Rene Charland (November 13, 1928 – September 30, 2013), nicknamed "The Champ", was an American stock car racing driver. He was a four-time champion of the NASCAR National Sportsman Division, now known as the Xfinity Series.

Charland was born in Chicopee, Massachusetts on November 13, 1928^[2] and made his home in Agawam.^[3] His racing career began in 1949 at Riverside Park Speedway in Massachusetts.^[2] By the 1960s he was part of a group of Northeastern racers called "The Eastern Bandits" who moved to the Mid-Atlantic and South to compete in NASCAR competition.^[2] In 1962 Charland won his first championship in the NASCAR National Sportsman Division, now the XFinity Series. He won the title again the following three years,^[4] and finished third in the series' 1966 standings despite missing half of the season due to an injury suffered at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.^[3] His run of four straight championships gave Charland the nickname "The Champ",^[2] a name he became better known by than his given name, which was pronounced "REE-nee".^[3]

Charland also competed in the NASCAR Grand National Series,^[3] running nine races between 1964 and 1971, including the 1966 Daytona 500, posting a best career finish of third at Fonda Speedway in 1966.^[5]

Charland was estimated as having won over 700 races during his career.^[3] He was an inductee into the New England Antique Racers Hall of Fame, the New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame and the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame.^[2][3] In his later years Charland suffered from dementia.^[2] He died on September 30, 2013, in a nursing home in Amsterdam, New York.^[2]