Tim Richmond articles promoting tomorrow's Tim Richmond Memorial 200 at Mansfield

D

Digger

Guest
ARCARacing.com has this article about Tim Richmond on their website promoting tomorrow night's Tim Richmond Memorial ARCA 200 and the grand re-opening of Mansfield Motorsports Park in Ohio.

Richmond, who died 20 years ago at the age of 34 from an AIDS-related illness, won the 1981 Daytona ARCA 200 the year after he was the top rookie in the 1980 Indianapolis 500 with a ninth place finish. Richmond, who also won at ARCA's hometown Toledo Speedway in a supermodified, eventually made his way to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series where he won 13 times and finished a career-best third in championship points in 1986.

Rick Hendrick, an eight-time NASCAR car owner champion, launched his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team in the 1984 Daytona 500, the same year that Richmond was driving the No. 27 Old Milwaukee Pontiac for team owner Raymond Beadle. It didn't take long for Hendrick to notice the young Richmond.

"I watched Tim drive for Beadle, and man he could man-handle that car," Hendrick said. "I was impressed."

Richmond won only once for Beadle, in the spring race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.

hendrick.jpg"I didn't want to hire Tim away from Beadle, but when things looked like they were going to change for Tim, we talked," Hendrick added. Hendrick was able to hire Tim for a pair of NASCAR Nationwide Series races in 1985, which helped solidify the duo's future. In their first start at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May, Richmond won the pole and then won the race.

In 1986 Hendrick hired Richmond full-time, and the newbie gained a Hendrick Motorsports teammate in Geoff Bodine, starting in 1986. Richmond produced an unforgettable season.

"Tim had everything we thought he had and more," Hendrick said of Richmond's talent. "With the talent he had, there's no question he would have had lots of championships."

Richmond's presence on the team also solidified the foundation Hendrick Motorsports had built with Bodine.

"Tim brought legitimacy to our program. He had 11 wins (nine in Cup, two in Nationwide) and 14 poles (nine in Cup and five in Nationwide), and he was a threat to win the championship with us, and it legitimatized our whole program. He showed me raw talent and car control while being aggressive. He was a natural behind the wheel."

Richmond enjoyed being competitive, and he liked to have fun on the race track, too, Hendrick recalled.

"We were at Pocono and he was leading the race. He had passed Dale Earnhardt and was driving away," Hendrick said. "Tim asked on the radio if I was listening and I told him I was. He said ‘Hey, Rick. Watch this!'

"He slowed way down and let Earnhardt pass him in turn three. Then coming down the front straightaway, he stuck the nose of his car under Earnhardt's back bumper and lifted it. Then he got back on the gas, and passed Earnhardt again."
Click to expand...

There's much more in this article and several photos at: http://www.arcaracing.com/news.cfm?contentid=8170

Also, Mansfield Motorsports Park has this piece on their website.

Inaugural Tim Richmond Memorial ARCA-RE/MAX 200
Richmond, a native of Ashland, Ohio, is often referred to as one of the most talented race car drivers who set foot on a track. From go-carts to NASCAR,
he could drive anything!

Tim Richmond's path to stardom began on Ohio short tracks
Tim Richmond was blessed with gifts that made him destined for greatness
on and off the race track. With the support of a loving family, father - Al, mother - Evelyn and sister - Sondra, it was not long before that greatness was revealed.

He demonstrated he had star quality from an early age. He was a star athlete at his high school, Miami Military Academy. He set a conference record in high hurdles and was such an outstanding football player that his high school retired his jersey and named him Athlete of the Year in 1970.

The life and times of Richmond
Tim would have turned 54 on June 7. As a youth, Richmond had an interest in things that went fast starting with go-karts, as a boy and graduated to cars and airplanes as a teen. His parents gave him a Pontiac Trans Am for his
16th birthday.

Surely an occasional street race or zipping up and down nearby Interstate 71 wasn't enough to satisfy his need for speed and performance. Still, it wasn't until age 22 when he got into his first real racecar owned by a friend in 1976.
He first drove a dirt Sprint car at Lakeville, Ohio. He showed some talent that season, but wrecked several times, too.

