Rick Mast

For the co-founder of the chocolate company, see Mast Brothers.

For the professional golfer, see Dick Mast.

Rick Mast
Born	Richard K. Mast (1957-03-04) March 4, 1957 Rockbridge Baths, Virginia
NASCAR Cup Series career
364 races run over 15 years
Best finish	18th (1994, 1996)
First race	1988 Busch 500 (Bristol)
Last race	2002 Pontiac Excitement 400 (Richmond)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 36 4
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
Best finish	7th (1985, 1989)
First race	1982 Eastern 150 (Richmond)
Last race	1998 Pepsi 200 Presented by DeVilbiss (Michigan)
First win	1987 Grand National 200 (Dover)
Last win	1990 NE Chevy 250 (New Hampshire)
Wins Top tens Poles 9 95 5

Richard "Rick" K. Mast, nicknamed "The Snake" (born March 4, 1957, in Rockbridge Baths, Virginia) is a former NASCAR driver. He competed in both the Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup Series) and Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) before retiring in 2002. He holds a business administration degree from Blue Ridge Community College.

Early and Busch career

Mast grew up in racing as his father and uncle were both race team owners. He began racing at age 16 at Natural Bridge Speedway and Eastside Speedway, after he traded an Angus cattle for his first car. 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 11 eleven starts in his #22. Mast's first full-time season came in 1985, where he had fifteen top-ten finishes and seventh in the season points. Two years later, he would win 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 positions 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 Cup.

Car #1 years

Mast leading Jeff Gordon (#24) at the 1994 Brickyard 400.

Mast ran 13 races for Mach 1 Racing in 1989, finishing sixth at the Daytona 500 in an unsponsored car, which Mast called his proudest achievement in racing. He still believes 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 #1 Skoal Classic Oldsmobile for Richard Jackson's Precision Products Racing. He started out the season by leading 14 laps in the Daytona 500 and finished fourth. He had three top-tens 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-ten finishes and a career-high-tying eighteenth, finishing a career-best second at Rockingham Speedway, a race where he slide 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 90 cars were entered), finishing eighteenth in points. 1995 was disappointing in comparison, with only three top-tens. Skoal left at the end of the season, and Hooters replaced them, as the team switched to Pontiac. He had three top-tens late in the year, but when the season came to a close, he and Hooters left PPR.

Late 90s

Mast's #75 racecar from 1997

Mast signed to drive the #75 Remington Arms Ford for Butch Mock Motorsports in 1997. An omen of what was to come appeared early as Mast failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, and rumors started about Mock firing Mast after the race. Those rumors were later proved to be unfounded, but the season was a struggle, and Mast finished 32nd in points that year. 1998, started off better as Mast won the pole at the GM Goodwrench Service Plus 400, but the 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 #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-tens and became the first driver since Yarborough to go the whole season without failing to finish a race. Unfortunately, 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 years

During the early part of 2000, Mast climbed on board to drive the #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-ten 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 #27 Sauer 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.

Retirement

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 age 45. At retirement, he spoke with NASCAR President Mike Helton about having teams redesign their air intake systems to get less exhaust fumes into driver's helmets. When NASCAR completely redesigned its race vehicle with the Car of Tomorrow, it 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.

After retirement from racing

As of 2007, he currently resides in his hometown of Rockbridge Baths, Virginia. He owns and operates RKM EnviroClean, Inc. (www.RKMenviroclean.com) which specializes in environmental clean-up services, underground utilities contracting, and site demolition. Additionally, Rick also remains actively involved with his charitable organization, the Rick Mast Foundation.

Movie credits

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.

Personal life

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 daughters after missing out on most too much of Ricky's upbringing. Ricky currently works for Major League Baseball. Sarah attends the University of Virginia, and Kaitie attends James Madison University.

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.

