NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: H1N1 Virus Claims RCR Crewman
D.J. Richardson was Kevin Harvick’s rear-tire changer...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted December 26, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Richard Childress Racing crew member DJ Richardson finished out the 2009 season as the rear tire changer for the No. 29 driven by Kevin Harvick. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Donald "D.J." Richardson, affectionately nicknamed the ‘Freak’, began working as a crewman in NASCAR in 1999. (Photo: GetWellDJ.com)

Donald “D.J.” Richardson, the rear-tire changer for Kevin Harvick’s No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, died Friday due to severe complications from the H1N1 virus. He was 37.

Richardson had been hospitalized in Leominster, Mass., some 35 miles northwest of Boston, after contracting the H1N1 virus while visiting Massachusetts over the Thanksgiving holiday.

According to the team, he developed pneumonia and was taken to Health Alliance Hospital in Leominster and placed in the hospital’s intensive care unit with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

He passed away shortly after 10 p.m. Friday night.

Richardson joined RCR in July 2009 and finished the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season as the rear-tire changer for Harvick’s team. Richardson began his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career with Andy Petree Racing in 1999. He later worked for Penske Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Braun Racing.

SPEEDtv.com will have additional details as they become available.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED, and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com! Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



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