The next season, his dad purchased a Supermodified, a unique pavement open-wheel race car featured at few tracks. One track in Ohio ran them on a weekly basis, Sandusky Speedway on Ohio's "north coast" near Lake Erie. Richmond went on to be the division's champion and rookie of the year.

1978: Richmond switched to USAC Sprint Cars and won a Mini-Indy Series event at Phoenix which grabbed the attention of IndyCar owners. Richmond made his first IndyCar start at Michigan in 1979 but finished last due to a blown engine. But his path had taken him into the major leagues of open-wheel racing.

1980: Richmond entered his first Indianapolis 500, and in a story book finish, Richmond finished ninth despite running out of fuel in the final laps. Johnny Rutherford won the race and had Richmond jump on the side-pod of his car for a ride back to the pits as he was completing his victory lap. Both drivers were elated, and Indianapolis' sophisticated IndyCar crowd vocally celebrated both drivers' accomplishments.

A series of wrecks in the following races didn't discourage Tim, but his parents agreed they would be happy if he stopped racing altogether.

It's fitting that the Tim Richmond Inaugural - the brainchild of co-promoter Joe Mattioli, III - is being held. It was Joe, son of Pocono Raceway's owners Drs. Rose and Joe Mattioli, who brokered the deal that brought Richmond to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, and the deal with ARCA and MMP.
Click to expand...

http://mansfieldmotorsportsonline.com/article_richmond.php
 
NASCAR legend James Hylton reminisces about fellow competitor Tim Richmond

One rarely runs across a person possessed with a charismatic attraction the magnitude of the late NASCAR driver Tim Richmond. The well-heeled Richmond entered the sport at a time when the vast majority of its drivers were primarily from blue-collar backgrounds. Ever the flamboyant playboy, Richmond stood in stark contrast to the mostly conservative NASCAR drivers of the era. Richmond lived life just as he drove, flat-out and to the max. The lasting image of Richmond is at a victory lane party with a trophy in one hand and a beauty queen in the other.

James Hylton is one of the few active drivers that raced with Richmond in NASCAR’s Winston Cup Series. On Saturday, Hylton will compete in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Tim Richmond Memorial 200 at Mansfield Motorsports Park in Mansfield OH. During their careers, Richmond and Hylton raced against each other in 51 NASCAR Winston Cup Series events. “I remember getting lapped by race leader Dale Earnhardt Sr at Pocono one afternoon back in the early eighties,” reminisced Hylton, “as we were entering turn one, here comes Tim Richmond flat out and at the top of track. We came out three-wide with Richmond passing both me and Earnhardt for the lead. I had never seen anyone take a car that high into a turn and make it stick. I can still see the dust and dirt flying.”

During his career, Richmond competed in 185 NASCAR Winston Cup Series events and won on 13 occasions. The Ashland, OH native’s career ended prematurely as he became infected with HIV and was physically unable to compete. “If Tim’s career hadn’t have been cut-short there is no telling what he could have accomplished,” stated Hylton, “he definitely would have won a lot more races and probably a championship or two.”

Richmond staged a courageous comeback in NASCAR during 1987 that included wins at both Pocono and Michigan. “Richmond could drive a race car better than anyone I’ve ever seen,” said Hylton, “Richmond had the magic; he could drive a car deeper into a turn than anybody that’s ever been in NASCAR. He was truly a hard drivin’ son of a gun.”
 
Could you imagine what the landscape of the Association would be like if we still had Tim, Davey, and Kulwicki during the mid to late '90's mixing it up with Rusty, Dale Sr., Elliott, D.W., and Harry Gant. I was a Senior fan, and I think he would have been hard pressed to win 4 titles from '90 to '94, and Gordon would have had a tougher time of it earlier in his career.
 
If Richmond had lived, big E would never have won seven championships. I may just pop over to Mansfield tonight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom