Among the inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, this past weekend was a very important guy to people who are into performance cars as well as football.
Few people outside football may realize it – the Hall’s own biography of him doesn’t even mention it – but after his stellar playing career, Les Richter seamlessly became one of the most important and respected top-level executives in American automobile racing. He served as president of Riverside International Raceway for most of its fabled existence. Richter then went on to a vice presidency of International Speedway Corporation, the track-owning subsidiary of NASCAR, and to chairmanship of the International Race of Champions. When he died 2010 at age 79, Richter was still working at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Richter, an eight-time Pro Bowler, was traded by Houston in 1954 to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for 11 players, still the second-most in NFL history. He is part of the hall’s hugely illustrious 2011 class, which includes certified legends like Richard Dent, Marshall Faulk, Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharpe and NFL Films founder Ed Sabol.
