Walker Evans (racing driver)

For the photographer, see Walker Evans.
Walker Evans

Evans in 2008
Born (1938-12-03) December 3, 1938
Cedar Lake, Michigan
Awards inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2015
inducted in the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2004
21 offroad racing championships, including SODA and CORR
5 Baja 1000 wins
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
41 races run over 2 years
First race 1995 Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic (Phoenix)
Last race 1996 GM Goodwrench / AC Delco 300 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 4 0

Roger Walker Evans (born December 3, 1938) is an Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame driver. He was also a driver and owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Walker Evans is nicknamed "the Legend".[1] Walker is the father of off-road racer Evan Evans. Walker resides in Riverside, California.

Racing career

Off-road

He began his off-road career in cross-country events in SCORE International events, including the premier event: the Baja 500. His first sample of racing was in 1969, when he drove a Rambler American for the American Motors and actor James Garner sponsored team to a third-place finish in the Baja 500.[1] His first purpose built race truck was Ford F-100 donated by Marion Beaver at Parker Motor Company and built by Bill Stroppe. The truck won 16 of 17 races. He won the Baja 1000 five times in special built vehicles before he was the first driver to win the overall title in a Class 8 Trophy Truck.[1]

He added the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group Stadium Series events to his schedule to enhance his horizons. The series featured indoor races inside a stadium. The Walker Evans Racing Team won the MTEG Grand National Championship in 1999 He won his first SODA race in 1986 at the Lake Geneva Raceway in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He won the 1994 and 1995 Class-8 (two-wheel drive) championships in SODA. He became familiar with fellow competitor Brendan Gaughan during his SODA days. He moved to CORR when most of the SODA drivers switched series. He finished with his SODA career with three overall victories and 31 class wins. He was champion of CORR's highest division, Pro-4, in 1999.[2] He won three races and the CORR Pro-4 championship in 2000 in his final full-time season in CORR before retirement from short-track off-road racing.

Around 1999 he began entering rock crawling events after a promotional trip to Moab.

He has 142 total victories and 21 championship titles in off-road desert and short course racing.[1] He has multiple overall wins in the Baja 500, Baja 1000, Fireworks 250, Mint 400, and Parker 400.

NASCAR

Racing

He decided to try his hand as a driver/owner in the newly formed NASCAR SuperTruck Series in 1995. He had one Top 10 finish in 18 races, and he finished 14th in the final points standings. He had three Top 10 finishes in 23 events in 1996, and he finished 17th in the overall points standings.[3]

Team ownership

He continued his Walker Evans Racing team after his retirement. He hired former SODA and CORR competitor Brendan Gaughan to race for him in 2002. Gaughan won twice, on his way to the Rookie of the Year title. In 2003, Gaughan was the CTS points leader going into the final race, but was crashed out.

Halls of Fame

He was inducted in the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2004.[1] In 2015, he was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.[4]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Craftsman Truck Series

1 Ineligible for series points

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Biography at the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame
  2. ↑ Chevy Adds to Win Tally in '99, December 22, 1999; motorsport.com; Retrieved February 15, 2008
  3. ↑ NASCAR drivers statistics at racing-reference.info
  4. ↑ "Mark Martin, Ricky Carmichael among 2015 inductees into Motorsports Hall of Fame of America". Fox News. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
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