Walker Evans (racing driver)

Last updated
Walker Evans
WalkerEvans2008.jpg
Evans in 2008
Born (1938-12-03) December 3, 1938 (age 84)
Cedar Lake, Michigan
Achievements21 Offroad Racing Championships, including SODA and CORR
5 Baja 1000 wins
Awards Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame (2004)
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America [1] (2015)
West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame (2017)
NASCAR Craftsman 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)
WinsTop tens Poles
040

Roger Walker Evans (born December 3, 1938) is an American former professional off road racing driver and member of the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame. He was also a driver and owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Nicknamed "The Legend", he is the father of off-road racer Evan Evans. [2] He resides in Riverside, California.

Contents

Racing career

Off-road

Evans in 2019 WalkerEvans2019Crandon.jpg
Evans in 2019

Born in Cedar Lake, Michigan, Evans 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. [2] 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.[ citation needed ] He won the Baja 1000 five times.

He has 142 total victories and 21 championship titles in off-road desert and short course racing. [2] He has multiple overall wins in the Baja 500, Baja 1000, Fireworks 250, Mint 400, and Parker 400.

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 met 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. [3] 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.

NASCAR

Racing

Evans 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. [4]

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

Evans was inducted in the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2004. [2] In 2015, he was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. [1] In 2022, he was inducted into the SEMA Hall Of Fame. [5]

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

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
YearTeamNo.Make123456789101112131415161718192021222324NCTSPtsRef
1995 Walker Evans Racing 20 Dodge PHO
29		 TUS
18		 SGS
21		 MMR
27		 POR
23		 EVG
28		 I70
22		 LVL BRI
12		 MLW
16		 CNS
10		 HPT
17		 IRP
16		 FLM RCH
37		 MAR
34		 NWS
28		 SON
13		 MMR
23		 PHO
23		14th1744 [6]
1996 HOM
28		 PHO
36		 POR
18		 EVG
23		 TUS
18		 CNS
18		 HPT
16		 BRI
10		 NZH
32		 MLW
30		 LVL
26		 I70
24		 IRP
27		 FLM
20		 GLN
10		 NSV
17		 RCH
30		 NHA
14		 MAR
30		 NWS
26		 SON
24		 MMR
9		 PHO
31		 LVS
DNQ		17th2224 [7]

1 Ineligible for series points

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References

  1. 1 2 Walker Evans at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
  2. 1 2 3 4 Biography at the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame
  3. ↑ Chevy Adds to Win Tally in '99, December 22, 1999; motorsport.com; Retrieved February 15, 2008
  4. ↑ NASCAR drivers statistics at racing-reference.info
  5. ↑ "SEMA Hall of Fame - Walker Evans, 2022, ". www.semahof.com. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  6. ↑ "Walker Evans – 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series By Craftsman Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Walker Evans – 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
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