| Rick Mast | |||||||
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 Mast in 1994 | |||||||
| Born | Richard Kenneth Mast (1957-03-04)March 4, 1957 (age 68) Rockbridge Baths, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||
| NASCARCup Series career | |||||||
| 364 races run over 15 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 18th (1994,1996) | ||||||
| First race | 1988Busch 500 (Bristol) | ||||||
| Last race | 2002Pontiac Excitement 400 (Richmond) | ||||||
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| NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career | |||||||
| Best finish | 7th (1985,1989) | ||||||
| First race | 1982Eastern 150 (Richmond) | ||||||
| Last race | 1998Pepsi 200 Presented by DeVilbiss (Michigan) | ||||||
| First win | 1987Grand National 200 (Dover) | ||||||
| Last win | 1990NE Chevy 250 (New Hampshire) | ||||||
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Richard Kenneth Mast (born March 4, 1957) is an American formerNASCAR driver. He competed in both theWinston Cup andBusch Series, retiring in 2002. He holds abusiness administration degree fromBlue Ridge Community College.[citation needed]
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 anAngus for his first car.[1]
After racing at the local track level for the decade, Mast began running the Busch Series in 1982, and had four top-ten finishes in eleven starts in his No. 22.[2] Mast's first full-time season came in 1985, where he had fifteen top-ten finishes and finished seventh in the season points.[2] Two years later, he won his first NASCAR race, at theGrand National 200, then followed it up with another win the next week.[2] He finished eleventh in points that year.[2] He improved to eighth position in 1988 the same year he made his Winston Cup debut forBuddy Baker at theBusch 500, finishing 28th at that race.[2] Mast won five Busch races while running full-time the next two years, before focusing his efforts on the Cup Series.[2]
Mast made his Cup debut in a two-race schedule for Baker-Schiff Racing as an injury substitute forBuddy Baker.[1]
Mast ran 13 races forMach 1 Racing in 1989, finishing sixth at theDaytona 500 in an unsponsored car,[2] 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 forD.K. Ulrich before finishing the year withTravis Carter Motorsports.[2] In1991, Mast signed to drive the No. 1Skoal Classic-sponsoredOldsmobile for Richard Jackson'sPrecision Products Racing.[2] He started out the season by leading fourteen laps in theDaytona 500 and finished fourth.[2] He had three Top 10's and finished 21st in points. That year, theTalladega Superspeedway produced a couple of highlights for Mast. In theWinston 500, he pushed a fuel-deficientHarry Gant (driving forLeo Jackson, Richard's brother) during the final lap of the race, helping Gant win (Mast was one lap down in tenth). 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 theDieHard 500, Mast was tapped byBuddy Baker entering thetri-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, the1992 Hooters 500, which wasRichard Petty's final race,Jeff Gordon's first race, and the day thatAlan Kulwicki won the championship by one race position overBill Elliott.[3] Mast's race ended on the first lap in a crash.[3] The team switched toFord in1993. Mast had a career year in1994, with ten top-ten finishes and a career-high-tying eighteenth,[2] finishing a career-best second atRockingham Speedway, a race where he slid sideways while racing side-by-side with winnerDale Earnhardt coming out of the final corner.[3] In August of that season, he won thepole position at the inauguralBrickyard 400 at theIndianapolis Motor Speedway[3] (a race for which ninety cars were entered), finishing eighteenth in points.[2] In comparison,1995 was disappointing for Mast, with only three top-tens. Skoal left at the end of the season, andHooters replaced them, as the team switched toPontiac. He had three top-tens late in the year, but when the season came to a close, he and sponsor Hooter's left PPR.
Mast signed to drive the No. 75Remington Arms-sponsoredFord forButch 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 theGM 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 byKmart, he joined the No. 98Cale Yarborough-owned team, despite the fact that the team did not have sponsorship. Midway through the season, the team got sponsorship fromUniversal 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.
During the early part of 2000, Mast climbed on board to drive the No. 41 Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce-sponsoredChevrolet Monte Carlo forLarry Hedrick Motorsports. But after theFood City 500, Mast departed forA.J. Foyt Racing, and had two top-ten finishes.
Mast began 2001 withMidwest Transit Racing, but due to sponsorship issues, they only ran part-time, and Mast soon left to drive the No. 27Duke's Mayonnaise-sponsoredPontiac Grand Prix forEel River Racing, but late in the season, the team closed down, and Mast was out of work once again. He made a deal withDonlavey Racing for the final races of the season, running an unsponsored #90 Ford after the team's previous sponsor,Hills Brothers Coffee, abruptly left the team to sign withBill Davis Racing.[4]
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.[4] 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 sufferedcarbon monoxide poisoning and Mast was forced to retire.[3] He officially retired on January 22, 2003, at the age of 45.[3] After his retirement, he spoke with NASCAR presidentMike Helton about having teams redesign their air intake systems to reduce exhaust fumes from entering the fresh-air systems in drivers' helmets.[3]
When I got sick, I spent six or eight months forced to stay at home. I didn't have no choice in the matter. I laid in the bed the biggest part of the time, laying there ready to die. Those six or eight months ... I started seeing a different lifestyle, a life that I had never had. I started getting acclimated to that. As time went on, less and less did I want to have to travel.[3]
When he stopped racing, Mast had an offer fromPetty Enterprises to drive the team's No. 45 car for the back half of the 2002 season.[1]
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 theCoca-Cola 600 in May 2003, NASCAR approved a carbon monoxide filter to be used into air intake systems.[5] In2007, 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'sfifth-generation Cup Series car changed the exhaust exit location to be away from the driver and it citedcarbon monoxide poisoning cases like Mast's as a reason for the change.[6]
As of 2007, he currently resides in his hometown of Rockbridge Baths, Virginia.[3] He owns and operates RKM EnviroClean, Inc. which specializes in environmental clean-up services, underground utilities contracting, and site demolition.[3] Additionally, Mast also remains actively involved with his charitable organization, the Rick Mast Foundation.[7]
In 2018, Rick and his son Ricky started apodcast entitledMast Cast where the two discuss Rick's driving days and current events in NASCAR.[8]
Mast and his wife Sharon have three children: Ricky, Kaitie, and Sarah.[3] 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.[3] Ricky is the Digital Content Manager for Major League Baseball'sAtlanta Braves.[9] Sarah and Kaitie attend theUniversity of Virginia, andJames Madison University, respectively.[9]
In the movieDays of Thunder, Mast drove as a stunt double in Rowdy Burns' car for scenes shot at theDaytona International Speedway. The footage was shot during qualifying and during the Duel qualifying races.
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| 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 | |
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| ARCA Talladega SuperCar Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ATCSC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985 | Rick Mast Racing | 22 | Pontiac | ATL | DAY | ATL | TAL | ATL | SSP | IRP 6 | CSP | FRS | IRP | OEF | ISF | DSF | TOL | 112th | - | [37] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rick Mast related navboxes | |||||||||||||
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