Two-time track champ Hedrick dies
Two-time track champion and retired central Illinois Super Late Model racer Richie Hedrick of Urbana, Ill., whose lone career Northern Allstars victory in 2001 capped an eight-victory season, died unexpectedly on Monday. The 51-year-old’s death was reported by family members on Facebook.
The driver of the No. 0 had his best seasons in the 2000s, scoring track championships at Fairbury, Ill., in 2005 and Boswell, Ind., the following year. His career included victories at those tracks along with Kankakee (Ill.) Speedway, Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway, Crown Point (Ind.) Speedway, Bureau County Speedway in Princeton, Ill., and Peoria (Ill.) Speedway, where he captured the 2006 Illinois State Championship race.
Hedrick, whose hard-on-the-gas style led not only to victories but the reputation for rollover accidents, scored his other biggest victories with a $3,000 triumph in a long trip to Duck River Raceway Park in Wheel, Tenn., in November 2004 and his career-high $5,000 payday in 2001’s Northern Allstars Late Model Series finale at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville, Ill.
The Northern Allstars victory came via a lap-13 pass of Hall of Fame racer John Gill on a night when 58 cars entered the action. Hedrick puncuated his victory by spinning his car in a series of frontstretch donuts. “I just went out there and let 'er rip,” Hedrick said moments later.
Hedrick’s 2005 campaign included a coveted Farmer City-Fairbury weekend sweep. His final Super Late Model start came in 2012.
