The Richmond Team (June 7, 1955 - August 13, 1989) was an American racing driver from Ashland, Ohio. He competed in IndyCar racing before moving to NASCAR's Winston Cup Series. Richmond was one of the first riders to switch from open wheel racing to full-time NASCAR stock car, which has since become an industry trend. He won the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 1980 award and won 13 wins over eight NASCAR seasons.
Richmond reached the height of the NASCAR season in 1986 when he finished third on points. He won seven races that season, more than any other driver on the tour. When he missed the Daytona 500 season opening in February 1987, the media reported that he had pneumonia. Infection is most likely caused by a weakened immune system, which is weakened by AIDS. Despite his health, Richmond competed in eight races in 1987, winning two events and one pole position before his final race in August of that year. He tried his comeback in 1988 before NASCAR forbade him to test positive for over-the-counter overuse, ibuprofen and pseudoephedrine; NASCAR then announced they gave Richmond a new test and tested negative. Richmond filed a lawsuit against NASCAR after NASCAR insisted that they wanted access to the entire medical record before they returned it. After losing the lawsuit, Richmond withdrew from the race. NASCAR then stated that their original test was a "bad test."
Richmond grew up in a rich family and lived a free lifestyle, giving her the nickname "Hollywood". In describing Richmond's influence in racing, President Charlotte Motor Speedway Humpy Wheeler said, "We've never had a driver like Tim in stock car racing, he's almost like a character like Dean Dean." When Richmond was cast for a small part in the 1983 Stroker Ace movie, "He immediately joined the group that worked on the film," says Hal Needham director. Cole Trickle, the main character in the movie Days Of Thunder, is played by Tom Cruise, loosely based on Richmond and his interactions with Harry Hyde and Rick Hendrick.
Video Tim Richmond
Kehidupan awal
Richmond grew up in Ashland, Ohio. His parents, Al and Evelyn (nÃÆ' Â © e Warner) Richmond, met in their work. Al is a welder for a pipeline construction company and Evelyn is a field office manager. Realizing that the highway crew had to dig all the highways to install pipes, Al designed a machine to dig under the highway. To market this discovery, he founded Richmond Manufacturing, which eventually exported machinery worldwide.
Tim's driving days started as a child when he was given a go-kart that he rode in the building and around his yard. He then ran a kart on a track in Moreland and New Pittsburg. Richmond grew up in a rich family, and at times was therefore treated differently by her classmates, so her parents enrolled her at the Miami Military Academy in Miami, Florida. During his years in Miami, Tim and his mother moved to Florida and his father lived in Ohio. While at home in Ohio during the summer vacation, he met local drummer Raymond Beadle through lifelong friend Fred Miller. When Richmond reached the age of 16, his parents bought him Pontiac Trans Am, a speedboat and a Piper Cherokee plane for his birthday. But her mother, Evelyn, is often worried about spoiling her only son. He once said, "Tim lazy...", and "... I do everything for him I destroy him, I admit it. He is my whole life."
Richmond excels in sports; he set a conference record in high hurdles and his football career in high school was good enough that the academy took off its sportswear after its field days ended. The Miami Military Academy named this Athlete of the Year in 1970. Richmond's other interests include flying, and he earned his personal pilot's license at the age of 16. After high school graduation, Richmond studied at Ashland University for about a year before dropping out of school.
Maps Tim Richmond
Racing career
Open wheel racing
A friend of Richmond's father participated in a sprint car and Richmond joined the team as a crew member for Dave Shoemaker. In 1976, 21-year-old Richmond took the car to Lakeville Speedway in Lakeville, Ohio for several rounds of practice. "Someone put a stopwatch for me," Richmond said. "I ran faster than Dave, this is my first time driving a race car." Richmond and his father found no car. 98 red, white, and blue in Pennsylvania, which is the same number and paint scheme used by Richmond for model cars as a child. In his first competition on the track, officials put Richmond in the heat at the latest. He passed several cars before turning and breaking the axle. Although he made several attempts to steer the car in the right direction, a broken axle prevents the car from driving straight. After being pulled into the pit, he parks the car for the rest of the show. Later that season, they pulled the car to Eldora Speedway, just to make Richmond crash again. In response, Richmond's father fired him as a driver. The following season, Al Richmond buys SuperModified which is more suited to his son's driving style. In 1977 the Richmond Team became Sandusky Speedway's Rookie of the Year and the SuperModified track class champion.
