ESPN shines spotlight on Tim Richmond in its 30 for 30 series
Tuesday, Oct. 19, ESPN will show "Tim Richmond to the Limit'' as part of its 30 for 30 series. It's one NASCAR fans should enjoy.
Give credit to the show for not shying away from the controversy in Richmond's ilfe _ from his Hollywoodesque lifestyle to contracting AIDS _ but the show also details what kind of a talent Richmond was and makes one wonder just what he might have become had he not died in 1989 from complications related to AIDS.
During the show, Darrell Waltrip says: "There's no question that had he continued on, he would have won a championship or two or maybe more. He may have kept (Dale) Earnhardt from winning a championship or two.''
Richmond won 13 races in 185 starts. He won the 1986 Southern 500, one of a series-high seven victories that helped him finish third in the points that season. He drove for car owner Rick Hendrick, who paired Richmond with veteran crew chief Harry Hyde (creating the real life driver-crew chief pairing that was the basis for Cole Trickle and Harry Hogge in "Days of Thunder.'').
As the show details, there had not been someone like Richmond in the sport before. He was a vibrant and charismatci personality who partied and played as hard as he drove at times _ there's one story told in the show and a picture that shows Richmond wearing a black bra over his face.
But Richmond began to get sick and had to get out of the car (the program does a nice job of putting into the context the questions and fears of AIDS during the mid 1980s). He missed the first 11 races of 1987. In his return, he won at Pocono and then he won the following race at Riverside. His comeback wouldn't last. His illness was getting worse and he was out of the car only two months later, never to race again.
That brings us to the start of the documentary. A black screen has only the date: Oct. 10, 1987. It is the day of the fall Charlotte race. Then the shot turns to Richmond. He has a camera crew with him as he stands in the suites overlooking Turn 1 and holds a microphone.
"This is what I used to do here,'' Richmond said. "And I will do it again and I hope I do it well. This is the greatest sport it is. I want you to hear something that I've not been accustomed to hearing in this mode. There's a lot of noise out there.''
And then he opens the window as the field comes off turn 4 and takes the green flag. Richmond's face is watching the action and you only see the back of his head, but the longing is evident in his body language as he looks out to a track to drivers he raced _ and beat _ who now continue on without him.
"That is ... this is exciting!'' Richmond says over the roar. "Listen! Whooo!''
Such was the essence of Richmond. He was exciting. He created the whooo! factor in the sport but had it taken away from him by an illness that killed him at the age of 34.
It has been 21 years since his death. It's hard to imagine what a 55-year-old Tim Richmond would have been like. But this program shows fans who didn't see him race _ and remind those who did _ what he was like.
