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Like Ed Companion, Ron had a relatively quiet racing career on the track, but made a bunch of friends along
the way. One of the most likeable and outgoing racers in the early days of the four-cylinder Street Stocks, Ron was
infamous for attaching a fake plastic urinal to the sides of his competitors' race cars. In 1993, Glenn Clifton
painted his car identically to Ron's for the season's final race, simply because he was sick of hearing Ron complain
about the green paint Clifton left on his car each week.
Ron's personality was appreciated on both sides of the fence, and in 1994 he was named the Street Stock
division's "Favorite Driver", earning the most fan votes throughout the season.
Ron wasn't a bad driver, though, in fact, he was a sort of silent assassin. In his first outing in
1993, he finished 4th and earned the "Hard Charger Award" for gaining the most positions in the race. After a season's
worth of consistency, he finished 10th in points.
The next year, he built four cars, and had luck with almost none of them, save for opening day when he was
involved in a first-lap crash that sent Mike White barrell-rolling off Turn 3. Ron pitted to repair his car, and drove
from 17th to 4th at the finish. Another good run in August earned Ron his one and only race trophy, a second-place finish
behind kingpin Dennis Griffin, and ahead of 25-year racing veteran Guy Brown by inches at the line.
Ron retired after two races in 1995, but returned to run his final race in the Junkyard Warrior division's
second-ever event in 2003. In that race, Ron and his son Justin crashed with Buster Porter on the frontstretch, earning
their place in Thunder Road history as the first drivers to wreck in the new division!
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DISCLAIMER: Many of the photos on this website have been used without
prior permission, and for that, we're sorry. For the ones we did ask to use, thanks a ton! Proper credit is due
every photographer, but since tagging every single shot would take a really long time, and we've forgotten a lot of who took
what, let's just thank everyone who has "helped" out now: Alan Ward, Eric LaFleche/VLFPhotos.com, Gene Gagne/OutsideGroove.com,
Leif Tillotson, Brian McCullough (RACEGOD), the late David Heath, Dave Brown, Cindy Weed, John Sullivan, Norm Marx, Bethany
Bell, vintagemodifieds.com, the late Bob Doyle, Ron Pittsley, David Paris, Jim DuPont, Tom Herzig, and myriad others.
A huge thanks goes out to contributors Andy Boright, the late Cho Lee, and Christian "Ti Gaz" Genest, all treasurers
of racing history. You're all awesome and very much appreciated!!! --- Website updated and maintained in memory of Cho Lee ---
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