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June 03 2009: Marvin "Marv" Rifchin - no one can adequately convey what this one man single handedly contributed to the sport drag racing. He was in a class by himself. At the tender age of 94 Marv left us to join his long time M&H Tire partners Harry Rifchin and Ernie Hashim. Marv had one hell of a run at this deal and has left a legacy second to none. Few people in any endeavor can truthfully lay claim to the fact that they initiated a paradigm change, not once but again and again! Such a man was Marvin Rifchin. He was a man of fierce independence, loyal to his friends and he never stopped working to make things, specifically racing tires, better. He had been in and out of the hospital the last few months with a long list of old age related medical problems, but his brain was still sharp to the end. He will surely be missed. He is survived by a daughter Debbie, her husband Bill and two grandchildren.

Early Life and Entrance into Tire Business
Born circa 1915, Rifchin joined his father Henry’s tire‐recapping business in the 1930s, operating out of the cellar of their gas station at 910 Main Street in Watertown, Massachusetts . Initially they produced retreads for midget car racing—one of Marvin’s early passions—but as midget racing waned, M&H pivoted to retreading tires for stock cars .

Pioneering Racing Tire Development
As cars grew lighter and lap times quicker, standard recapped tires began to fail, and early experiments with truck and bus tire carcasses proved unsuitable. Facing this challenge, in 1952 Rifchin decided “whether to stay in the business [of retreading] or start making new tires.” Partnering with Denman Rubber Manufacturing Co. of Warren, Ohio, M&H began producing fresh tires specifically engineered for stock car racing .

Rifchin’s entry into drag racing came when friend Bob Osiecki invited him to a South Carolina strip. Don Garlits tested a set of Rifchin’s new tires, ran 160 mph, and captured Top Eliminator honors—proof positive that purpose‐built compounds could excel on the drag strip .

Building on that success, M&H became one of the first manufacturers to produce slick tires tailored for dragsters, launching the Racemaster line and cementing their reputation in the late 1950s .

When Goodyear entered the drag‐tire arena in 1964, Rifchin embraced the competition. He later reflected, “I think the greatest accomplishment that any of us could have were the tire wars … The competition led to us being instrumental in securing some of the most fantastic advances on the business’ mechanical and scientific side” .

Legacy in Motorsports
Renowned for his fierce independence and generosity, Rifchin was known to lend tires to underfunded racers, quipping, “In the early days, everybody was so broke, I’d have to give ’em a tire every now and then” . His passion for midget racing extended to the Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA), where he supported the series from its inaugural 1953 season and supplied champions such as Bill Eldridge, Dave Humphrey, and Drew Fornoro .

Over more than four decades, Rifchin estimated selling upwards of 100,000 tires across midgets, stock cars, dragsters, and formula cars. He ultimately sold M&H Tire Co. to Interco Tire Corporation in 1996, concluding a remarkable era of independent innovation .

2003: Inducted into the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) Hall of Fame

1999: Enshrined in the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame

Also a member of the National Hot Rod Association and Northeastern Midget Association Halls of Fame, among others .

Tributes
To honor his lasting impact, Thompson Speedway inaugurated the Marvin Rifchin Memorial Trophy race on July 6, 2006, and Lee USA Speedway continues to host an annual trophy event presented by his family .

From pioneering custom recaps in a Watertown cellar to spearheading the “tire wars” that propelled drag racing tire technology forward, Marv Rifchin’s seat‐of‐the‐pants ingenuity and generosity left an indelible mark on motorsports—and his legacy rolls on every time Racemaster slicks hit the strip.