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	NWCC	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 28	DAR 32	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	PHO	ATL								NA	0
1989	Mach 1 Racing	66	Chevy	DAY 6	CAR 21	ATL 25	RCH 16	DAR 34	BRI 14	NWS 25	MAR 32	TAL DNQ	CLT 11	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL 32	GLN	MCH	BRI 13	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT 13	NWS	CAR	PHO	ATL 31								35th	1315
1990	U.S. Racing	2	Pontiac	DAY	RCH 21	CAR 19	ATL 35	DAR 39	BRI 12		MAR 29	TAL 17	CLT 31	DOV 28	SON	POC	MCH	DAY																						31st	1719
			Chevy							NWS 23
		22	Pontiac																POC 22	TAL	GLN	MCH 36	BRI 24	DAR 24	RCH	DOV
	Travis Carter Enterprises	98	Chevy																								MAR 31	NWS 32	CLT 34	CAR 22	PHO 7	ATL 29
1991	Precision Products Racing	1	Olds	DAY 4	RCH 35	CAR 30	ATL 29	DAR 13	BRI 18	NWS 12	MAR 13	TAL 10	CLT 30	DOV 20	SON 19	POC 25	MCH 29	DAY 19	POC 27	TAL 28	GLN 35	MCH 18	BRI 26	DAR 11	RCH 27	DOV 9	MAR 13	NWS 25	CLT 13	CAR 18	PHO 28	ATL 28								21st	2918
1992				DAY 13	CAR 12	RCH 18	ATL 22	DAR 17	BRI 30	NWS 23	MAR 14	TAL 17	CLT 23	DOV 32	SON 11	POC 30	MCH 28	DAY 17	POC 24	TAL 26	GLN 32	MCH 13	BRI 29	DAR 23	RCH 28	DOV 24	MAR 9	NWS 21	CLT 35	CAR 17	PHO 17	ATL 28								22nd	2830
1993			Ford	DAY 12	CAR 39	RCH 35	ATL 30	DAR 15	BRI 10	NWS 19	MAR 11	TAL 13	SON 29	CLT 31	DOV 6	POC 16	MCH 11	DAY 16	NHA 16	POC 36	TAL 38	GLN 37	MCH 33	BRI 5	DAR 32	RCH 18	DOV 18	MAR 26	NWS 8	CLT 18	CAR 17	PHO 10	ATL 37							21st	3001
1994				DAY 27	CAR 3	RCH 7	ATL 26	DAR 37	BRI 29	NWS 10	MAR 8	TAL 20	SON 34	CLT 31	DOV 30	POC 9	MCH 13	DAY 29	NHA 9	POC 40	TAL 20	IND 22	GLN 38	MCH 3	BRI 10	DAR 20	RCH 33	DOV 15	MAR 29	NWS 3	CLT 12	CAR 2	PHO 42	ATL 27						18th	3238
1995				DAY 21	CAR 35	RCH 34	ATL 11	DAR 26	BRI 15	NWS 8	MAR 34	TAL 28	SON 16	CLT 14	DOV 13	POC 21	MCH 34	DAY 26	NHA 11	POC 13	TAL 17	IND 8	GLN 37	MCH 31	BRI 26	DAR 26	RCH 12	DOV 28	MAR 28	NWS 26	CLT 36	CAR 34*	PHO 9	ATL 21						21st	2984
