The RB Racing for a Cure Golf Tournament raises funds for a selected charity, offers a raffle and honors the late NASCAR Cup Series winner Ron Bouchard.
This year, the tournament benefits Angel Flight NE.
“Every year, RB Racing Charity chooses a local recipient to benefit from our tournament,” said Paula Bouchard, Ron’s widow. “Angel Flight NE is a network of plane owners and pilots who provide transportation for patients requiring medical care at specialized hospitals. Commercial airline partners donate seats on their aircraft. They also provide rapid transport of organs from donors to recipients.”
Last year, the RB Racing for a Cure Golf Tournament raised $50,000 for the North Central Area Advisory Board Children’s Fund in Massachusetts. That charity helps foster families and with the safety and well-being of children.
The RB Racing Charity and the tournament is run by Paula, Chad Bouchard (Ron and Paula’s son), and Mary Cortese, who is the daughter of another New England racing legend, George Summers.
The charity takes its name from the initials of Ron Bouchard. Bouchard won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega in 1981. He was also the series’ rookie of the year that year. He also has two NASCAR Xfinity Series wins at Darlington Raceway, both of which came in 1984.
Bouchard passed away in 2015, at the age of 67, from lung cancer. Summers also succumbed to lung cancer in 2019, at age 83.
The Bouchard and Summers families have kept the memory alive of the legendary racers by raising money for charities. UMass Memorial Health Alliance received $100,000 from the golf tournament for lung cancer screening and palliative care. Other beneficiaries include The Keystone Educational Collaborative and Pink Revolution Breast Cancer Alliance. The RB Racing Charity also offers five scholarships, ranging from $2,500 to $10,000, every year to high school students in the Fitchburg, Massachusetts, area. With funds raised from the golf tournament, RB Racing Charity has purchased and donated vans to transport cancer patients to the Hope Lodge in Worcester, Massachusetts, and for the local Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
“We are keeping Ronnie’s memory alive by encompassing the way he embraced his community, his love of life, and his generosity,” Paula said. “His generosity had an impact on everyone around him — and still does today.”
The 8th Annual RB Racing for a Cure Golf Tournament takes place on June 3 at the Oak Hill Country Club in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. To sponsor a hole or participate, visit rbcharity.org/golf.
In conjunction with the tournament’s fundraising drive, the charity is also offering a raffle where the winner receives two round-trip tickets to anywhere JetBlue flies. To purchase tickets, follow the following link: https://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/donor-form/?svcid=tcs&formId=df1d8715-15df-43dd-ae06-924efefd97f1&envid=p-u6kC4rGBgEy5DAsRYNQqHg&zone=usa&fbclid=IwAR1CQZ6AUZu-p6xAOEySrP5nF0EofE922CFsCtDHAWqbbqMt43ROeQITT6g
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
