Atlanta, November, 1990, when there was no speed limit on pit road. Rudd roared into the pits, lost control, spun 180 degrees and slammed broadside into Bill Elliott's parked car. Caught and crushed between the two cars was Mike Rich, the rear tire changer on Elliott's crew. Rich's injuries were fatal. NASCAR has enforced pit road speed limits ever since. But speed wasn't the entire reason for Rich's death. Rudd was entering the pits when they were off-limits to drivers such as himself, who were one or more laps down. And it was believed that Rudd's brakes had been adjusted so that most of the tension was on the front wheels. Back then, it was widely suggested that NASCAR deal with the problem by enforcing severe penalties against drivers who lost control on the pit road, for whatever reasons. But NASCAR chose the blanket measure of speed limits.

More info on the pit road incident below :

HAMPTON, Ga. - For the second time in three years, a pit-road tragedy struck driver Bill Elliott and his Coors-Melling team.
Mike Rich was changing the right rear tire on Elliott's Ford Thunderbird on lap No. 300 of Sunday's Atlanta Journal 500 when the accident occurred, and he died of cardiac arrest at an Atlanta hospital.
Elliott was leading the race when he came in under a caution flag, and was preparing to go back out when Ricky Rudd's No. 5 Chevrolet slammed into the back of Elliott's car.
Rich, 32, a construction company owner from Blairsville, Ga., was pinned under Rudd's car. Jack specialist Tommy Cole suffered an arm injury.
Cole and Rich were chosen by Elliott to replace two of three men injured in a similar accident at Riverside, Calif., three years ago. Chuck Hill was seriously injured in that accident but has recovered.


A tragedy that still affects NASCAR
today occurred at the Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway during the season-ending race there in 1990. "Mike Rich, a rear right side tire changer on former Winston Cup champion Bill Elliott's crew, died after the car driven by Ricky Rudd spun in the pits and struck him. During the off season, NASCAR vowed to make pit road safer for crew members. The death of Rich wasn't the first pit road accident, it was only the latest."

NASCAR changed pit road rules several times during the 1991 season, before coming up with the present pit road speed limit syste, and regulations for the "restarts" after caution flags.

"Death is as much a part of racing as tires and gasoline. Drivers accept the fact and move on. Just about every one of them has been involved in a terrible accident that has made them re-evaluate their careers. But with each new fatality, or near miss, the danger seeps back into their consciousness." NASCAR has suffered many losses in the 1990's. Besides the death of Mike Rich, 1990 Rookie of the Year Rob Moroso was killed in drunken driving accident after the '90 season. The first of two on-track fatalities occurred the following season, when fan-favorite J.D. McDuffie was killed instantly when his Pontiac flipped into a guard rail at the Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International road course.

Below are Bill Elliotts quotes after winning the pole for the 2003 Winston...

"When I got my guys hurt and Mike Rich ended up getting killed in Atlanta, that's when we came down pit road wide open. Back several years ago, there were no guys on pit road when we ran down pit road. The last couple of years were pretty good where you just started from pit road and drove into your pit and left on pit road. Tonight it worked out pretty well. It's always been just a little bit of an issue because I've always had that in the back of my mind. The circumstances happened to be twice, at Riverside and Atlanta.