| Tim Richmond | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Richmond prior to the start of the1984 Firecracker 400. | |||||||
| Born | (1955-06-07)June 7, 1955 Ashland, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | August 13, 1989(1989-08-13) (aged 34) West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. | ||||||
| Cause of death | Complications fromHIV/AIDS | ||||||
| Achievements | 1986Southern 500 Winner | ||||||
| Awards | Named one ofNASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)[1] International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee (2002)[2] Named one ofNASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers (2023) | ||||||
| NASCARCup Series career | |||||||
| 185 races run over 8 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 3rd (1986)[3] | ||||||
| First race | 1980 Coca-Cola 500 (Pocono) | ||||||
| Last race | 1987Champion Spark Plug 400 (Michigan) | ||||||
| First win | 1982Budweiser 400 (Riverside) | ||||||
| Last win | 1987Budweiser 400 (Riverside) | ||||||
| |||||||
| NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career | |||||||
| 10 races run over 4 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 48th (1986) | ||||||
| First race | 1983Kroger 200 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| Last race | 1986Gatorade 200 (Darlington) | ||||||
| First win | 1985Winn-Dixie 300 (Charlotte) | ||||||
| Last win | 1986Winn-Dixie 300 (Charlotte) | ||||||
| |||||||
Timothy Lee Richmond (June 7, 1955 – August 13, 1989) was an Americanrace car driver fromAshland, Ohio. He competed inIndyCar racing before transferring toNASCAR's Winston Cup Series. Richmond was one of the first drivers to change fromopen wheel racing to NASCARstock cars full-time, which later became an industry trend.[4] He won the1980 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award and had 13 victories during eight NASCAR seasons.
Richmond achieved his top NASCAR season in 1986 when he finished third in points.[1] He won seven races that season, more than any other driver on the tour.[1] When he missed the season-openingDaytona 500 in February 1987, media reported that he hadpneumonia.[1] The infection most likely resulted from his compromised immune system, which was weakened byAIDS. Despite the state of his health, Richmond competed in eight races in 1987, winning two events and onepole position before his final race in August of that year.[1] He attempted a comeback in 1988 before NASCAR banned him for testing positive for excessive over-the-counter drugs, ibuprofen and pseudoephedrine; NASCAR later announced it gave Richmond a new test and tested negative. Richmond filed a lawsuit against NASCAR after the organization insisted it wanted access to his entire medical record before it would reinstate him. After losing the lawsuit, Richmond withdrew from racing. NASCAR later stated its original test was a "bad test."[5]
Richmond grew up in a wealthy family and lived a freewheeling lifestyle, earning him the nickname "Hollywood".[6] In describing Richmond's influence in racing,Charlotte Motor Speedway presidentHumpy Wheeler said, "We've never had a race driver like Tim in stock car racing. He was almost aJames Dean-like character."[6] When Richmond was cast for a bit part in the 1983 movieStroker Ace,[6] "He fell right in with the group working on the film," said directorHal Needham.[6] Cole Trickle, the main character in the movieDays of Thunder, played byTom Cruise, was loosely based on Richmond and his interaction withHarry Hyde andRick Hendrick.[7]
Richmond grew up in Ashland, Ohio. His parents, Al and Evelyn (née Warner) Richmond, met in the course of their work. Al was awelder for pipe construction companies and Evelyn was a field office manager.[8] Noticing that highway crews had to dig up the entire highway to lay pipe, Al designed a machine to bore underneath the highway. To market this invention, he founded Richmond Manufacturing, which eventually exported machines worldwide.[8]
