RICHARD ELDER
In 1966, a team of racers, consisting of neighbors, relatives and farmers from the Fresno area, showed up on the NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model Circuit with a used Dodge that they purchased from Jack McCoy’s team. No one gave them much thought at the first race, which was at Stockton, however, the very next week at Ascot they won their first of 47 victories, second on the all-time Grand National West Series win list. The driver was Ray Elder, but the piece of the puzzle that made it all work was Ray’s brother Richard. Richard Elder as crew chief, crafted a bunch of friends and farmers into the “Racing Farmers” from Caruthers, California. This team was just plain good everywhere they went. In 1971 and again in 1972 Ray Elder won the Winston Cup Race at Riverside International Raceway aboard Richard Elder prepared cars.
Not only did the driver win on the track, the team led by Richard, won in the pits as well. Their pit stops ran like a well oiled machine, catching the Southern NASCAR regulars completely by surprise. The west teams could run with the “good ole boy’s” on the track, but never before had they been beaten in the pits.
When they went to Daytona, Richard Elders group of guys were a top-ten team and in the hunt all day long. Dirt tracks, road course, super speedways or short asphalt ovals made no difference to Richard, the set-up was always right-on, giving Ray the advantage in his powerful Dodges. It was unlikely that anyone would ever win six titles as a team on the west coast, but Richard and his brother Ray,
and those racing farmers from Caruthers, did just that; 1969, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’74, and ’75. Interrupted only in 1973 by Jack McCoy. For eleven years, Richard’s team ranked in the top three in championship standings. Along the way, he won the “NASCAR Mechanic of the Year Award” six times.
I knew him as Big red ..