Mike Richards

February 3, 1948 - April 24, 2000

Racing Bio

Mike Richards, another member of the RC Imports Racing Team, has had two distinctly different racing careers. Initially, Mike started racing Formula Fords in Canada many years ago. After attending a Jim Russell of Canada racing school, Mike got hooked on driving race cars, obtained a Canadian and FIA Racing License, and entered the Jim Russell sponsored Canadian Formula Ford Championships. Mike ran in this series for two years posting several top ten finishes and crashing a few cars along the way including one that took all four corners off the car before it came to rest. At the end of his second year, Mike entered the North American Formula Ford Festival where the top three drivers are sent cost free to England. Mike finished 4th and missed an opportunity to go and representing North America by just 2 tenths of a second. Two years later, Mike again competed in the North American Formula Ford Festival. This time the event was held at was called Ontario Motor Speedway, a track no longer in existence. After a week of double elimination competition, Mike finished 7th in the semi-final round and was eliminated from competition. That was his last single-seater racing experience.

Following his Formula Ford, Mike moved to the Washington, DC area and spent the next 10 years serving as Crew Chief for a local SCCA Regional Champion, Chuck Allard. Chuck raced a Porsche 911 in the SCCA GT-3 class and during that 10 year period they took 5 DC Region Championships and 4 Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series Championships (MARRS). Late in that 10 year period, Mike and Chuck started talking about running 24-hour endurance races. Both were avid fans of 24-hours races at Le Mans and Daytona having attended both races as spectators. Both decided that this was the next area to get into, except for one thing. Mike didn't have a valid racing license anymore.

In 1991, Mike passed the SCCA racing school, got his racing license and went back to racing. He worked a deal with his friend Chuck to use his Porsche 911 for a season while Chuck built the next endurance car, a BMW. During the following racing season, Mike ran all of the races in the MARRS series and captured the GT-3 Championship in his Rookie year. Included in that was a victory in only his second race of the season. Consistency and top 3 finishes ensured his championship. Also during that year, Mike teamed with Chuck Allard and several others to run their first 24-hour endurance race. Everyone took their turn running off the road for various mechanical and driver error reasons including a set of sheared wheel studs that sent Mike off into the tire wall in his first stint. In the end, they finished in the top 20 out of 54 entries and 4th in class.

For the next 7 years, Mike has been competing in 4, 6, 12, and 24-hour endurance races driving BMW's with great success. He has only lost one 4 or 6 hour event during that time. He has only DNF's once during a 24-hour race and has always finished in the top 5 in class. 1999 was the high water mark when Mike was part of the team that finished 1st in class at the 24-hour endurance race in Moroso, Florida. Additionally, he recently finished 2nd in class and 12th overall in the recent 12-hour race at Summit Point driving one of Rick Ellinger's Mercedes Benz race cars. In between all of the endurance racing during the 1990's, Mike has been a regular competitor in the MARRS Series Championships with several class wins in ITB. In 1998, Mike drove his E-Production BMW to 3rd in the overall series including two 2nd place finishes in the July 4th Double at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on his first visit there.

In 1999, Mike purchased a Mercedes Benz 190-16 Valve from Mike Skees at Potomac German Auto, one of the long-term RC Imports sponsors. The intent was to team up with Rick and Cindi Ellinger and run the SCCA Pro World Challenge Series in the Touring Car Division. Mike made three World Challenge races this year including a 12th place finish at Mosport, Canada and was positioned in 15th place in the points after Mosport, Lime Rock, and Road Atlanta. Unfortunately, Mike got caught up in a 6-car high-speed pile-up at Watkins Glen, which severely damaged the car and chewed up the Pro racing budget for the season. Mike plans to do the SCCA Pro World Challenge Series again in 2000 with a renewed emphasis on more horsepower and handling as well as a possible run at the World Challenge Touring Car Rookie of the Year title.