Tim's driving days started as a toddler when he was given ago-kart that he often drove inside buildings and across his lawn.[8] He later raced the kart at tracks inMoreland andNew Pittsburg.[9] Richmond grew up in a well-to-do family, and was sometimes therefore treated differently by his classmates,[clarification needed] so his parents enrolled him in Miami Military Academy inMiami, Florida. During his years in Miami, Tim and his mother moved to Florida and his father stayed in Ohio. While home in Ohio over a summer break, he met localdrag racerRaymond Beadle through lifelong friend Fred Miller.[8] When Richmond reached the age of sixteen, his parents purchased him aPontiac Trans Am, a speedboat and aPiper Cherokee airplane for his birthday. Yet his mother Evelyn often worried about spoiling her only son. She once said, "Tim was lazy...", and "... I did everything for him. I ruined him, I admit it. He was my whole life."[10]
Richmond excelled in sports; he set a conference record inhigh hurdles and his high schoolfootball career was stellar enough that the academyretired hissports jersey after his gridiron days were over.[10] Miami Military Academy named him Athlete of the Year in 1970.[9] Richmond's other interests included flying, and he earned hisprivate pilot license at age 16.[9] Following high school graduation, Richmond attendedAshland University for about one year before dropping out.[8]
A friend of Richmond's father co-owned asprint car and Richmond joined the team as a crew member for Dave Shoemaker. In 1976, 21-year-old Richmond took the car onto Lakeville Speedway atLakeville, Ohio for some practice laps. "Somebody put a stopwatch on me," Richmond said. "I was running laps faster than Dave had been. It was the first time I had ever driven a race car."[8] Richmond and his father found a red, white and blue-colored No. 98 car inPennsylvania, which was the same number andpaint scheme that Richmond used on model cars as a child. In his first competition at the track, officials placed Richmond in the slowestheat. He passed several cars before spinning out and breaking anaxle. Although he made several attempts to get the car pointed in the right direction, the broken axle prevented the car from driving straight. After being towed to the pits, he parked the car for the rest of the event.[8] Later that season, they towed the car toEldora Speedway, only to have Richmond crash the car again. In response, Richmond's father fired him as the driver. The next season, Al Richmond bought aSuperModified better suited to his son's driving style. In 1977, Tim Richmond became bothSandusky Speedway's Rookie of the Year and the SuperModified class track champion.[8]
Richmond returned to racing sprint cars in theUnited States Automobile Club's (USAC) national sprint car tour in 1978.[4] Competing in 12 races, he finished 30th in points as the series' Rookie of the Year. That year he attended Jim Russell's road racing school atWillow Springs International Motorsports Park, setting a student course record. Richmond raced in a 1978 Mini Indy car event atPhoenix International Raceway, winning theFormula Super Vee support event in aLola T620. The win attracted sponsors and attention from major owners likeRoger Penske.[8] He also competed in USAC'sSilver Crown series.[2]
Richmond's father bought anEagleIndy Car chassis and anOffenhauser engine for the 1979 race atMichigan International Speedway. Richmond qualified 21st fastest with a 175.768 mph (282.871 km/h) lap, significantly slower thanBobby Unser's 203.879 mph (328.111 km/h)pole position speed.[8] The race ended for him when his motor blew up on the fourth lap, and he finished last (23rd).[8] Owner Pat Santello was looking for a driver to replaceLarry Rice for hisCART team at thefollowing race atWatkins Glen International, so he gave Richmond a test atWillow Springs Raceway where he had previously set the student record. Santello hired Richmond, who then qualified 15th fastest for the event and finished in eighth place, the best of his IndyCar career. Richmond raced in three more events that season.[8]
Also in 1979, Richmond tested Kenny Reece's unusual "3-to-1" Supermodified at a7.5-mile high-speed oval test track in Ohio.[11] The car was unique in that it featured 3 wheels on the right side for added grip on oval tracks, but only 1 wheel on the center of the left side, along with a left-offset aluminum ChevroletZL-1 V8 engine. Richmond was able to lap the test track at over 200 MPH, but found doing so in a car with no left front wheel slightly unnerving.[12] The car was tested, but outlawed before it could actually be raced.
