The death of crew member Donald “D.J.” Richardson Jr. last week sent shockwaves through the NASCAR community. Richardson, who was a tire changer for Kevin Harvick’s
Richard Childress Racing 29 car, lost his battle against the H1N1 virus on Christmas Day. The 37-year-old contracted the illness while celebrating Thanksgiving with his family in his native Massachusetts and did not recover. He left behind three children.
Like many in the NASCAR garage, Richardson was a “weekend warrior” – someone who worked for the team only on the weekends. Because of this, he was not a full-time employee at RCR and did not have medical insurance.
Because the sport has become so competitive over the last few years, pit stops have become more important. Strength and conditioning coaches are hired, former college and professional athletes are recruited and the specialty-level has increased. Gone are the days when the guy turning the wrenches in the shop all week grabbed an air gun and climbed over the wall to change tires. With this specialization within the sport has come more part-time people, or as they are called in the business, “hired guns." This was the case with D.J. Richardson.
"He had a dream of working in NASCAR and packed up 10 years ago to go after it," the Raleigh News & Observer quoted D.J.’s father Donald Richardson Sr. as saying. "He gave up everything he had (in Massachusetts) and headed out to do what he always wanted to do. He was a good person, a competitive person."
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