Richmond returned to sprint racing car on a US sprint car tour of the United States Automobile Club (USAC) in 1978. Competing in 12 races, he finished 30th place in points as Rookie of the Year series. That year he attended Jim Russell street racing school at Willow Springs International Motor Sports Park, setting a student course record. Richmond raced in Indy Mini 1978 at Phoenix International Raceway, winning the Formula Super Vee support show at Lola T620. The win drew sponsors and attention from the main owners such as Roger Penske. He also competed in the USAC Silver Crown series.
Richmond's father bought an Indy Car Eagle and an Offenhauser machine for the 1979 race at Michigan International Speedway. Richmond qualified into the 21 fastest with 175,768 mph (282,871 km/h) lap, much slower than Bobby Unser's 203,879 mph (328,111 km/h) pole position speed. The race ended for him when his bike exploded on the fourth lap, and he finished last (23). Owner Pat Santello was looking for a driver to replace Larry Rice for his CART team at the next race at Watkins Glen International, so he gave Richmond a test at Willow Springs Raceway where he had previously arranged student records. Santello hired Richmond, who then qualified the 15th fastest for the event and finished in eighth place, the best of his career at IndyCar. Richmond ran in three more events that season.
During the rehearsals for the 1980 Indianapolis 500, Richmond set the pace of unofficial practice fastest every month, even defeating the favorites of Johnny Rutherford's race at Chaparral Pride. His hope for the pole was broken by collision in the morning drills on the first day of qualifying. After the repair he qualified 19 for the race. He made it to the top 10 during the race, leading one lap, and finished ninth when he ran out of fuel at the end of the race. To please the crowd, the Rutherford winner gave him a ride back to the pits. He was named in the 1980 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. "I ruined some Indy cars right after that," he said. "Milwaukee, Mid-Ohio.Ã,.In Michigan I cut one out of two.I was afraid my racing career would stop, so when I got an offer to drive, I picked it up, and I like to ride them better."
NASCAR
Pocono Raceway President Joseph Mattioli III convinced Richmond to make changes to the stock car race on the NASCAR circuit. Richmond made his first NASCAR start two months after winning the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award. He debuted at Coca-Cola 500 at Pocono on July 27, 1980, completing the 12th position in Chevrolet's D. K. Ulrich. That season, he competed in five events, with two DNF (not completed) and three finish in 12th place. Overall, he finished the 80th season at number 41.
Richmond ran for three teams in 1981. He started the season by competing in 15 shows for Ulrich. He had his 10th best career, taking sixth place at Talladega Superspeedway, soon followed by a seventh-place finish at Texas World Speedway. After Kennie Childers hired him off Ulrich mid-season, Richmond had 10 finishes at Pocono and Bristol. For the last seven races of the season, he drove for Bob Rogers and completed the top 10 at Dover International Speedway. Overall for this season, Richmond has six top 10 finishes to put 16 in points in the season.
Richmond started in 1982 without a ride before getting a one-race deal to ride Mike Lovern's Fast Country Limited, Billie Harvey, on the Rockingham track. Richmond completed 112 laps of a 492-lap event to finish 31, stepping down from the race with a machine problem. For the following event, Richmond was hired to drive a No. 1 car. 2 belongs to J.D. Stacy. In his first race for the team, Richmond earned his first career in the top five when he was fifth in Darlington Raceway. Returning to Pocono, he finished second, before winning his first race on a pavement in Riverside, California the following week. Later that season, he earned his first pole position at Bristol. The tour returned to Riverside for the last race of the season as Richmond won its second race, sweeping both events on the track. Benny Parsons says that "watching Richmond through Esses is incredible". For this season, Richmond has twelve top 10, two wins, and one pole to finish 26 points.
