My father lost his life at nss doing what he loved to do. You will always be my hero.
What a blessing, even after 26 years, your father is still your hero. I still have mine luckily but he will also be my hero forever.
Rick God Bless you and know that I didn’t meet your dad, but I have heard so much from Don about him. He was very special to Don and we have a picture of him and his car that Don treasures. Sandy Nerone
Rick Coffin
Rick,
I knew your dad very well from doing the photography at the local tracks. Your dad was called the gentle giant. He would be proud of you today because you remind me so much about your dad. He was always very polite just like you.
Carol
richard coffin golly green giant
let me tell you this about your dad he had a smile that could stop the rain and he could talk to you and stop the pain .
he was quite a man i parked beside him at golden gate many many time and he kept me out of truble a few times
i have a picture of him and his green avery’s 17 machine on wall beside my other pictures and not a day passes that i don’t think of him and also vernon hart
you are quite a young man your self your dad would be proud of you
RON ABNEY SR 64 golden gate
Here you go.
Rick, I was there at NSS that night, 11 years old, and to this day I will never forget it.
I was 13 that year. Wasn’t at the track that night, but I believe my dad and my brother were, and I saw the pictures of the wreck. I was at NSS the next night, though. Thing I remember most about Coffin? Not that he was injured that night, but that bright green car. I always wondered if he bought that car off of Ed Howe, because Howe had the same type of green Firebird at the Gate for the Governor’s Cup in 1981. It was bodied as an '82 Firebird in 1981, and man, that thing looked like a Ferrari to me. It was certainly exotic to an 11 year old kid, who didn’t know that the Camaros and Firebirds were restyled for 1982. That car looked fast sitting still. I remember the “airbrush” work done on the car after Coffin got in it, and it was even more exotic-looking.
Rick, God bless you, buddy. My dad will ALWAYS be my #1 hero, and we’ve been around Florida racing long enough to have seen and watched your dad race along with our cars back in the day.
Y’all have a good night, and remember - life’s too short not to go short track racing 
Rick coffin
Think you all for your comments, that’s what I love about short track racing people are like family even after 26 years. thanks
Here’s your dad in a primer-gray #00 Chevelle at the 1977 Governor’s Cup at Golden Gate… He was just coming out of the pits in turn three as Don Gregory goes by…
Rick,
I’ve never met you but I had the pleasure of knowing your father. I raced with him many times and as everyone has attested to above, he was a good man.
I wasn’t there that night, nor did I ever know the details of the event, however, I do remember how much the news shocked me and the racing community at the time.
Here’s a shot of you later in November of the same year at the 20th Annual Florida 200, Golden Gate, holding your dad’s memorial trophy.
RIP Richard
JF
Rick I raced with you dad many many times, he would give a person the shirt off his back. Many many times he would stop by my dads shop and without my ever asking give me more good tires than I could ever needed. I miss him… Paul Combast…
I was there that night and you can bet that I will never forget it. I was pitted in the middle of turns 3 and 4 and it happened right in front of me. It was in a heat race, he was running in a pack of cars and the throttle hung wide open. He had time to make one decision and he chose to veer to the left to keep from running over the cars in front of him. He made that move to save others but it cost him his life beacuse he went through the infield and went across the track at virtually a right angle into the wall. In my 55 years I don’t think I’ve EVER seen a harder hit. I can still see it like it was yesterday. My friend, Dave Smith and I were standing in the back of my truck and we just looked at each other, not a word was said. You could have heard a pin drop in the packed grandstands, it was painfully obvious that we had just witnessed an unsurviveable impact. Richard Coffin’s last act on this earth was a hero’s instinct to save others from harm. Had he not turned to miss the cars in front of him it still would have been a nasty crash but I have no doubt that he’d still be with us today. I can never recall this incident without getting tears in my eyes. Sometimes the price of glory is just too damned high…