NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Former NHRA Chief Starter Rick Stewart, who inherited the role from the only guy to have ever held it before him, Buster Couch, passed away April 1. He was 80.

Despite never winning a national event in his nine-year Top Fuel career, Rick Stewart will always be able to boast about seeing more national event-winning runs than anyone in NHRA history. That’s because for 15 years, beginning in 1996, he had the best view at every NHRA national event as NHRA’s chief starter, then hung up his iconic hat at the conclusion of the 2011 season

Stewart had caught the eye of Couch in the 1980s, remembering him from his days as a driver, when Stewart was known as “the Iceman” for his cool and unshakeable demeanor behind the wheel. During his NHRA career, the Bakersfield native competed in the Top Fuel category from 1962 to 1971. He began driving when he was 22 in a street Corvette.

After Couch retired at the end of the 1995 season, Stewart took over in 1996 and was there for every record-breaking, body-shaking moment, after serving as the backup starter for a decade. 

In the beginning of his career as a starter, Stewart worked between 12 and 13 national events a year, and also served as the full-time starter in Division 7. When he wasn’t at a track, he was a director of radiology at a hospital in Bakersfield.

Stewart's passing comes less than a month after his contributions to the sport were rewarded when he was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame.