Richards was raised in
Lansing, Michigan. She is the daughter of Dick LaHaie, who started
drag racing in the 1950s. Dick influenced his daughter by teaching her about the mechanical side of vehicles. Shortly after graduating from high school, Richards went to California and later moved back to the
Midwestern United States. She had begun racing in cross-country motorbike races at the age of 14. Richards joined her brother, Jeff, in working with her father's drag team. Prior to this, she worked for a construction gang as a water truck driver. The crew won the 1987 NHRA Top-Fuel Championship. By working as her father's crew chief, Richards helped to secure top-five finishes in the
Top Fuel championship between 1986 and 1990. Richards was inducted into the
Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. ==References==