During practice for the1980 Indianapolis 500, Richmond set the fastest unofficial practice speed of the month, besting even race favoriteJohnny Rutherford in the vaunted Chaparral. His hopes for the pole were dashed with a crash in morning practice on the first day of qualifying. After repairs he qualified nineteenth for the race.[4] He worked his way up to the top-ten during the race, led a lap, and finished ninth as he ran out of fuel at the end of the race.[4] To the delight of the crowd, winner Rutherford gave him a ride back to the pits.[4] He was named the 1980Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. "I busted up a few Indy cars right after that," he said. "Milwaukee, Mid-Ohio. . . at Michigan I cut one in two. I was afraid my racing career would come to a halt. So when I got an offer to drive stock cars, I took it, and it turned out I liked driving them better."[10]
Pocono Raceway President Joseph Mattioli III convinced Richmond to make the change tostock car racing on the NASCAR circuit.[4] Richmond made his first NASCAR start two months after winning the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award.[4] He debuted at theCoca-Cola 500 at Pocono on July 27, 1980, finishing twelfth in aD. K. Ulrich-owned Chevrolet.[13] That season, he competed in five events, with twoDNFs (did not finish) and three twelfth place finishes. Overall, he finished the 1980 season 41st in points.[3]
Richmond raced for three teams in 1981. He started the season by competing in 15 events for Ulrich.[14] He had his first career top-ten finish, taking tenth place atBristol Motor Speedway, soon followed by a sixth atTalladega and a seventh-place finish atTexas World Speedway.[14] AfterKennie Childers hired him away from Ulrich mid-season, Richmond had top-ten finishes at Pocono andBristol. For the final seven races of the season, he drove forBob Rogers and had a top 10 finish atDover International Speedway.[14] Overall for the season, Richmond had six top 10 finishes to place 16th in season points.[3]
Richmond started 1982 without a ride before getting a one-race deal to drive for Mike Lovern's Fast Company Limited,Billie Harvey, at theRockingham track. Richmond completed 112 laps of the 492-lap event to finish 31st, retiring from the race with engine problems.[15] For the following event, Richmond was hired to driveJ.D. Stacy's No. 2 car. In his first race for the team, Richmond earned his first career top-five finish when he placed fifth atDarlington Raceway. Returning to Pocono, he finished second, before winning his first race on theroad course at Riverside, California the following week.[15] Later that season, he earned his firstpole position at Bristol.[3] The tour returned to Riverside for the final race of the season where Richmond won his second race, sweeping both events at the track.[15]Benny Parsons said that "watching Richmond go through the Esses was unbelievable".[16] For the season, Richmond had twelve top-tens, two wins, and one pole to finish 26th in points.[3]
In 1983, Richmond began racing forRaymond Beadle[2] whom he had known before he started racing. He returned to thethree-cornered Pocono racetrack, earning his first oval victory.[4] During the season, he accumulated four pole positions (Darlington, Pocono,Charlotte, andAtlanta), one win (Pocono), and fifteen top 10s on his way to finishing tenth in season points.[3] He made his first appearance in a NASCAR Busch Series car, but did not finish any of the three races he entered that season.[17]
Esquire magazine named Richmond as one of "the best of the new generation" in 1984.[9] That year he had one win atNorth Wilkesboro Speedway and second-place finishes at Dover, Darlington and Riverside.[18] Richmond finished the 1984 season 12th in points, with eleven finishes in the top0tenand in six in the top-five.[3] In 1985, the final season that Richmond competed for Beadle,[2] his best finish was a second place run at Bristol. He ended the season eleventh in points with thirteen top-tens in 28 races.[3] His crew chief for the season was newcomerBarry Dodson who won the 1989 championship withRusty Wallace.[19] In the Busch Series, he qualified at the pole position in the two races he entered, and won the Charlotte race.[17]
Richmond joinedHendrick Motorsports in 1986, where he teamed up with veterancrew chief Harry Hyde. It took the team until the middle of the season to gel.[2] Richmond had suffered a 64-race winless streak that was finally broken at theVan Scoy Diamond Mine 500 at Pocono in June 1986. After two straight second-place finishes at Charlotte and Riverside, Richmond started the Pocono event in third place inside the second row. That race saw a caution for rain with five laps left before the halfway point.[4] NASCAR wanted the cars to get to the halfway point to make the race official, so the sanctioning body had the drivers slowly circle the track. It took the drivers 26 minutes to complete the laps, and the rain was so heavy that some drivers had to look out their side windows because they could not see out their windshields. Two hours later, the track had dried and the race resumed with Richmond in third.[4] After Richmond's car was adjusted to remove the "push", the car was more to his liking.[4] Because his radio did not work, he was unable to communicate with his crew chief, Hyde, and he made his final pit stop with 37 laps left.[4] Hyde worried that Richmond had stopped a lap too early to ensure that he would have enough fuel to make it to the end.[4] After Richmond took the lead with thirty laps left in the race,Dale Earnhardt made up three seconds on Richmond's five-second lead. With four laps to go,Buddy Arrington spun in a three-car accident. The remaining laps of the race where completed slowly under caution and Richmond took the checkered flag for the victory. He had led 97 laps, including the final thirty, taking his first victory in aRick Hendrick car.[4]
The tour returned to Pocono a month later, and Richmond battled for another victory in a fog-shortened event. In the final 8-lap sprint, Richmond competed in a three-car battle withGeoff Bodine andRicky Rudd. Richmond crossed the finish line beside Rudd, winning the race by 0.05 seconds.[4] He notched four more victories that season, and over a span of twelve races, Richmond earned three second-place finishes, and six wins.[20] The National Motorsports Press Association named him Co-Driver of the Year with Earnhardt after Richmond accumulated 13 top 5 finishes and 16 in the top 10.[9] He had a career-best third place finish in points after winning seven events in 1986, in what was his last full NASCAR season.[3]
