NASCAR Modified champion from Rehoboth passes away

REHOBOTH, Mass. (WLNE) — Rehoboth native and three-time NASCAR Modified champion Bugsy Stevens has died.

Stevens, whose real name was Carl Bergman, won the NASCAR Modified Championship three years in a row from 1967 to 1969.

Bergman was serving in the military when he began his racing career and took on the name ‘Bugs Stevens’ to avoid drawing attention to himself, according to NASCAR.

Bugsy Stevens leads Fred DeSarro during a 1970s NASCAR Modified race (NASCAR).

Stevens won titles at tracks in Stafford, Conn., Norwood, Mass. and at Seekonk Speedway, never finishing worse than sixth in NASCAR National Modified points between 1966 and 1975.

He won four track titles at Stafford and is the only driver to win a championship there on both dirt and asphalt, per NASCAR.

Stevens was named the NASCAR Modified division’s Most Popular Driver in 1971.

Bugsy Stevens was 90 years old at the time of his passing.