Dick Murphy, a National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer who first rose to fame as a World 100-winning car owner and became the longtime owner and promoter of Florida Speedweeks fixture Volusia County Speedway, died Thursday. The 81-year-old’s death was reported by the World Racing Group but no cause was given.

Known as “Dickie,” Murphy owned the famed Flintstone Flyer that Mike Duvall of Cowpens, S.C., drove to a World 100 victory in 1982 at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, the same year Duvall — who got his colorful nickname from Murphy — captured the National Dirt Racing Association championship.

Murphy went on to own one of the nation’s most famous short tracks near Daytona Beach, Fla., that hosted high-profile Speedweeks events on dirt and asphalt, drawing short-track racing’s best drivers every winter. Murphy owned and operated the Barberville oval from 1982-92, then repossessed the facility in 1998 and continued operating it until 2005 when he sold it to DIRT Motorsports for $2.5 million after suffering multiple strokes. The track is now owned by the World Racing Group.

“Dickie Murphy has been an important part of grassroots racing in Florida for a long time,” said WRG CEO Brian Carter. “Whether it be as an owner or operator of Volusia Speedway Park and all of its various configurations, via NASCAR or dirt racing, he was an important part, most recently as a car owner (of a Late Model competing weekly at Volusia). He will be missed as part of the racing community.

“I will personally miss taking every opportunity I got to sit down and have lunch with him as he would give me words of wisdom, even through the years. We appreciate everything he and his family did for racing. Dickie Murphy will be missed.”

Volusia Speedway Park plans to honor Murphy’s legacy during Saturday’s racing program.

“He was obsessed with the racetrack,” said Bobby Kay, a childhood friend of Murphy’s, who also worked with him throughout his life. “He was there seven days a week. He was that way all the time I worked with him. He always had to have people around him. He was always thinking of doing this or bettering this. Same with the racing.”

Veteran DIRTcar director Sam Driggers, who was 15 when he met Murphy and worked at the track for many years, called Murphy “a good guy (who) had the right things in mind” in operating the half-mile track.

“People thought the world of him because he would do anything for you — anything," Driggers said. “I just loved him. He was like my family.”

Funeral services and a viewing for Murphy, who was inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame in 2020, are scheduled for Sat., May 20, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at Lankford Funeral Home in Deland, Fla. A celebration of life will be held afterward starting at 2 p.m. at the home of Tuck Trentham — the veteran driver who has piloted Murphy's Crate Late Model in recent years — located at 2237 Oak Hill Dr. in Deland, Fla.   — NIck Graziano

Editor's note: Adds details of services