Tim Richmond blazed onto the NASCAR scene like a star in 1980. A bright, shining star that flamed out much too soon. His was a story right out of Hollywood. Young, cocky, wealthy, northerner comes down South to show the rubes how it's done. Men wanted to be him and women wanted to be with him.
Richmond finished 9th in the 1980 Indy 500
Richmond came to (then) Winston Cup full time in 1980 after finishing 9th in that year's Indy 500. From 1980 through 1982 he ran partial schedules for several owners, and had two victories and one pole. He drove for Blue Max Racing from 1983 through 1985. He earned two more wins and four poles during these three seasons.
Richmond's greatest year was 1986 in the Folger's Chevy owned by HMS
Richmond joined powerhouse owner Rick Hendrick in 1986. He was to have his career defining season that year. Seven wins, 13 top fives, 17 top tens, and 8 poles. He finished third in points that year, and had several memorable battles with, eventual champion, Dale Earnhardt. Fans were looking forward to years of these two going at it.
Tim Richmond contracted HIV over the winter of 1986. Wanting to keep his illness from NASCAR and the fans, Richmond claimed to have pneumonia. It was June of 1987 before he was able to get back in a race car. He won his first two starts that year, and only drove eight races before NASCAR said he was through. In February of 1988 Richmond planned on entering the Busch Clash at Daytona. NASCAR made him take their newly instituted drug test. Nothing was found in his system but over-the-counter cold meds, but NASCAR now demanded his entire medical records. Richmond said no, as HIV/Aids wasn't as socially accepted as now.
What could have been
Tim Richmond died in August of 1989 at 34 years of age, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Love him, or hate him, all who saw him race will agree he was a star.
Hanahan- You struck a nerve. Tim was one of my favorites. When I used to go to Riverside Raceway. I always cheered for him. Tim was as about as close to a Cali boy as you could get back then. Even though he wasnt from Cali. He was king of that road course. Riverside was known as the biggest and fastest road course around. Lots of the best racers found out the hard way just how hard it was to tame this beast. Tim lived a very fast lifestyle. Tim also had a bad rap because of his alledged drug use. Tim had a lot of potential. But he let the fame of racing get the best if him. Remember back then. Nascar didnt have the resources that they have now. To help the drivers cope with the fame and popularity that they deal with on a day to day basis. Damn good post.
Last edited by frevr3fan on April 1st at 10:13 PM.
This is a disease that has and will touch every one of us at one time or another one way or another. It's still out there and it isn't going away. As I understand it chemotherapy is having a positive controlling effect in our country but in third world countries it is running rampant. I've seen estimates that as much as half of the African population may eventually die as a result of it. I wasn't aware of this man but always think of Magic Johnson. I think if the truth was known we would all be surprised at who has it or has died from it...
Like it or not, it is all around us and its terrible when a young person with such a promising future is cut down.
I do recall that this rising star was a great driver. It was never clear on the drugs but he contacted this disease not by drugs but by sexual liasion contact with an infected female. That was my information at the time.
I think the racing community held a funeral procession at one of the tracks with his casket on the back of his car as a tribute to his career.
Hanahan - To this day, NASCAR has never apologize to Tim before he died or family and fans for not letting him race and making him show health papers. Those who say NASCAR CAN'T CONTROL WHO'S IN AND OUT. THINK AGAIN ! Tim didn't need NASCAR to make a living like the others, so his off track habits didn't matter. What did was he could driver a racing car.
This coming from a league that had Winston tobacco for a sponsors, Its ok to kill your self slowlly if we are making money off it.
I always wanted to do this post but knew I would have put so much anger into it, that it would seem more of a rant on NASCAR and not about Tim. Great job !
Dwindy....yes you never want to think of it until it hits close to home. This is about as close as it's come for me. I was a big fan, and I remember a lot of close minded people calling Tim names and making crude, uninformed remarks. Have we changed much over the last 20 years?
There's still more of this story about Richmond to tell. The chapters after his racing career, and even his legacy after he died. I'll try to get that info together for an upcoming post.
Forensic....Wow, you said it all, brother. The Tim Richmond story should go down as NASCAR's biggest sham ever---and we know there have been several. I didn't tell the whole story. I'll have another post on Tim, in the future. Thanks for commenting.
photogr.....hope you're doing better. Yes, that was the info at the time. Although specialist say that the chance of a male contracting HIV through male/female sex is marginal. Anyway, he caught it doing something reckless. Which was also why he was such a great driver I suppose.
Hanahan...I *hope* we have come far from the time Richmond was shunned but based on some comments still today I dunno. The racing world would have been wildly different if we still had Richmond, Kulwicki and Allison.
RL....thanks for chiming in. He certainly was that. He battled Earnhardt side by side more times in his short career than everyone else put together.
