Riverhead Raceway mechanic Raymond Bouchard was honored at
the Whelen All-American Series awards banquet in Las Vegas this
past weekend, taking home the Craftsman Mechanic of the Year
award. Bouchard, a 48-year-old from Aquebogue, has long been a
fixture in the pit area at Riverhead, collecting 50 wins as a
crew chief over the course of the last 30 years, and
championships in five out of the last six years.
During the 2008 season, Bouchard turned wrenches on the Super
Pro Truck of his nephew Roger Turbush, as well as his other
nephew Chris Turbush, the 2008 Charger champion. Bouchard also
crewed for Late Model driver Doug Wholey, who spent the season
driving for Dan Turbush after medical issues sidelined Dan for
most of the year.
“My uncle Ray is in the garage at Turbush Motorsports every
day after work, tinkering with something,” Roger Turbush
commented. “We had three cars constantly in this garage and at
times we had a fourth. All of the cars were top notch and always
in competition, and I would like to thank him for all of his
hard work. I never appreciated all of the work he has done in
the past until I finally got a truck myself and actually saw all
of the work he puts into all of our cars.”
Chris Turbush noted, “As a driver, you know that nothing is
ever going to go wrong with the car after he prepares it to
race. The pressure is on you because you know after he sets it
up and gets it ready for a race that you are going to be one of
the fastest cars out there. There isn’t a harder worker or more
deserving guy to be Mechanic of the Year than my uncle Ray. I
wouldn’t want anyone else in the world to be my crew chief.”
Bouchard was one of three finalists for the award. His
competition included Dexter Canipe Sr. of Claremont, North
Carolina, championship-winning crew chief on a Limited Late
Model at Hickory Motor Speedway; and Cynthia Arnold of
Brandywine, Maryland, who works on her husband’s Late Model at
Old Dominion Speedway.
Source: Tracy
Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
November 11, 2008
