Statistically, he ranks among the most successful Sportsman racers in NHRA history with 38 national event wins, three national championships, and a stunning 12 division titles. In fact, heading into the 2001 season, only nine drivers, regardless of class, have won more NHRA national events.

As impressive as they may be, the numbers don't entirely illustrate Edmond Richardson's domination of Sportsman racing or sufficiently justify the impact he's had on the sport.

Whether racing in Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Stock, Stock, Super Street, or E.T. brackets, all classes where driver skill far outweighs mechanical aptitude, Richardson has, for the better part of two decades, consistently found a way to win.

Growing up in Ft. Worth, Texas, Richardson began racing well before he was old enough to legally drive on the highway. By the time he was 11, he had won the Street eliminator championship at his local track, the defunct Green Valley Race City, aboard his 100cc Yamaha Enduro.

In 1984, at age 21, he claimed the first of his division titles when he won the Division 4 Super Street championship. Two years later, he became the first driver to win two division championships in the same season when he won the Division 4 Super Comp and Super Gas titles.

Richardson didn't break through for his first national event win until the 1990 Chief Nationals, but by then, he had already established himself as one of drag racing's most dominant Sportsman racers with six division championships, the 1989 Winston Super Comp crown, and a host of big-money E.T. wins.

At that point, he already had chosen racing as his profession and proven that he could support himself solely through race winnings and sponsorships.

Richardson's best season was arguably 1992 when he won eight national events and the Winston Super Comp title. That year, he also joined Pat Austin as the only driver to win two national event titles at the same event when he scored the Super Comp and Super Street titles at the Southern Nationals.

Richardson didn't win another national championship until he claimed the Stock title in 2000, but in between, he collected national event titles at an alarming pace, often wading his way through huge fields consisting of more than 100 other competitors.

Richardson has, at times, made the difficult task of racing two cars at a national event look ridiculously simple. Six times, he has doubled up, including twice during the 1999 season when he went on a yearlong rampage that netted seven national event wins including a pair of doubles in Madison and Brainerd. Those wins led to the 1999 Division 2 Super Comp title and a pair of top-10 finishes in Super Comp and Stock.

Richardson once stated, "I've had some success in this sport, but I don't rate myself any better or worse than anyone. If I have anything consistent in my racing, it's that I constantly look to avoid making little errors - the red-lighting, lifting off the throttle too soon, things like that. Avoiding things like that and luck are probably what I've had going for me in the last few years. This is no sport to get cocky in."

More recently, Richardson's success has extended well beyond his on-track accomplishments. Refusing to believe those who have long maintained the philosophy that one can't make a living as a Sportsman racer, he has built a drag racing empire that rivals that of many of the sport's top Professional teams. He often has had as many as five or six race-ready cars at his disposal and has had little trouble attracting the kind of corporate backing needed to function at a high level.

A dedicated family man who often travels with his wife, Sue, and four children, Richardson is still going strong, and at just 37 years old, there is no telling what kind of numbers he might post before one day hanging up his helmet. In 2001, he is preparing for another multi-class assault in Super Comp and Super Stock, and he plans to put his 16-year-old daughter, Ashley, a former Jr. Drag Racing League racer, into one of his Super Comp dragsters this season.

"I have to thank my family," said Richardson. "Every racer - no matter what level - knows that without support from home, you just can't do it. The one thing I hope not to change in 2001 is the fun I've always had racing. I'll still be running and getting to all the races I can." - Kevin McKenna