MORRISVILLE, N.Y. — Longtime car owner, fabricator and crew chief Ray Hedger, 75, passed away peacefully at home under Hospice care September 25 after a lengthy stay at the Syracuse (N.Y.) VA Hospital for treatment of ALS complicated by pneumonia.
Hedger’s racing career had many facets, ranging from fielding NASCAR modifieds for veteran Dick Clark, shepherding his brother Randy to a pair of NASCAR modified championships at the Shangri-La Speedway and fabricating numerous small block supermodifieds for Oswego Speedway, where he was honored with membership in the Oswego Speedway Hall of Fame.
His “house cars,” wheeled by Russ Brown, consistently held the Oswego track record and numerous other drivers had great success in his ever-evolving designs as well. Four of Brown’s five Oswego SBS championships came driving a car out of Hedger’s shop.
Hedger was also known in the New York racing community for “tweaking” both dirt and asphalt cars of all types and making them significantly faster. Additionally, he served as crew chief for the NASCAR Whelan modified tour and Craftsman Truck efforts of New Jersey based Bruce Driver and Tony Vecchio’s NASCAR Busch North car driven by Jerry Marquis. Another Busch North program saw Russ Brown driving a car owned by his father, Doug.
A supervisor at the Madison County Highway Department for his professional career, Hedger was also highly regarded for the unique hot rods he built after retiring. A master of the English Wheel, he was nationally known for fabricating body parts for antique car restorations and restoring old signs and gas pumps.
Ray is survived by his wife, Danielle and son Brian, a fabricator for Joe Gibbs Racing in Huntersville, NC. He is also survived by brothers Ron and Randy, the former a longtime racing writer and the latter a winning driver turned NASCAR technical inspection supervisor. He was pre-deceased by sister Rita Church, a longtime Shangri-La Speedway track photographer, and parents Hugh and Eloise, owners of cars driven by Pepper Eastman and Dick Clark.