He and Dale were good friends, and respected each other on the track. It's a shame that the stigma of Tim's disease was too great for Earnhardt to speak up for his friend. Although I don't believe any drivers did at the time.
kristen...this was the episode that made me look at AIDS in a different light. I'm not proud of this, but if it hadn't been my favorite driver I would have still been one of the uninformed, ignorant, name-callers. This event made me see that AIDS could affect anyone not just 'those' people.
I know I have come far from that time, and, I guess, Richmond's death had a lot to do with overcoming my fears and prejudices. I hope he helped some others also.
tim richmond was at time "wild thing" of nascar,he was without a douth the most talented driver in nascar at that time.there is no way to tell how many races he might have won,or how many championships.but as short as his time was in nascar,i for one think he is stll an all time great.and folks kyle b reminds me of him.
Tim Richmond was my favorite next to A J Foyt. An immense talent, I can still remember him taking his car through the esses at Riverside, hands sawing back and forth, tires hooking the ribbing and you know he had a smile on his face as big as the Montana skys!
But remember where we were at as a nation in 1987 when AIDS was at the forefront. There was a very real concern on NASCARS part about his health and the rumors that swirled around him. What was NASCARS concern and what business was it of theirs?
The rumors were that Tim had AIDS. What if he was involved in an accident where he was bleeding profusely? Those were scary days with information about AIDS and how it could be contracted and passed on, seemingly changing on a daily basis.
Five years later, Magic Johnson found resistance to coming back to the game because of fears voiced by both Officiating crews and other players. In 1987 it was worse.
Tim could have went to NASCAR and told them what the deal was, but he chose to hide it. This made the rumors more prounounced. But lets face it, no one had a plan in place on how to handle a high profile athlete and this deadly disease.
Me? I see Tim nearly everyday in my workroom where I have an autographed picture on the wall.
Nice blog Hanahan. Some guys should never be forgotten.
top....very true. You have given me a great idea. NASCAR wants to be thought of as a benevolent dictat..., er,ah, I mean organization. Maybe we fans could shame them into honoring Richmond and raising AIDS awareness? Thanks for the insights, AJ.
papaw....I agree with everything you say here. Kyle is a lot younger than when Tim started, but I recall when they called him Ricochet Richmond when he came to NASCAR.
Michael....I agree with everything you say here also. Damn. Your first paragraph says it all about Tim. You sound like you're just as much a fan of Richmond as I was.
I didn't tell the whole story here, as I plan on revisiting it later. Maybe the early years, the few months of his life after NASCAR's ban, and his legacy that goes on.
ML...thanks for checking my blog out, and for the insights.
Hanahan - Great blog. I remember what a hot talent he was back in the mid 80's, and thinking that he would always be racing along another up & coming driver, Davey Allison. Unfortunately their time here was way too short. At that time it seemed that the details of his "illness" were a bit hush-hush.
As others have already commented, I believe that the championships earned would have indeed been different if several of our bright stars hadnt been taken from us too soon.
I too, was a big Tim Richmond fan. On the track and off the track he was a site to be seen. Yes just the idea of AIDS was scary as all heck back then. This was before the internet and all I knew was Nascar was making all these demands on him. I admired him even more after the facts came out.
Gerrel...thank you. When this was going on, it was almost like he wanted people to think he was a drug abuser instead of HIV positive. That is a sad commentary on where our country was then.
I just realized that those three champions who died back then----Allison, Kulwicki, and Richmond---all died off the track.
GREAT STORY! My favorite Tim memory was him racing rented limos around Atlanta on Friday night before the final race (at that time) of the season. He then brought his co-pilots (2 very attractive women)to the infield and had a few drinks with those of us camping out. The guy was a joy to be around and a bigger joy to watch. No doubt his career was cut short by health and NASCAR. Great article. Look forward to reading more about Tim from you in the future.
Awesome read! As well as comments.
I can only say, I wish I had of seen the man in a car. It's quite obvious by the writings he was a man to be reckoned with.
I look forward to future posts on this.
Thanks Hanahan!
He died from Bi-sexual relations. He was rumored to have relations with both Amanda Blake actress (Miss Kitty on "Gunsmoke) and her bisexual husband. So it was male on male sex he liked and it sodt him his life amanda also died in 1989 on aids
That was a sad reminder of nascar and the blinders they wore. He was a great driver with a vivid life. Nascar could not handle that then. It would have been nice to see more done in his honor. Hendrick has a nice tribute to him in their museum...
guys and girls, Tim was with out a doubt the only man that could have put a damper on Dale Sr's career of 7 titles, the man could drive and there was doubt about it. i seriously doubt if he was #### as NYJR8 has rumored but he was diffently a man about town with women under each arm. its no wonder he contracted HIV , and very saddening too another life cut short in the prime of his life. he would still be racing now. he left a lot of other drivers wondering if they had it too. ask ole DW if he didnt have a scare. what you dont think drivers messed around on their wives?... guess again!!!
irocco.....good comments, and all true, irocco. If he was ####, he sure went out of his way to cover it up. He sure was always surrounded by beautiful women.
