CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mike Helton remembers fondly the time he spent with Les Richter, and credits the former all-pro National Football League player and celebrated motorsports executive with putting him on the career path that led Helton to become president of NASCAR.

Richter died Saturday of a brain aneurysm at Riverside Community Hospital in California. He was 79.

"Oh, he was incredible," Helton said of Richter. "I got to know Les because of his role in NASCAR and in mine as promoter at the race track [first in Atlanta and later at Talladega]. We crossed paths in working on sanctioning agreements and different elements that NASCAR was asking the tracks to help with and be a part of.

Les Richter at Riverside International Raceway in 1981.

“

He just had his own style of doing things and the fact that he was always entertaining, professionally and personally, is the thing that I hang onto.

”

-- MIKE HELTON

"So I got to know Les in that part of my career and learned a lot about him. I hung out with him a lot, went to dinner with him, and realized what an incredible guy he was from the social side as well as the professional side. I heard a lot of the stories about him, but also got to witness first-hand some of the character elements that had been attributed to him over the years."

In short, Helton and others have said, Richter was a powerhouse personality on the football field and off, at the race track and off.

Helton was in Charlotte on Tuesday to attend to some business at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He planned to fly later in the day to California to attend visitation and memorial services for Richter. A public viewing was planned for Wednesday at Acheson and Graham Mortuary in Riverside, followed by a public memorial service at Calvary Presbyterian Church in the city on Thursday.

Helton said he had spoken to Richter recently.

"He mentioned that whenever he was going to go, it was going to be OK because he had been around long enough to live one-and-a-half good lives," Helton recalled.

It was Richter whom Helton replaced as NASCAR's vice president of competition in 1994.

"When Bill France [Jr.] asked that I come to the NASCAR side, it happened to be Les' seat that I was taking. So he played such a huge role in that transition for me -- from race-track level into the NASCAR side," Helton said. "Without his full support and his eagerness to help me into that seat, I don't know if I would be where I'm at, doing what I'm doing today. He was very gracious, very hospitable, and a very good friend."

Helton said he enjoyed spending time with Richter no matter where it was at or what setting they were in. He added that there are so many entertaining stories involving Richter that it is impossible for him to narrow them down or pick a personal favorite.

"Most of the fun stories about Les stem from the social part, because he was such a guy's guy," Helton said. "But in the course of folks asking if you have a favorite story about him, it's difficult because there were just so many. They are all incredible.

"He just had his own style of doing things and the fact that he was always entertaining, professionally and personally, is the thing that I hang onto. Most of the greatest stories I've heard about Les come from other people, but the experiences I had with him I will cherish for the rest of my life."

Richter was a two-time All-American linebacker and valedictorian at the University of California at Berkeley. He was drafted into the NFL by the Dallas Texans, but never played for them -- eventually spending two years serving in the U.S. Army in the Korean War before having his NFL rights traded to the Los Angeles Rams for a record 11 players. He then played for the Rams from 1954 to 1962, and was named to the Pro Bowl eight times.

It was his NFL background that helped make Richter so immediately successful in motorsports, Helton said. And along with it, Helton said Richter helped bring nationwide credibility to the sport -- first as long-time president of Riverside International Raceway from 1961 to 1983 and then as an executive with NASCAR, where he served as a close confidant to recent inaugural Hall of Fame inductee Bill France Jr.

In turn, Helton said Richter helped bring order to the garage area as well after taking over as vice president of competition in 1986.

"I think it was huge for NASCAR in general, having Les so involved through the years," Helton said. "It was certainly very significant in the garage area, because Les had the credentials of a professional athlete -- and not just any professional athlete, but one who had excelled, and it was in the NFL as a football player. I think that automatically earned him credibility in the garage area -- so when he had to deal with a professional athlete in our sport, he had instant credibility and they were willing to listen to Les probably a lot more than they would someone else."

Related:
• Former NASCAR official Richter dies at age 79