R. D. Hubbard, Self-Made Entrepreneur and Visionary Track Owner, Dies at 84

R.D. Hubbard, who honed his work ethic in Kansas wheat fields and at his family’s ice house and then parlayed a wealth of hands-on experience into a long run as an internationally acclaimed auto glass entrepreneur, visionary racetrack operator, and an enthusiastic owner and breeder of Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds, died Wednesday night at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 84 years old. Hubbard’s death was confirmed by his family. Hubbard leaves a legacy rooted in the power of hard work, optimistic tenacity, and a knack for knowing how and when to seize opportunities. He made his own breaks and was unafraid to gamble his own money on unorthodox business ideas that he felt strongly about. As a mentor to others, “Dee” often underscored the need to have a driving passion for what you do in your career. For decades, Hubbard was one of the most visible boosters of Quarter Horse racing, and he achieved Hall-of-Fame status within that sport by campaigning 14 champions and scores of stakes winners while serving in numerous capacities that advanced the industry. He was known for his transformational majority ownership of Ruidoso Downs, which now hosts the world’s richest Quarter Horse race, the $3 million All American Futurity... Randall Dee Hubbard was born during the Great Depression in Smith Center, Kansas, on June 13, 1935. He was the eighth child of his family, and by age 11, he was lugging 50-pound blocks of ice to neighbors from the family-owned ice house. When refrigerators rendered that business obsolete, Hubbard, at 14, strung power lines to farm houses for the Rural Electrification Agency. In high school he worked building highways, and after graduation, Hubbard took whatever work he could, washing bottles, toiling as a farm hand from Texas to North Dakota, and selling brushes and shoes door-to-door. In 1954, Hubbard enrolled at Butler County Community College in Kansas. After two years, he accepted a position as a teacher and basketball coach in Towanda, Kansas, for $3,200 a year. In 1959, married for the first of three times and to better support his children, he became a salesman for a glass company in Wichita. Hubbard worked his way up from that $90-a-week job to becoming the president of Safelite Auto Glass. In 1978, he formed his own glass company, AFG Industries, by acquiring two debt-ridden companies and merging them. Eventually, AFG grew to be the second-largest glass manufacturer in North America. According to a 1991 Sports Illustrated profile, Hubbard bought his first Quarter Horses in 1969, eventually adding in Thoroughbreds and building the stable to over 100 horses in training, plus breeding stock...MORE