Rapp shocks racing world, abruptly ends racing career, 5-26-90

[NickHolt]

[NickHolt]

As you might imagine, there was more to this story than Rick allowed me to write in the article. 

I was not Rick's best bud, but we were pretty tight because we shared our love of suspension engineering to make his cars winners. So I had a pretty good idea what Rick was thinking when it came to racing. Yes, his financial situation was not good, but it had been like that for most of his racing career. And yes, he did agonize over the complicated IRS rules as they applied to a hobbyist or non-hobbyist or independent contractor or whatever, but that was just something he had learned to live with over the years.  

But no, that was not his entire reasoning behind his decision to call it quits. He had already lived with those negatives and managed to find ways to race and win. 

When he decided to not defend his 1989 TIDA Late Model crown to run exclusively at San Antonio International Speedway for the NASCAR championship, he was convinced that as long as the playing field was level he would come away with the championship and the big NASCAR money.

For one, he knew the San Antonio half-mile far better than anyone else who had committed to run the NASCAR program and had been a consistent winner there for several years. In short, he knew he could win there especially since most of his competition over the years were sticking with the TIDA series and, thus, wouldn't be a factor.

Secondly, after studying the rules for the Winston Racing Series, he realized that the point system was set up so that a driver running at a track with relatively few competitors in the lineup had a huge advantage over a driver competing at a track where there were lots of competitors in the lineup. The national championship was based on winning percentage and Rick felt like he had a legitimate shot at the big NASCAR payday.  Someone told me that Rick said it would be "like taking candy from a baby," but I never heard him say that. 

With those advantages in mind,  he built a NASCAR-legal Late Model over the winter.

So, what happened?

Well, long after he had ditched his TIDA Late Model and was building a NASCAR Late Model, Rick learned that NASCAR changed their points system that factored in the number of drivers in the lineups at each track. With the stroke of a NASCAR rules-writer's pen, the built-in advantage of running at a track with few drivers in the lineup was suddenly gone. Rick said right then that that rules change would make it harder, but still doable, so he had the new car nearly ready on opening night. 

Notice I said nearly ready. 

Rick showed up at the track anyway with his driving suit and helmet, but minus a race car. But as fate would have it, fellow NASCAR Late Model competitor Audie Howell, son of track owner/promoter Frank Howell, severely burned his hand earlier in the day and wouldn't be able to drive, so he graciously offered to let Rick drive his car. Rick ended up finishing second in the borrowed car.

After the race, Rick shared that he could have won, but backed out of every "iffy" racing situation to make absolutely sure there wouldn't be a scratch on Howell's car. But, more importantly Rick said he realized that Howell's car had far more horsepower than he would have expected under the NASCAR rules - and Rick knew racing engines and their capabilities inside-out. By now, Rick had a sinking feeling that the playing field probably was not as level as he had hoped.  

Rick shared with me that the next couple of races confirmed his suspicions that both Howell' car and the car being driven by Jason Oates, Frank Howell's son-in-law and husband of track manager Cindy Oates (who was also Frank Howell's daughter), had significantly more horsepower than his own maxed-out, but legal, engine. 

Rick had been around racing his whole life and understood that blood is thicker than water, so he never reported his suspicions to the track management. But he did share his suspicions with to a few of us.

Not a quitter, Rick admitted to me later that he was talking to a well-known national speed shop to obtain the illegal parts he knew he had to have in order to be competitive, but before he agreed to buy those parts he decided to quit rather than race with a cheated-up car. 

The reasons he said publicly as to why he quit were true, but I agreed to his sincere request not to share the rest of the story at the time. 

Now, don't blame me for this. I am NOT accusing anybody of anything. I was, and still am, a motorsports writer doing my best to tell it the way Rick believed it to be. If you have a problem with what Rick believed and what he shared with me, take it up with him.  You can reach him in Heaven, I believe.

Rest in Peace, Rick Rapp. 

Nick Holt