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The one-time V8 Supercars firebrand, and three-time runner-up in the Bathurst 1000, is now a lifetime member of the team at Brad Jones Racing.
Richards is commemorated with a small star on the door pillar of the three cars that will compete in this year's V8 Supercars championship and team manager Kim Jones says his star will always shine on their cars.
"He will be part of the family forever. He was like a third brother to Bradley and me," he revealed yesterday.
"It makes Bradley and me feel better to have him along as part of the group. He only raced with us for three years but he became a member of our family."
The Richards star was revealed yesterday at a pre-season function attended by his widow Charlotte. "I think it's great," she said.
Jones said the team considered a number of designs for the tribute before settling on a star.
"It's what he was. We made a star with JR's logo in the middle of it. We looked at all sorts of things, like incorporating his logo into our logo, but we think this is the best end result."
A number of V8 Supercars teams have displayed short-term tribute messages, most notably to former Ford Australia president Geoff Polites, but this is the first long-term commitment.
The Jones brothers - sometimes known as the Dodgy Brothers - have been racing together since time on motorcycles, then a broad spread success in other classes up to V8 Supercars.
"We started pushbikes before that. It's been a long time," Jones said. "How long will we keep going? I don't know. But while we enjoy it we'll keep doing it and JR will be with us."
