BROOKLYN, Mich. — There were only a few boos Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, and they were mostly reserved for NASCAR’s bad boys Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, and Kevin Harvick.
Unknown to virtually all the attendees at the Pure Michigan 400 was that one of the state’s great foes also was competing: Kevin Richardson.
Who? The name probably doesn’t ring a bell, but Google his name and the image that pops up is ingrained in every Michigan fan’s mind.
There is Richardson, No. 28 on Appalachian State, hushing the Michigan Stadium crowd as his jubilant teammates celebrate their stunning 34-32 upset in 2007.
MIS COVERAGE: Larson wins again | Photo gallery
“That was awesome, especially for Appalachian State,” said Richardson, who rushed for 88 yards against UM. “We don’t get to face teams like Michigan very often. Whenever you get an opportunity to face juggernauts, you want to do your best and take advantage of it. We happened to come out victorious, and all the hard work paid off.”
Richardson now is the front-tire carrier for the No. 17 Roush Fenway Ford driven by Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. He left Appalachian State as the program’s all-time leading rusher, but his NFL dreams never materialized. After a stint with the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL, Richardson’s career path was the great unknown.
Enter former Appalachian State assistant Mark Spier, now the head coach at Western Carolina, who happened to be a NASCAR fanatic. He alerted Richardson that Hendrick Motorsports was conducting a series of pit crew tryouts.
Eight years later, he’s still carrying tires.
“When it comes down to it, the car isn’t going to fight back or tackle you,” Richardson said. “It just stands there. You have to go out and be great at your position. It’s like football. Each individual has to do their job to be successful as a team.”
Richardson is a graduate of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Pit Crew Development Program, which is designed to develop minority athletes to be successful pit crew members. The program includes weekly hands-on, over-the-wall position training and coaching for tire changers, tire carriers, fuelers, and jackmen, as well as weight training, agility, and footwork programs.
“It teaches you fundamentals,” Richardson said. “It gives you another perspective on NASCAR, and it gives you an opportunity to be competitive. For guys who didn’t get the opportunity to play professional football, this is their chance to be in a professional sport.”
Ten years after Richardson’s famous photo appeared in Sports Illustrated, he returned to Michigan. And discussing the past was not off limits.
“If I see someone with a Michigan shirt on,” a smiling Richardson said, “I’ll go up and talk to them.”
CAMARO TO RETURN: When the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the Irish Hills in June, 2018, the Chevrolet cars will be snazzier.
The automobile manufacturer announced last week the iconic Camaro will return to the Cup Series for the first time since 1971. Chevrolet unveiled the Camaro ZL1 race car at General Motors headquarters in Detroit.
Initial reactions are that the car will provide more aerodynamics, which should provide drivers with more stability allowing for side-by-side racing.
The ZL1 will make its debut at the Daytona 500, replacing the SS, a 71-time winner in the series. Chevrolet has won 39 manufacturer championships, including the past 13, and 30 driver titles. Both are NASCAR records.
Win on Sunday, sell on Monday has long been a motto in motorsports. There’s a strong belief the association with the Cup Series will create a surge in Camaro sales.
“Selfishly, it’s going to be a great race car,” Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick said. “But it’s also going to be really good for the dealer business.”
TOYOTA PROVES POINT: Polesitter Brad Keselowski had pointed remarks to say about Toyota’s lineup Friday that spilled over into the post-race discussion Sunday.
“About this time every year, NASCAR takes all the cars to kind of check to make sure that the competitive balance is where they want it to be,” said Keselowski, who drives a Ford. “I think we’ve seen the last two or three weeks that the Toyota cars are pretty dominant. We had a strong suspicion that those guys would kind of tune it down this weekend, so not to post a pretty big number in inspection that maybe balanced back out the competition. Potentially that’s right because our team hasn’t done much differently and those guys are just not as fast as they’ve been the last few weeks. So we’ll know for certain at the end of the week based on whether NASCAR takes the cars after the race today.”
It drew arguments from Toyota’s stable of drivers, who had won five consecutive poles. On Sunday, three Toyotas finished in the top 10, including Furniture Row teammates Martin Truex, Jr., and Erik Jones, who were second and third.
Only one Ford — Trevor Bayne (fifth) — was in the top 10.
Contact Kyle Rowland at krowland@theblade.com, 419-724-6110 or on Twitter @KyleRowland.
First Published August 14, 2017, 4:58 a.m.