Richmond fell ill the day after the 1986 NASCAR annual banquet during a promotional trip toNew York City.[21] He was not well enough to begin the 1987 NASCAR season despite lengthy hospitalization in Cleveland[6] and further rest at home; when Richmond missed the Daytona 500, his condition was reported asdouble pneumonia.[4][5] Media later reported that he had Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).[4] He returned to Pocono for theMiller High Life 500 during the middle of the year. Starting third, he led by the fifth lap and ultimately led 82 laps, including the final 46, to win the race by eight car-lengths overBill Elliott.[4] In the middle of the race, Richmond's car suffered gearbox problems. Because he could use only fourth (high) gear, he had to use that gear to slowly exit the pits. Richmond was emotional after the victory, saying, "I had tears in my eyes when I took the checkered flag. Then every time anyone congratulated me, I started bawling again."[4] Richmond earned a victory in the next race at Riverside, and made his final 1987 start atMichigan International Speedway'sChampion Spark Plug 400 that August, finishing 29th with a blown engine.[5] He resigned from Hendrick Motorsports in September 1987.[22]
Although Richmond attempted a comeback in 1988, NASCAR suspended him for testing positive for banned substances.[4] Days later, the substances were identified asSudafed, a non-prescription over-the-counter allergy medication, andAdvil, an over-the-counter pain reliever.[23][5] In April 1988, Richmond sued NASCAR over the suspension. In the 2010 ESPN documentary filmTim Richmond: To The Limit, NASCAR presidentBill France Jr. said the drug screen administered "was not a good test," vaguely admitting that the entire testing program was just a sham to entrap Richmond. But more importantly, NASCAR also demanded he release his medical records to them, which he refused.[6] Although he retested later that year and was reinstated, he could not find a car to drive.[24] In his final public appearance at a contentious press conference at Daytona in February 1988, Richmond vehemently denied that heabused drugs and said that a mistake had been made in his drug test before storming off.[24] His suit with NASCAR was settled out-of-court, the terms sealed.[23]
Richmond then withdrew to his family's condo in Florida, receiving few visitors except for immediate family and a few friends, including Dr. Jerry Punch andA.J. Foyt. There were by then rumors of HIV and AIDS, which he denied.[23] He was later hospitalized inWest Palm Beach.[5][25]
ESPN sent a get-well-soon card to Richmond when it aired the July 1989 NASCAR race at Pocono.[26] The television network showed highlights of Richmond's victory at the track from 1986. "Tim hadHollywood good looks and the charisma ofTom Cruise," said his friendDr. Jerry Punch. "There he was in victory lane with the team all around him and beauty queens hanging all over him. It was important for the people at the hospital to see Tim the way he really was, when he was healthy and handsome and vital, not the way he was as they saw him every day in the hospital. There were tears everywhere."[26]
On August 13, 1989, Richmond died at the age of 34,[25] about two years after his final NASCAR race.[4][24][27] He was buried in Ashland, Ohio.[6]
The secrecy surrounding the circumstance of his death caused speculation for several days.[28] Two weeks previously, Dr. Punch stated that Richmond had been hospitalized due to a motorcycle accident,[24] though it is unlikely that Richmond had the strength to ride a motorcycle during his last months. Ten days after his death, on August 23, the Richmond family held a press conference to reveal that Richmond died from complications from AIDS, which he acquired from an unknown woman.[23][28] Richmond's physician, Dr. David Dodson, said: "There's no way of knowing who that woman was. Tim was a celebrity with a lot of charisma, a handsome guy. He naturally attracted a lot of women."[28] Punch later claimed that more than 90 drivers and personnel underwent HIV testing in the wake of Richmond's death.[23]
In 1990, a few months after Richmond's death, Washington television stationWJLA-TV and reporterRoberta Baskin reported that Dr.Forest Tennant, who was then theNational Football League's drug adviser, "falsified drug tests" that ultimately helped shorten Richmond's NASCAR career. Baskin reported that sealed court documents and interviews showed Tennant and NASCAR used "allegedly false drug-test results in 1988 to bar Richmond from racing". Baskin also stated that NASCAR had targeted Richmond, requesting that Tennant establish a substance-abuse policy with Richmond in mind. A series of drug tests and falsely reported positive results shortly before the 1988 Daytona 500 kept Richmond from driving in what was to have been his last big race...", the report said.The New York Times published the findings. While neither Tennant nor NASCAR supplied an official response at the time, NASCAR did confirm that they were seeking to replace Tennant.[29]
The Ashland County Sports Hall of Fame inducted Richmond in their second class in 1996. In 1998, NASCAR named Richmond one of its 50 greatest drivers of all time.[1][9] He was inducted into theInternational Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002.[2] TheMansfield Motorsports Park ARCA Re/Max Series race in 2009 was named the Tim Richmond Memorial ARCA Re/Max 250 in honor of the area native.[30] The race at Mansfield was co-promoted by Mattioli's son Joseph Mattioli III.[31]
The documentary filmTim Richmond: To The Limit was produced as part of ESPN's30 for 30 series with a premiere date of October 19, 2010.[32]
In 2018,Dalton Sargeant drove the No. 25 truck forGMS Racing in honor of Richmond.[33]
From 2019 to 2022, anARCA Menards Series driverwho shares the same name and is also coincidentally related to Tim very distantly through his father Dave, ran identical paint schemes with his cars to Richmond's No. 25 when he drove forHendrick Motorsports.
