Ralph and Dale
RIP Ray Stevens 1955 Merrittville see Script
Ray Stevens has passed away. He is a former driver, car builder and the father of DIRT Modified driver Brian Stevens. (I believe he was from St. Catharines, Ont.) Ray was a successful driver in the sport's crazy jalopy days. Back then, many tracks did not allow the "flat-top coupes" (like the '32-'33 Fords) because they did not have all-steel roofs. Some tracks allowed them to compete if the roof insert was removed and replaced with a piece of steel. I was told Ray was driving one of these flat-top coupes (a '33 Ford) and it rolled over in a crash at Merrittville on June 25, 1955. He had purchased the car from someone else and did not do the steel work himself. As the car rolled over, the steel piece popped out and Ray was halfway out of the car as it rolled again and it broke his back. He was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life but was an incredibly-successful car owner/builder for decades. He campaigned cars for Ted Renshaw, Lloyd Holt, Stan Friesen, Mike Granton, Davey Moore and of course his son, Brian. May he rest in peace.