1996			Pontiac	DAY 28	CAR 10	RCH 19	ATL 34	DAR 19	BRI 12	NWS 14	MAR 15	TAL 15	SON 19	CLT 12	DOV 35	POC 28	MCH 18	DAY 20	NHA 13	POC 30	TAL 41	IND 9	GLN 27	MCH 16	BRI 35	DAR 22	RCH 19	DOV 6	MAR 4	NWS 6	CLT 15	CAR 38	PHO 38	ATL 13						18th	3190
1997	Butch Mock Motorsports	75	Ford	DAY DNQ	CAR 21	RCH 18	ATL 17	DAR 19	TEX 31	BRI 17	MAR 36	SON DNQ	TAL 22	CLT 20	DOV 12	POC 20	MCH 30	CAL 41	DAY 18	NHA 28	POC 25	IND 23	GLN 23	MCH 38	BRI 33	DAR 34	RCH 26	NHA 20	DOV 10	MAR 23	CLT DNQ	TAL 9	CAR 42	PHO 31	ATL 35					32nd	2569
1998				DAY 30	CAR 12	LVS 11	ATL 33	DAR 43	BRI 25	TEX 41	MAR 33	TAL 18	CAL 25	CLT 26	DOV 11	RCH 43	MCH 31	POC 38	SON 8	NHA 32	POC 37	IND 22	GLN 30	MCH 26	BRI 35	NHA 22	DAR 36	RCH 31	DOV 24	MAR 41	CLT 34	TAL DNQ	DAY DNQ	PHO 29	CAR 42	ATL DNQ				33rd	2296
1999	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	98	Ford	DAY 10	CAR 35	LVS 19	ATL 16	DAR 13	TEX 30	BRI 19	MAR 42	TAL 24	CAL 31	RCH 16	CLT 34	DOV 34	MCH 37	POC 12	SON 23	DAY 32	NHA 30	POC 19	IND 36	GLN 23	MCH 12	BRI 21	DAR 30	RCH 41	NHA 9	DOV 34	MAR 29	CLT 25	TAL 26	CAR 38	PHO 36	HOM 28	ATL 41			32nd	2845
2000	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	41	Chevy	DAY 28	CAR 33	LVS DNQ	ATL 21	DAR 30	BRI 34																															33rd	2366
	A.J. Foyt Racing	14	Pontiac							TEX 20	MAR DNQ	TAL DNQ	CAL 39	RCH DNQ	CLT 39	DOV 43	MCH 30	POC 35	SON DNQ	DAY 31	NHA 12	POC 8	IND 38	GLN 19	MCH 29	BRI 29	DAR 12	RCH 28	NHA 32	DOV 10	MAR 26	CLT 17	TAL 31	CAR 13	PHO 39	HOM 29	ATL 35
2001	Midwest Transit Racing	50	Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAR 32	LVS DNQ	ATL DNQ	DAR DNQ	BRI 36	TEX DNQ	MAR 41	TAL DNQ	CAL	RCH 20	CLT 32	DOV DNQ	MCH DNQ	POC 22	SON	DAY 34	CHI	NHA 14																		45th	1187
	Eel River Racing	27	Pontiac																				POC 35	IND DNQ	GLN 27	MCH 39	BRI 41	DAR 30	RCH 34	DOV DNQ	KAN DNQ	CLT	MAR
	Donlavey Racing	91	Ford																															TAL DNQ
		90																																	PHO 25	CAR DNQ	HOM 38	ATL DNQ	NHA 28
2002				DAY DNQ	CAR 34	LVS 40	ATL 33	DAR 24	BRI 33	TEX 29	MAR 37	TAL DNQ	CAL 32	RCH 35	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

Daytona 500 results

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

NASCAR Busch 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	NBGNC	Pts	Ref
1982	A.G. Dillard Motorsports	22	Pontiac	DAY	RCH 3	BRI	MAR 22	DAR	HCY	SBO 17	CRW	RCH	LGY	DOV	HCY	CLT	ASH	HCY	SBO 5	CAR	CRW	SBO	HCY	LGY	IRP 7	BRI 11	HCY 12	RCH 8	MAR 19	CLT	HCY 22	MAR 30							18th	1350
1983				DAY	RCH 19	CAR	HCY 18	MAR 35	NWS 21	SBO 19	GPS 20	LGY 10	DOV	BRI 4	CLT	SBO 4	HCY	ROU 16	SBO 19	ROU	CRW	ROU	SBO 7	HCY	LGY	IRP 11	GPS	BRI 5	HCY	DAR	RCH 17	NWS	SBO 18	MAR 10	ROU 6	CLT	HCY 15	MAR 25	20th	2399
1984		99		DAY	RCH 16	CAR	HCY 11	MAR 25	DAR	ROU 21	NSV 11	LGY 14	MLW	DOV	CLT	SBO 14	HCY 22	ROU 19	SBO 7	ROU 10	HCY 12	IRP 20	LGY 8	SBO 16	BRI 4	DAR	RCH 23	NWS 22	CLT 16	HCY 22	CAR	MAR							15th	2208
1985		2		DAY 32																																			7th	3589
		44			CAR 20				DAR 8			DOV 4	CLT 6										DAR 7				CLT 8		CAR 7
		22				HCY 15	BRI 2	MAR 2		SBO 15	LGY 11			SBO 5	HCY 12	ROU 12	IRP 6	SBO 6	LGY 8	HCY 16	MLW 2	BRI 6		RCH 12	NWS 18	ROU 9		HCY 21		MAR 32
1986				DAY 7	CAR 4	HCY 10	MAR 10	BRI 23	DAR 26	SBO 14	LGY 12	JFC 8	DOV 30	CLT 34						RAL 10		SBO 16	HCY 10	LGY 22			DAR 28	RCH 21	DOV 18		ROU 14	CLT 13	CAR 8	MAR 26					11th	3649
			Chevy												SBO 25	HCY 9	ROU 9	IRP 13	SBO 19		OXF 23				ROU 4	BRI 6				MAR 10
1987			Pontiac	DAY 9	HCY 26	MAR 3	DAR 22	BRI 11	LGY 9	SBO 22	CLT 19		IRP 9	ROU 26	JFC 25	OXF 43	SBO 12	HCY 18	RAL 25	LGY 14	ROU 15	BRI 3	JFC 20		RCH 20		MAR 1			MAR 11									11th	3226
			Buick									DOV 21												DAR 6		DOV 1		CLT 18	CAR 8
1988				DAY 10	HCY 15	CAR 7	MAR 7	DAR 33	BRI 9	LNG 11	NZH 1	SBO 10	NSV 13	CLT 21	DOV 23	ROU 14	LAN 12	LVL 21	MYB 6	OXF 13	SBO 5	HCY 8	LNG 5	IRP 18	ROU 1*	BRI 17	DAR 12	RCH 25	DOV 21	MAR 6	CLT 25	CAR 27	MAR 5						8th	3773
1989				DAY 27	CAR 36	MAR 31	HCY 7	DAR 13	BRI 3	NZH 12	SBO 5	LAN 7	NSV 1	CLT 5	DOV 19	ROU 3	LVL 19	VOL 7	MYB 17	SBO 19	HCY 4	DUB 1	IRP 35	ROU 4	BRI 3	DAR 24	RCH 27	DOV 7	MAR 23	CLT 30	CAR 13	MAR 28							7th	3558
1990				DAY 27	RCH 32	CAR 25	MAR 14	HCY 18	DAR 14	BRI 12	LAN 25	SBO 5	NZH 15	HCY 8	CLT 32	DOV 34	ROU 12	VOL 29	MYB 12	OXF 4	NHA 5	SBO 4	DUB 19	IRP 30	ROU 10	BRI 1	DAR 27	RCH 1	DOV 2	MAR 25	CLT 23	NHA 1*	CAR 17	MAR 32					10th	3617
1992	Precision Products Racing	0	Olds	DAY 6	CAR	RCH 6	ATL 16	MAR	DAR 16	BRI 13	HCY	LAN	DUB	NZH	CLT 36	DOV	ROU	MYB	GLN	VOL	NHA	TAL	IRP	ROU	MCH	NHA	BRI	DAR 14	RCH 15	DOV	CLT 38	MAR 8	CAR 40	HCY					35th	1182
1993				DAY DNQ	CAR	RCH 8	DAR 34	BRI	HCY	ROU	MAR	NZH																											49th	535
			Chevy										CLT 10	DOV	MYB	GLN	MLW	TAL	IRP	MCH	NHA	BRI	DAR 10	RCH	DOV	ROU	CLT 33	MAR	CAR	HCY	ATL
1998	Spencer Motor Ventures	12	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	NSV	DAR	BRI	TEX	HCY	TAL	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	RCH	PPR	GLN	MLW	MYB	CAL	SBO	IRP	MCH 10	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	GTY	CAR	ATL	HOM					88th	134

ARCA Talladega SuperCar Series

(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
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	ARSC	Pts	Ref
1985	A.G. Dillard Motorsports	22	Pontiac	ATL	DAY	ATL	TAL	ATL	SSP	IRP 6	CSP	FRS	IRP	OEF	ISF	DSF	TOL	112th

References

• First Brickyard Pole Winner Breathing Easier These Days

• www.RickMastFoundation.com