Richard Kenneth Mast (born March 4, 1957) is an American former NASCAR driver. He competed in both the Winston Cup and Busch Series, retiring in 2002. He holds a business administration degree from Blue Ridge Community College.
Early career Mast grew up in a racing family, as both his father and uncle were race team owners. He began racing at the age of sixteen at Natural Bridge Speedway and Eastside Speedway, after trading an Angus for his first car.
NASCAR career Busch career After racing at the local track level for the decade, Mast began running the Busch Series in 1982, and had four Top 10 finishes in eleven starts in his No. 22. Mast's first full-time season came in 1985, where he had fifteen Top 10 finishes and finished 7th in points. Two years later, he won his first NASCAR race, at the Grand National 200, then followed it up with another win the next week. He finished 11th in points that year. He improved to eighth position in 1988 the same year he made his Winston Cup debut for Buddy Baker at the Busch 500, finishing 28th at that race. Mast won five Busch races while running full-time the next two years, before focusing his efforts on the Cup Series.
Cup career Mast made his Cup debut in a two-race schedule for Baker-Schiff Racing as an injury substitute for Buddy Baker.
Car No. 1
Mast ran 13 races for Mach 1 Racing in 1989, finishing 6th in the Daytona 500 in an unsponsored car, which Mast called his proudest achievement in racing. It is possible he would have won had his team been willing to gamble on fuel mileage. Mast ran selected races in 1990 for D.K. Ulrich before finishing the year with Travis Carter Motorsports. In 1991, Mast signed to drive the No. 1 Skoal Classic Oldsmobile for Richard Jackson's Precision Products Racing. He started out the season by leading fourteen laps in the Daytona 500 and finished 4th. He had three Top 10's and finished 21st in points. That year, the Talladega Superspeedway produced a couple of highlights for Mast. In the Winston 500, he pushed a fuel-deficient Harry Gant (driving for Leo Jackson, Richard's brother) during the final lap of the race, helping Gant win (Mast was one lap down in 10th). This action is prohibited after the white flag by NASCAR rules, regardless of who the individual drivers are, but he was not fined money or points. With less than 25 laps to go in the DieHard 500, Mast was tapped by Buddy Baker entering the tri-oval and flipped over. He slid to a stop a few hundred feet beyond the start-finish line and soon climbed out of the car, much to the delight of the crowd. He was not injured, but half-jokingly said afterwards, "I'm okay but I need another pair of underwear". The next year, Mast won his first career Cup pole at the final race of the 1992 season, the 1992 Hooters 500, which was Richard Petty's final race, Jeff Gordon's first race, and the day that Alan Kulwicki won the championship by one race position over Bill Elliott. Mast's race ended on the first lap in a crash. The team switched to Ford in 1993. Mast had a career year in 1994, with ten Top 10 finishes and a career-high-tying 18th, finishing a career-best 2nd at Rockingham Speedway, a race where he slid sideways while racing side-by-side with winner Dale Earnhardt coming out of the final corner. In August of that season, he won the pole position at the inaugural Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (a race for which ninety cars were entered), finishing eighteenth in points. In comparison, 1995 was disappointing for Mast, with only three Top 10's. Skoal left at the end of the season, and Hooters replaced them, as the team switched to Pontiac. He had three Top 10's late in the year, but when the season came to a close, he and sponsor Hooter's left PPR.
Late 1990s
Mast signed to drive the No. 75 Remington Arms-sponsored Ford for Butch Mock Motorsports in 1997. Misfortune appeared early as Mast failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, and the season was a struggle. Mast finished 32nd in points that year. 1998 started off better for Mast as he won the pole at the GM Goodwrench Service Plus 400, but his struggles continued, and he left the team when the season came to a close.
After rumors spread that Mast would return to Travis Carter to drive a car sponsored by Kmart, he joined the No. 98 Cale Yarborough-owned team, despite the fact that the team did not have sponsorship. Midway through the season, the team got sponsorship from Universal Studios, and Mast posted two Top 10's and became the first driver since Yarborough to go the whole season without failing to finish a race. However, Universal did not renew their contract, and with questions surrounding Yarborough's plans on continuing to own the team, Mast was out of work again.
Final races During the early part of 2000, Mast climbed on board to drive the No. 41 Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Larry Hedrick Motorsports. But after the Food City 500, Mast departed for A.J. Foyt Racing, and had two Top 10 finishes.
