Rene Charland | |||||||
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Born | Chicopee, Massachusetts | November 13, 1928||||||
Died | September 30, 2013 Amsterdam, New York | (aged 84)||||||
NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
9 races run over 4 years | |||||||
Best finish | 77th ( 1966) | ||||||
First race | 1964 Race No. 1 ( Islip) | ||||||
Last race | 1971 Albany-Saratoga 250 ( Malta) | ||||||
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NASCAR Sportsman Division | |||||||
1962,1963, 1964, 1965 | National Champion [1] |
Rene Charland (November 13, 1928 – September 30, 2013), nicknamed "The Champ", was an American stock car racing driver. He was a four-time champion of the NASCAR National Sportsman Division, now known as the Xfinity Series.
Charland was born in Chicopee, Massachusetts on November 13, 1928 [2] and made his home in Agawam. [3] His racing career began in 1949 at Riverside Park Speedway in Massachusetts. [2] By the 1960s he was part of a group of Northeastern racers called "The Eastern Bandits" who moved to the Mid-Atlantic and South to compete in NASCAR competition. [2] In 1962 Charland won his first championship in the NASCAR National Sportsman Division, now the XFinity Series. He won the title again the following three years, [4] and finished third in the series' 1966 standings despite missing half of the season due to an injury suffered at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. [3] His run of four straight championships gave Charland the nickname "The Champ", [2] a name he became better known by than his given name, which was pronounced "REE-nee". [3]
Charland also competed in the NASCAR Grand National Series, [3] running nine races between 1964 and 1971, including the 1966 Daytona 500, posting a best career finish of third at Fonda Speedway in 1966. [5]
Charland was estimated as having won over 700 races during his career. [3] He was an inductee into the New England Antique Racers Hall of Fame, the New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame and the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame. [2] [3] In his later years Charland suffered from dementia. [2] He died on September 30, 2013, in a nursing home in Amsterdam, New York. [2]
( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)