Motorsports
A legend in the making
At 15, Jordan Richardson is a racing champion and might have a bright future on bigger tracks. His family is betting on it.
By LAURA LEE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 12, 2003
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[Times photos: Chris Zuppa]
At Richardson Brothers Racing, Jordan Richardson, 15, gets the most attention duirng practice.
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The Legends car Jordan Richardson has driven the past two years is smaller than a regular one.
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PALM HARBOR - The idea has been brewing in Dave Richardson's mind for some time now. Brothers are big in NASCAR. No, it's not the most original thought, but with three sons still living at home, he figured it could work.
The key to his plan, now 8 years old, is Jordan Richardson, at 15, the eldest of the boys. At Richardson Brothers Racing, he gets the most attention during practice to make sure his car is in perfect condition. He gets the most attention at races, often claiming the checkered flag. His brothers benefit from his hand-me-down cars and race suits, but, more important, they could benefit from Jordan living up to his potential and making it at the next level.
"He's the one that could open the door," Richardson said. "If Jordan opens that door, there will be a vacuum that will pull the others in.
"We're concentrating on Jordan right now."
* * *
There was a time when Richardson didn't want anything to do with racing, at least not anything involving Jordan, then 7. He'd dabbled in the sport in his younger days in Indiana and could see the future: entire weekends at the track, countless hours working on cars and the money, an amount he realistically couldn't foresee. He would be consumed.
Richardson knew racing wasn't like signing up to play baseball or soccer.
"You can't even drive go-karts around the neighborhood," he said.
To make racing worth it, to be, at the least, competitive, he'd have to make a commitment from the start and give Jordan what he needed to be safe and fast.
Almost eight years later, Richardson has a 15-year-old who looks to be well worth the effort. Last year Jordan led the state in points in Legends' semi-pro division, a series for novice drivers. This season, he has clinched Florida's pro division points championship and at one point was ranked second nationally. Jordan started with a short stint in a go-kart, then five years in quarter midgets. He tried to switch to a sprint car when he was 13, but one of the tracks wouldn't insure him because he was too young to drive such a big car.
The Richardsons found Legends, a racing series affiliated with 600 Racing Inc., which is owned by Humpy Wheeler, president of one of the country's major tracks, Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. The company said it offers affordable racing to people of all ages. The Legends car Jordan has driven the past two years is about five-eighths the size of a regular car and resembles something from an old mobster movie.
More than 3,000 people compete in Legends nationally, and while most will never make it to the next level, it has proven to be a good training ground. Winston Cup driver Kurt Busch was a Legends national rookie of the year in 1996, and 17-year-old Reed Sorenson, a four-year Legends veteran, currently leads the rookie points for ASA, a stock car series considered to be a minor league to NASCAR.
"I don't think I realize how lucky I am," said Jordan, who spent his summer logging 1,500 miles a week in his father's truck, hitting tracks across the Southeast. "There's not a whole lot of kids that get to do that."
* * *
Richardson Brothers Racing is an incorporated business with a full-time crew chief. The operation is busting out of the family's three-car garage and 44-foot trailer. The team is mostly supported by Richardson's construction business, but it has a few small sponsors.
You already know Jordan, a Palm Harbor University junior. He's an average student who likes socializing at school. He spends his free time watching race film and reading about cars. Then there's Garrett, 13, who races Legends in the semi-pro series. Dylan, 8, will start in Bandeleros, a series for younger drivers affiliated with 600 racing, next season. Mallory, 6, Richardson's youngest, has a pink play car but is more interested in acting and modeling classes.
Rich LeFever, 58, a New Jersey native, is the crew chief. LeFever says he spent 20 years "racing for the fun of it in whatever I could afford." He was never big time. He never had the money or support. But he sees it for Jordan, who he says is like the son he never had.
"I think the world of Jordan," LeFever said. "I'd do anything to help him out. He has the natural instinct about racing."
Jordan's racing education began with his father in the quarter midgets. But during the past two years, LeFever, who spends at least five and sometimes seven days a week working on the cars and driving the truck to races, has become his primary teacher.
