death_date death_place cup_poles birth_place cup_wins total_cup_races name best_cup_pos years_in_cup birth_date first_cup_race last_cup_race cup_top_tens article_title birth_name death_cause
12 june 1997 san antonio , texas , u.s. 0 corpus christi , texas , u.s. 0 11 rick baldwin 64th -lrb- 1985 -rrb- 5 10 june 1955 1981 budweiser nascar 400 -lrb- texas world -rrb- 1986 budweiser 500 -lrb- dover -rrb- 0 rick baldwin
 richard allen baldwin head injuries from racing accident
rick baldwin

richard allen baldwin -lrb- june 10 , 1955june 12 , 1997 -rrb- was an american racing driver who competed on the nascar circuit .
he ran a few races each season during 1983-85 running his self-owned dodge mirada and chrysler imperial .
on june 14 , 1986 , baldwin was substituting for the injured buddy arrington at the miller american 400 at michigan international speedway , part of the nascar winston cup series .
during qualifying , baldwin spun and hit the wall , driver 's side first , between turns one and two .
the protective window netting may have failed to prevent his head from striking the wall during the impact , resulting in massive head injuries .
in january 1992 , a suit filed by baldwin 's wife deborah , claiming the window net had allowed her husband 's head to strike the wall , was decided in favor of nascar , which was cleared of negligence by a 12-person state district court jury .
after eleven years in a coma , baldwin died two days after his 42nd birthday in 1997 .
the fatality was the first driver death in the history of michigan international speedway .
baldwin was survived by his wife and two daughters jennifer and tiffany , and his mother and father .
