Leighty Racing Sprint Car Team
Rich Leighty, Washington Econo Sprint Car Organization #11
Turning Left Since 1960
Leighty Racing was born on July 4, 1960 when Rich Leighty towed his '36 Dodge coupe to Forks, Washington. Rich did not set the world on fire in his first race, but the racing fire was ignited and now, almost 50 years later, continues to burn strong.
Rich had planned to race at the 1/2 mile dirt track in Elma, Washington, but racing at the fairgrounds speedway was temporarily disbanded before Rich could make his debut. Plan B was formulated and Rich began towing to Silverdale, Longview, and Chehalis. When racing finally resumed at Elma in 1963, Rich was one of the first to sign in and he became a steady fixture at the speedway for the next 20+ years. Rich didn't restrict himself to just Elma and ventured to most every track in the Pacific Northwest through the years gaining fans and friends wherever he raced. Known to be one of the last to leave the pits, Rich loves to talk to the fans and can often be found signing autographs and giving out souvenir pictures.
Rich has been a family activity for the Leighty clan since the beginning and in 1981, Leighty Racing became a two car team when Rick joined his dad on the track. In 1985, the team decided to concentrate on racing with the traveling Washington Open Wheel Association and left the confines of Elma. Father and son continued racing wheel to wheel with each other for 20 season, until health problems forced Rick to retire from driving and concentrate on running the team.
Rich continues to be competitive despite the fact that his total years behind the wheel often double or triple the ages of his competitors. He has picked up feature wins in five decades on both dirt and asphalt, with and without wings. 2008 will be the 49th season he has buckled up and people just smile when they hear him talk of retirement. They've heard that story before!
Check in often to follow Leighty Racing's progress as they race closer to 50 seasons of operation.