Jordan knows his car inside and out, well enough to take it apart and put it back together on his own. When taking turns at practice, he can pinpoint the car's problems - alignment, clutch, air - and communicate them to LeFever to make the appropriate adjustments. Jordan's black-and-white Simmons racing suit always is soiled because he's not afraid to get under the car and get dirty.
Richardson and LeFever aren't the only ones who think Jordan is the whole package. First, he can drive. He also is handsome, outgoing, good with people and knows his car.
"He's got a lot going for him," said Richard Burke, general manager of 600 racing, who's seen Jordan race and met him in Charlotte, N.C. "You've got to have those things in place before you can excel.
"He's the package right now. We'll see what happens 5-10 years from now."
It's a package the Richardsons are going to have to sell if they want to advance in the race game because Richardson can't do it on his own anymore.
When Jordan started in quarter midgets, it cost $2,000-$4,000 a year. Now, "I don't even want to tell you," Richardson said.
He figured he needs to come up with at least $100,000 to help Jordan make the next step, getting him a bigger car and trailer.
* * *
Andre Carollo gets calls from proud parents all the time. Carollo, a sports marketing agent with Sports One, a firm in Tampa, is always being told someone's youngster is the next great. So when Dave Richardson called three years ago, Carollo knew the drill. Since Richardson had been referred by a friend, Carollo gave him some time and suggestions.
"I told him to concentrate on him gaining more confidence," Carollo said. "The objective was to put him in a class with his own peers and make him understand he's very good. (So that) he could go out to a race and he was confident to know that he would win that race."
Richardson followed Carollo's advice. After dominating quarter midgets for several years, Jordan started racing Legends. Within a few weeks, Jordan was winning consistently. This year he won 20 percent of his races and finished in the top five 75 percent of the time.
Carollo finally met Jordan last month. He knew Richardson had invested a lot of money into racing, but he wanted to see for himself if Jordan was serious.
"It wasn't five minutes, we knew, this is a special one," Carollo said. "The parents did a wonderful job with the kid. This kid was cool. He was a true professional.
"They did everything right."
About a week later, Carollo saw Jordan in his element, on the track. And there Jordan was, commanding attention.
Jordan is pushing 5 feet 7 and has spiked blond hair that can withstand the pressure of his helmet. His jaw line is trying to break through a little leftover baby fat. Unless something is wrong with his car, he is smiling; a relaxed, life-is-good smile. And for him, it is. He gets to race almost every weekend. Not only does he win points in races, but sometimes he takes home checks for $100, $200 and $500. He has a second car in case one gets wrecked.
At the track, children and adults gather around Jordan's car. After races, he goes into the stands and signs glossy color photos of himself. Men tell him things like he has a shot and they had their money riding on him. Women say things he'd rather not repeat.
Carollo is creating a five-year plan for Jordan. He's been interviewing his connections - owners, crew chiefs and drivers - to get ideas on the what the next steps should be. Next year Jordan will be in some type of late model stock car, a full size car, and they have plans to get him some seat time in ASA, which is the next step.
"We need someone to make a major investment," Carollo said. "Thousands and thousands need to be millions."
If they all have it their way, by the fifth year Jordan would be driving in the Nextel series, currently known as Winston Cup.
* * *
Jordan said his father has given everything he needs to be fast. He has the best parts and safety equipment, including the HANS device: head and neck protection that's mandatory in most major racing series such as NASCAR.
Lisa, Jordan's mom, said they spend enough on racing to buy a house each year.
"I never dreamed it would be this much," said Lisa, who misses her sons, especially on weekends when they spend three to four days on the road. "It'd be great to know we're going to get somewhere out of this."
But they don't.
"It makes you wonder," Jordan said, "all this time we've worked for it, now look at what we've got."
At the moment, what they have is expectations. They could end up with nothing more than family memories at the racetrack. They could walk away a true NASCAR family. Maybe the brothers idea isn't as far-fetched as it seems.
- Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
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