In June 2019 currentHendrick Motorsports driverAlex Bowman announced in theDarlington Throwback Race he would run a Tim Richmond throwback to the No. 25 Folgers car.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Mach 1 Racing | Eagle | Offenhauser | PHX | ATL | ATL | INDY | TRE | TRE | MCH 23 | MCH | 22nd | 112 | ||||||
| S&M Electric | Lightning | WGL 8 | TRE 12 | ONT 26 | MCH | ATL | PHX 15 | ||||||||||||
| 1980 | Mach 1 Racing | Penske | Cosworth | ONT | INDY 9 | MIL DNQ | POC | MDO 21 | MCH 26 | WGL | MIL | ONT | MCH | MEX | PHX | 30th | 209 | ||
| Source:[34] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Mach 1 Racing | Penske | Cosworth | ONT | INDY 9 | MIL DNQ | POC | MDO 21 | 18th | 205 | |
| 1981-82 | Mach 1 Racing | Parnelli | Cosworth | INDY 14 | POC | SPR | DQSF | ISF | INDY | 34th | 25 |
| Source:[34] | |||||||||||
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Penske | Cosworth | 19 | 9 | Mach 1 Racing |
| 1981 | Parnelli | Cosworth | 33 | 14 | Mach 1 Racing |
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Ulrich Racing | Pontiac | 40 | 30 |
| 1982 | Billie Harvey | Ford | DNQ | |
| 1983 | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 24 | 41 |
| 1984 | 10 | 33 | ||
| 1985 | 33 | 35 | ||
| 1986 | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 37 | 20 |
| NASCAR Busch Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | NBSC | Pts | Ref |
| 1983 | 71 | Olds | DAY | RCH | CAR | HCY | MAR | NWS | SBO | GPS | LGY | DOV | BRI | CLT | SBO | HCY | ROU | SBO | ROU | CRW | ROU | SBO | HCY | LGY | IRP 18 | GPS | BRI | HCY | 72nd | 282 | [40] | ||||||||||
| Whitaker Racing | 7 | Pontiac | DAR 21 | RCH | NWS | SBO | MAR | ROU | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 77 | CLT 30 | HCY | MAR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984 | All Star Racing | 15 | Pontiac | DAY | RCH | CAR | HCY | MAR | DAR | ROU | NSV | LGY | MLW | DOV | CLT 29 | SBO | HCY | ROU | SBO | ROU | HCY | IRP | LGY | SBO | BRI | DAR | RCH | NWS | 71st | 155 | [41] | ||||||||||
| 0 | CLT 5 | HCY | CAR | MAR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985 | Hendrick Motorsports | 15 | DAY | CAR | HCY | BRI | MAR | DAR | SBO | LGY | DOV | CLT 1* | SBO | HCY | ROU | IRP | SBO | LGY | HCY | MLW | BRI | DAR 23* | RCH | NWS | ROU | CLT | HCY | CAR | MAR | 65th | 180 | [42] | |||||||||
| 1986 | DAY | CAR | HCY | MAR | BRI | DAR 27 | SBO | LGY | JFC | DOV | CLT 1* | SBO | HCY | ROU | IRP | SBO | RAL | OXF | SBO | HCY | LGY | ROU | BRI | DAR 4 | RCH | DOV | MAR | ROU | CLT | CAR | MAR | 49th | 340 | [43] | |||||||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 1980 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