Mast began 2001 with Midwest Transit Racing, but due to sponsorship issues, they only ran part-time, and Mast soon left to drive the No. 27 Duke's Mayonnaise Pontiac Grand Prix for Eel River Racing, but late in the season, the team closed down, and Mast was out of work once again. He made a deal with Donlavey Racing for the final races of the season, running an unsponsored No. 90 Ford after the team's previous sponsor, Hills Brothers Coffee, abruptly left the team to sign with Bill Davis Racing.
Retirement and legacy Starting in the 1990s, NASCAR drivers switched to a full-face helmet with a forced-air induction tube. In May 2002, Mast began feeling ill suddenly. He had lost weight and was forced to miss races to take medical tests to find out what was wrong. It turned out that he had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning and Mast was forced to retire. He officially retired on January 22, 2003, at the age of 45. After his retirement, he spoke with NASCAR president Mike Helton about having teams redesign their air intake systems to reduce exhaust fumes from entering the fresh-air systems in drivers' helmets.
When he stopped racing, Mast had an offer from Petty Enterprises to drive the team's No. 45 car for the back half of the 2002 season.
NASCAR increased research into forced-air induction systems as a result of Mast's retirement. As NASCAR had mandated full-face helmets, teams were using forced-air inlet systems taking air from the car into the driver. By the Coca-Cola 600 in May 2003, NASCAR approved a carbon monoxide filter to be used into air intake systems. In 2007, NASCAR phased out leaded racing fuel, with specification fuel supplier Sunoco switching to unleaded racing fuel starting with the second round of the season. A month later, NASCAR's fifth-generation Cup Series car changed the exhaust exit location to be away from the driver and it cited carbon monoxide poisoning cases like Mast's as a reason for the change.
Personal life As of 2007, he currently resides in his hometown of Rockbridge Baths, Virginia. He owns and operates RKM EnviroClean, Inc. which specializes in environmental clean-up services, underground utilities contracting, and site demolition. Additionally, Mast also remains actively involved with his charitable organization, the Rick Mast Foundation.www.RickMastFoundation.com
In 2018, Rick and his son Ricky started a podcast entitled Mast Cast where the two discuss Rick's driving days and current events in NASCAR.
Mast and his wife Sharon have three children: Ricky, Kaitie, and Sarah. He did some announcing after he retired from racing, but decided that he wanted to stay home to help raise his twin daughters after missing out on most too much of Ricky's upbringing. Ricky is the Digital Content Manager for Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves. Sarah and Kaitie attend the University of Virginia, and James Madison University, respectively.
In the movie Days of Thunder, Mast drove as a stunt double in Rowdy Burns' car for scenes shot at the Daytona International Speedway. The footage was shot during qualifying and during the Duel qualifying races.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 1988 Baker-Schiff Racing 88 Olds DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV RSD POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR PHO ATL NA 0 1989 Mach 1 Racing 66 Chevy DAY CAR ATL RCH DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR PHO ATL 35th 1315 1990 U.S. Racing 2 Pontiac DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY 31st 1719 Chevy NWS 22 Pontiac POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV Travis Carter Enterprises 98 Chevy MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 1991 Precision Products Racing 1 Olds DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 21st 2918 1992 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 22nd 2830 1993 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 21st 3001 1994 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 18th 3238 1995 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR34* PHO ATL 21st 2984 1996 Pontiac DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 18th 3190 1997 Butch Mock Motorsports 75 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR SON TAL CLT DOV POC MCH CAL DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO ATL 32nd 2569 1998 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR43 BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL CLT DOV RCH43 MCH POC SON NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI NHA DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT TAL DAY PHO CAR ATL 33rd 2296 1999 Cale Yarborough Motorsports 98 Ford DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM ATL 32nd 2845 2000 Larry Hedrick Motorsports 41 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI 33rd 2366 A.J. Foyt Racing 14 Pontiac TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV43 MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM ATL 2001 Midwest Transit Racing 50 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY CHI NHA 45th 1187 Eel River Racing 27 Pontiac POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT Richard Childress Racing 29 Chevy MARQL† Donlavey Racing 91 Ford TAL 90 PHO CAR HOM ATL NHA 2002 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL CAR PHO HOM 47th 576 † - As Kevin Harvick was in Memphis Motorsports Park for the second-tier series race (he was to run the full season), Mast qualified the Childress No. 29 Cup car.
Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1989 Mach 1 Racing Chevrolet 11 6 1991 Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile 7 4 1992 13 13 1993 Ford 31 12 1994 30 27 1995 41 21 1996 Pontiac 31 28 1997 Butch Mock Motorsports Ford DNQ 1998 27 30 1999 Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford 21 10 2000 Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28 28 2001 Midwest Transit Racing Chevrolet DNQ 2002 Donlavey Racing Ford DNQ
Busch Series