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On Thursday the Northeast Modified racing community was rocked by the news of the death of New England Racers Hall of Fame member Ron Bouchard

Friday Modified Racing lost another Hall of Famer with the death of longtime and legendary Modified team owner Joe Brady.

Brady was killed Friday in Stoughton, Mass. while walking across the street outside of his business after he was struck by a driver allegedly under the influence of drugs.

Brady, of Stoughton, Mass., was 71 years old.

In Modified racing circles Brady was long known for doing a lot with a little and fielding cars for some of the best Modified drivers in the business.

Among the drivers who had driven for Brady at one time or another were Bugsy Stevens, Leo Cleary, Bob Santos, Ken Bouchard, Steve Park and Ted Christopher to name a few. Even short track legend and longtime Sprint Cup Series driver Dick Trickle drove for Brady.

He won races as a team owner over five decades.

“The thing that I remember about Brady the most was the people who drove his racecars,” New England racing historian Pete Zanardi said. “… He really really built good equipment. He built these cars that attracted outstanding racecar drivers to drive them. … That would be the testimony to how good he was.”

In recent years Brady was best known for fielding his familiar No. 00 cars for Christopher, often at the World Series at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway and in many special events and Valenti Modified Racing Series shows.

Brady and Christopher won three New Smyrna championships together.

“I won a lot of races together with that guy,” Christopher said. “He was great to race with. From New Smyrna we won so many championships and races. We’ve done a lot together and won a lot of races together. He was such a great guy. Joe didn’t really have a lot of money, but the car was always a great racecar. I don’t know how many races we know at New Smyrna. We always ran good and won races together. It was definitely always a fun time racing with Joe.”

Brady was inducted into the New England Racers Hall of Fame, which is overseen by the New England Antique Racers, in its 2008 class.

“I was really happy when he went into the Hall of Fame,” Zanardi said. “I’ve often thought that car builders don’t get the credit they deserve. We couldn’t have a sport without somebody building the racecars. And there’s plenty of evidence that he was really one of the best car builders by the fact of who drove his cars. He was successful everywhere that he went. He’s got wins everywhere. What Teddy did at New Smyrna in his car was amazing.

“He was very loyal to people. Inside and outside the sport, he was loyal to his friends. And really low key. In a sport that featured a lot of noise and giant personalities he was really low key. He didn’t make a lot of noise. You could have fun with him, he was quick-witted, but generally he was pretty quiet, just laying back there doing great things. It’s really a shame.”

According to a report from the Stoughton Journal, Brady was walking across Route 27 near 630 Park St. at about 8:35 p.m. Friday when he was struck and killed. The driver of the car, 33-year old Michael Burns, was determined to be under the influence of drugs according to the Stoughton Journal report and was charged with drugged driving.

Brady was walking across the street to the Christmas Tree sales lot he operates this time of year outside of Brady Enterprises.

“My husband parked the car across the street because there were other people there getting trees,” Brady’s wife Linda Brady told the Stoughton Journal. “He walked across the street, there was nothing coming, and, all of a sudden – boom. It knocked him far.”

Brady was flown by medical helicopter to Boston Medical Center but later died.