laps before being overtaken; failure of lug bolts on his right front wheel forced him to the pits after his 109th lap. He won 14 NASCAR races in 103 starts in the #29 Holman Moody car from 1965 to 1967. Holman Moody dominated the 1965 season and Dick was the hands-down favorite to win rookie of the year, but was ruled ineligible because he was a past champion in IMCA. Hutch took nine victories that season, including the impressive feat of winning the pole position in back-to-back events at Myrtle Beach (which he won) and Valdosta. He nearly won the NASCAR championship in his first full season, settling for second behind Ned Jarrett. In 1966, Ford briefly withdrew from official factory participation in NASCAR. Contracted to race for Ford, Hutcherson was assigned to the team of drivers in the World Sportscar championship as part of Ford’s challenge to the dominance of Ferrari. Hutcherson and Ronnie Bucknum co-drove the third place #5 GT-40 Mark IIA at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, completing a three-car photo finish orchestrated by Ford executives to increase world-wide photo publication of the achievement. Despite only competing in 14 NASCAR Grand National races that season, he took three wins as part of Ford's factory team run by Holman Moody. In 1967 Dick Hutcherson made 33 starts with two wins, 22 top 5s, and ranked third overall in points. He won the Smoky Mountain 200 at Maryville on July 27 and the Dixie 500 at Atlanta on August 6, the latter coming after Richard Petty blew an engine while leading and immediately preceding Petty's streak of 10 straight wins. A string of top 5 finishes toward the end of the season, including leading late in the race at Rockingham only to succumb to engine problems, solidified third in the points despite running only 33 times compared to Petty's 48 and James Hylton's 46. Dick averaged 1,020 points per race as compared to Petty's 885 points and Hylton's 792. Hutcherson retired at the end of the season. After retirement With 22 poles and 14 wins between 1964 and 1968, Hutch retired from full-schedule racing to concentrate on his chassis-building business in Charlotte, NC. After four years of top-level racing he became crew chief for his friend and fellow driver David Pearson in 1968. The combination won the championship in 1968 and 1969. In 1968 he also appeared in