On the 28th March 1964 reigning International Motor Contest Association champion Dick Hutcherson got his NASCAR career underway by winning pole position in his Ford for his debut NASCAR start at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina.

Dick finished his first NASCAR race in the pits with broken lugs nuts but finished 2nd in his next NASCAR race at Hillsboro, started from pole and retired with wheel bearing failure at Spartanburg and finished 5th at Columbia in his final NASCAR start of the season in which he retained his International Motor Contest Association championship.

Holman Moody signed Dick up for 1965 to drive the #29 Ford Galaxie, like the one seen in these photographs, alongside Fred Lorenzen in the #28. After starting from pole 10 times, winning 9 races, finishing in the top 5 on 23 further occasions Dick finished second to Richard Petty on what should have been his rookie season, except NASCAR deemed Dick’s two consecutive IMCA championships and 81 IMCA wins, of sufficient stature to eliminate him from the Rookie Of The Year Award.

Thanks to Ford’s broken 1966 season Dick only made 14 starts in 1966 2 from pole and with 3 wins. In 1967 Dick continued driving the #29 Ford which was now entered mostly by Bondy Long and finished 3rd in the championship with two wins from 33 starts, he was easily averaging better points per race than eventual 1967 Champion Richard Petty, but the King who had a 10 race unbroken run of wins made 15 more starts than Dick.

After winning 14 races from just 103 starts Dick swapped the driving seat for the Crew Chiefs box in 1968 and guided his friend David “The Siver Fox” Pearson to two consecutive championships in ’68 and ’69.

Dick became general manager at Holman Moody but left in 1971 to set up the successful Hutcherson-Pagan Enterprises race car building and parts business with Eddie Pagan.

In 1976 Dick made a one off appearance at Le Mans where he drove a Ford Torino with Richard Brooks and Marcel Mignot until it retired with gearbox failure after 11 hours.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs of the 1965 #29 Ford Galaxie taken at last years Sonoma Historic’s meeting.

Thanks for joining me on this “14 for 103” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !