Richard Allen Baldwin (June 10, 1955June 12, 1997) was an American racing driver who competed on the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

circuit. He ran a few races each season between 1983 and 1985, running his self-owned

Dodge Mirada The Dodge Mirada is a mid-sized, rear-wheel drive coupe manufactured and marketed by Dodge for the model years 1980 to 1983, sharing the Chrysler J platform along with its badge engineering, badge engineered variants, the second generation Chrysle ...

and

Chrysler Imperial The Chrysler Imperial, introduced in 1926, was Chrysler (division), Chrysler's top-of-the-line vehicle for much of its history. Models were produced under the Chrysler name until 1954, after which Imperial became Imperial (automobile), a standal ...

. On June 14, 1986, Baldwin was substituting for the injured

Buddy Arrington Buddy Rogers Arrington (July 26, 1938 – August 2, 2022) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. Racing career Arrington has the second-most starts without a win, and finished in the top 10 of NASCAR points twice; in 1 ...

at the

Miller American 400 Stock car races events in the NASCAR Cup Series have been held annually at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan since 1969. The race, currently known as FireKeepers Casino 400 for sponsorship reasons, is currently held as a 200 ...

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (formerly named as the Michigan Speedway from 1997 to 2000) is a D-shaped oval superspeedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. It has hosted various major auto racing series throughout its existence, including NASCAR, Cham ...

, part of the

NASCAR Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

. During qualifying, Baldwin spun and hit the wall, driver's side first, between turns one and two, resulting in massive head injuries. In January 1992, a lawsuit that was filed by Baldwin's wife Deborah, claiming the window net had allowed her husband's head to strike the wall, was decided in favor of NASCAR, which was cleared of negligence by a 12-person state district court jury. After eleven years in a coma, Baldwin died two days after his 42nd birthday in 1997. The fatality was the first driver death in the history of Michigan International Speedway. Baldwin had two daughters, Jennifer and Tiffany.

References

External links

*
Motorsport Memorial
*''Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal'' article o
Baldwin and his family's situation published in February 1988
*''The News-Journal'' article o
Baldwin and his family's situation published in February 1989
*''Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal'' article o
Baldwin and his family's situation published in February 1993
1955 births 1997 deaths Racing drivers from Texas NASCAR drivers People with severe brain damage Racing drivers who died while racing Sports deaths in Michigan Sportspeople from Corpus Christi, Texas {{US-autoracing-bio-stub