 31 spline axles and a 4:10 gearset. Rims are Centerlines that twist a pair of Mickey Thompson sneakers.  This combination is good for consistent low 12 second timeslips.  Richard said “I put a set of 4:62 gears in it just to see how fast the car would go and it ran a best of 11.54 at 119 mph.  The 4:10s work fine and are a bit easier on the engine.”

The little blue Comet has some very impressive wins on its resume including 3 Hemmings “Musclepalooza” victories at Lebanon Valley in NY.  When asked of his favorite win, Richard quickly says,” The Tasca event held a few years ago at New England Dragway for sure.  There were 133 cars in my class and I was fortunate enough to be the last man standing when eliminations were over.”  All of this is pretty impressive especially when you learn that Richard will celebrate his 81^st birthday this December.  His secret?  “Find something you really love to do be it sports, woodworking or anything, but just keep busy and moving.  Drag racing is my thing, I find it highly interesting and very challenging to maintain and drive the car at this level of competition.  I think this car is a big part of me keeping a youthful outlook on life, also the great friendships I’ve made at the track can’t be beat.  I also want to thank my wife Holly for all of her words of encouragement, patience and love.”  Well said, see ya at the drags…….