Richards was also having success in endurance racing. The traditional season opener in October was the Benson & Hedges 500 – a 500-mile / 6-hour race run into the night for stock-standard production cars. He won the event in both 1971 and 1972 co-driving with friend and racing rival, Rod Coppins, in a Chrysler Charger. When Coppins wanted to upgrade his choice of car for the 74–75 racing season he decided to pick up a new Holden Torana L34 from the factory in Melbourne. Together he and Jim took it to the 1974 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 for its first race.