Bill Reichert was an Owosso drag racer and engine builder who won five consecutive NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster world championships, from 2006 through 2010. His career combined competition behind the wheel with the mechanical work that prepared racing engines.[1][2]
Learning to race in Owosso
Reichert grew up in Owosso, where his father operated a small-engine repair shop. According to the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame, Bill and his brother Jim built go-karts with their father’s help. Bill began organized kart racing at age twelve and moved into drag racing at sixteen with a 1964 Pontiac GTO.[2]
A 1969 Owosso High School graduate, Reichert recalled studying machine shop when interviewed about his selection for the school’s Wall of Honor in 2012. He described Owosso as his enduring home.[3]
Engines and a racing career
Reichert continued racing through the 1970s while developing his mechanical skills. After working in a machine shop, he established Reichert Racing Engines in 1984. The Hall of Fame biography describes the business becoming a family undertaking, with his son Andy also serving as crew chief.[2]
NHRA dates his first national-event victory to Brainerd in 1995. His final national-event win came at the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte in 2013. Between them, he won the U.S. Nationals in 2006, 2008, and 2011.[1]
Five consecutive championships
Reichert’s five world titles came in an uninterrupted run from 2006 to 2010. NHRA’s career remembrance records 28 national-event victories and 54 divisional or regional victories. These totals distinguish his long-term success from the five championship seasons alone.[1]
He entered the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, before his world-championship streak. In 2012, Owosso High School’s Alumni & Friends Association selected him for its Wall of Honor alongside musician Scott Kinsey and Army officer Robert Ploger. At the time, Reichert told The Argus-Press that a racing commitment would prevent him from attending the planned recognition ceremony.[1][3]
Reichert died on March 26, 2023, at age 71. NHRA’s obituary recognized him as a five-time world champion from Owosso.[1]
References
- 1. Five-time Top Alcohol Dragster champ Bill Reichert passes away (March 28, 2023) ↗. NHRA. Accessed October 28, 2026.
- 2. Bill Reichert — 2002 inductee ↗. Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame. Accessed October 28, 2026.
- 3. Three men of distinction selected for Owosso High School Wall of Honor (September 2, 2012) ↗. Jerome Murphy / The Argus-Press. Accessed October 28, 2026.