Before racing was so strictly corporate, an amazingly good privateer tuner could end up in the big time. Rob Muzzy and Eraldo Ferracci are two such people. I never met Rob, but I got to know Eraldo pretty well when I had my Ducatis tuned there years ago. Colorful does not even begin to describe such people. Racing today is so sterile, and racing is much "poorer" for the lack of such characters.
Nevertheless, AMA Hall of Famer or not, stiffing the help is no way to act, if that is the case.