AVONDALE, Arizona -- When a young race driver makes that leap of faith from a Saturday night late model series to NASCAR's next level, a regional touring series, it's going to take a lot of elements to make that program work. The first, and obvious, element is driver talent followed by a rock solid team, good equipment and, the biggest element of all, financing.
When Bakersfield, California's Eric Richardson made that leap of faith all of the elements were in place. He had just finished a phenomenal 2005 racing season, at Mesa Marin Raceway, and won the NASCAR Late Model track championship. He also finished sixth in the Division Two NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series national rankings. He also made his debut in the NASCAR Super Late Model Series, at the Irwindale Speedway, and by his third outing in the faster cars he scored a top five finish.
When opportunity knocked for Richardson it was renowned race car builder Gary Collins who opened the door. Collins wanted to field a car in the NASCAR Autozone Elite Division Southwest Series and he knew that Richardson was ready to make that racing leap of faith.
With Collins came something that Richardson really needed the most: the voice of experience. Collins had a very successful NASCAR driving career both at the local levels and in regional touring series. He's also highly respected as one of the premiere race car fabricators in the country and with him came his team that comprises Gary Collins Motorsports. One of the new members of the team was car chief Tarvis Bennett a renewed driver from the NASCAR Northwest Series who is yet another voice of experience.
The next element, from this new racing venture, came from Garry Richardson: Eric's Dad and late model team owner. It was the business savvy of the elder Richardson that helped with the team's financial profile.
With all of the needed elements in place, it was now time for Eric Richardson's racing baptism. He was going to make his Southwest Series debut and he was going to do it during the Copper Classic weekend on the Phoenix International Raceway's one mile oval. He was going to climb into the driver's seat of the fastest race car he's ever driven and take it out on the largest track he's ever raced on.
The Saturday, January 21st, portion of the Copper Classic was all about practice sessions and finding those always needed extra ticks on a stop watch. Despite any potential pressure of a new race team's debut, the Collins Motorsports team was upbeat and highly optimistic. When it came time for their yellow, #21, Chevrolet Monte Carlo to roll out onto the track, everyone scampered to find a good viewing position.
By the end of the two practice sessions Richardson was 21st on the speed charts out of 43 entries. He toured the Phoenix one mile oval in 28.761 seconds which calculated to 125.170 MPH. He was a little over six tenths of a second away from the top of the speed chart occupied by NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader.
Garry Richardson was delighted with the practice session and said "I think everybody's pretty happy. We're only off just a tick here and there, we'll be fine for the race and things are looking good. We picked up a couple of tenths during the second session and I think everybody's pretty happy. We came out here to test a couple of weeks ago and without that we just couldn't have come here. It's a different style of car and a bigger race track and the test really paid off."
When asked to evaluate his new driver Gary Collins said "he's doing really good out there and he's running some good lines. We picked up a little speed after the second session. This weekend is really about seat time for Eric and he's getting plenty of that. I'm real happy with what I've seen today."
Commenting on his first real run, in heavy race traffic, at Phoenix Eric Richardson said "I like the track but I'm struggling a little bit with my pick up points. But we've got a good car, we've got it together and we'll be all right for the race. I've just got to go sleep on it tonight."
With asked about the concept of being able to sleep knowing the next phase of the racing career was coming the following morning, Richardson smiled and said "I'll probably sleep about three hours and then spend the rest of the night thinking about this."
But first he had to return to his hotel room to get some homework done. It seems that the academic requirements of Bakersfield College don’t acknowledge a NASCAR racing schedule.
On Sunday, January 22nd, the members of Collins Motorsports rolled out at oh dark thirty to prepare for an early morning qualifying session. Through the steam rising from the top of a coffee cup, one of the crew members mumbled "this is not one of NASCAR's better ideas." He only said what everyone was thinking. An 8am qualifying session on a cold morning in January was definitely not a good idea.
Richardson drew the 25th qualifying run and turned in a time of 28.260 seconds which was good enough for the 21st staring berth. The team was happy with the results. They were 21st in a field of 43 cars and their driver had upped his speed, from the previous day, to 127.389 MPH.
There was an anxious moment during the final pre race tech inspection. For unknown reasons, NASCAR's paperwork had the #21 listed as a Ford so; needless to say, the Ford inspection template did not quite fit the Chevrolet body. During the course of a NASCAR official explaining what the team could do to make everything fit the mistake was discovered and the anxious moment quickly became a humorous antidote.
Now it was time for the Southwest Series 100. With a steel eyed look of determination Richardson put his helmet on, hit the switches and the #21 roared to life. It was apparent from the very beginning that the race was going to be wreck marred. There were two accidents that brought out red flag conditions, within the first ten laps.
All during the race Richardson carefully ran his lines and picked his passing spots. By lap 34 he had worked his way to 14th and the team was really starting to get excited. The general line of thinking was: if the driver gets the seat time he needs combined with a top 25 finish then the entire weekend would be a huge success.
But the drama was far from over and the intensity level of the race greatly increased when NASCAR officials, on lap 70, informed the teams that the scheduled 100 lap race was going to conclude on lap 85 due to time constraints created by the multiple caution periods. That's when the Southwest Series drivers literally jammed their right foot right through the fire wall to improve their positions during the final 15 laps.
Then the unthinkable happened.
On the final lap of the race, Richardson was going into turn three while racing hard against Greg Voigt for 15th place. The two race leaders were coming right behind him while dueling for the win. Some contact was made which caused Richardson to spin out and crash hard into the wall. In a mere fraction of a second a brilliant performance and a top fifteen finish got turned into a wrecked race car and a 23d place finish.
Needless to say the atmosphere in the pits, following the race, was very somber. Richardson looked down at the ground while pondering what might have been. He was completely engulfed in a combination of extreme disappointment over how the race ended along with extreme fatigue from driving in a very grueling race.
Commenting on the final lap incident, Richardson said "I gave the nine car, (Voigt), room all day while we were racing back and forth. I had a little bit of room there at the end so I got underneath him to pass him when the leaders came up behind me and, I guess, (race winner Matt) Crafton got underneath me. I gave Crafton a car length down on the dog leg and I guess the nine car thought we were still racing two wide, instead of three wide, and he came down on me."
With that ever present smile returning to his face, Richardson added "I was happy; I think we had a top fifteen going. I'm happy overall and I think the next time will be a hundred times better. I learned a lot and we'll go get them next time."
Gary Collins was, understandably, less than thrilled about the concept of towing a wrecked car back to Bakersfield. However, during a debriefing with his young driver and spotter, he said he felt like the last lap incident was a huge lesson learned and pointed out how to handle it the next time the same situation presented itself. He ended the conversation on a highly positive note when he said "other than that final moment it was good. In fact, it was excellent."
When someone asked "what's next?" Collins smiled, pointed at his very tired driver and said "that boy's going to the gym the first thing Tuesday morning."
Despite the disappointment of the final lap, the overall team mission was accomplished in a very big way. Eric Richardson got the seat time he needed and then clearly proved that he could handle the job while racing against the most aggressive Southwest Series veterans. Collins Motorsports clearly proved they are more than capable of working as a cohesive unit to get the job done.
The Phoenix International Raceway experience was a series of lessons well learned that will be used a stepping stone to build on when this new team arrives for the next Southwest Series race.