In 1983, Richmond began a race for the Raymond Beadle he knew before he started the race. He returned to the triple Pocono horse race, winning his first oval victory. During the season, he collected four pole positions (Darlington, Pocono, Charlotte, and Atlanta), one victory (Pocono), and fifteen top 10s on his way to finish tenth in the season points. He made his first appearance in a series of NASCAR Busch Series (now Nationwide Series), but did not complete any of the three races he entered that season.
Esquire magazine named Richmond as one of the "best of the new generation" in 1984. That year he had one victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway and second place finished in Dover, Darlington and Riverside. Richmond finished the 1984 season 12 points, with 11 finish above 10 and six in the 5th. In 1985, the last season that Richmond competed for Beadle, his best finish was second place at Bristol. He ended the season 11 in points with 13 Top 10 in 28 races. In the Busch Series, he qualifies in pole position in the two races he enters, and wins the Charlotte race.
Richmond joined Hendrick Motorsports in 1986, where he teamed up with veteran crew chief Harry Hyde. It took the team until the middle of the season to gel. Richmond has suffered a 64-row victoryless series that was finally broken off at Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 at Pocono in June 1986. After the second two places finished at Charlotte and Riverside, Richmond started the Pocono event in third place in the second row.. The race saw a warning for rain with five laps remaining before the halfway point. NASCAR wanted the cars to get to the midpoint of making an official race, so the watchdog told the drivers to slowly circle the track. It took 26 minutes to complete the rounds, and the rain was so heavy that some drivers had to look out their side windows because they could not see out their windshield. Two hours later, the track was dry and the race continued with Richmond in third. After Richmond's car is set to release "push", the car is more in line with his wish. Because his radio is not working, he can not communicate with the crew chief, Hyde, and he makes his final pit stop with 37 laps left. Hyde worries that Richmond has stopped the lap too early to ensure that he will have enough fuel to reach the end. After Richmond took the lead with 30 laps left in the race, Dale Earnhardt made three seconds on a five-second advantage of Richmond. With four laps left, Buddy Arrington spun in a three-car crash. Lap remained from the race where it finished slowly under alert and Richmond picked up the checkered flag to triumph. He has led 97 laps, including 30 finals, earning his first win in a Rick Hendrick car.
The tour returned to Pocono a month later, and Richmond fought for another victory in a short fog event. In the last 8-lap sprint, Richmond competes in a three-car battle with Geoff Bodine and Ricky Rudd. Richmond crossed the finish line next to Rudd, winning the race with 0.05 seconds. He scored four more wins that season, and during the twelve races, Richmond earned three second places, and six wins. The National Motorsports Press Association named him Co-Driver of the Year with Earnhardt after Richmond collected 13 top 5 finishes and 16th in the top 10. He had the third best place in the points after winning seven events in 1986, in what was his last full NASCAR season.
Disease and death
Richmond got sick the day after NASCAR's 1986 annual party during a promotional trip to New York City. He was not good enough to start the 1987 NASCAR season despite the long hospital stay in Cleveland and further rest at home; when Richmond missed Daytona 500, his condition was reported as double pneumonia. The media later reported that he had tested positive for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). He returned to Pocono for the Miller 500 High Life during the middle of the year. Beginning third, he took the lead in the fifth lap and eventually led 82 laps, including 46 finals, to win the race with eight-long cars over Bill Elliott. In the middle of the race, Richmond car has gearbox problems. Since he can only use fourth (high) teeth, he must use the teeth to slowly get out of the pit. Richmond's emotion after victory, saying, "I shed tears when I picked up the checkered flag, and whenever someone congratulated me, I started crying again." Richmond won victory in the next race at Riverside, and made the year 1987 last start at the Champion Spark Plug 400 Michigan International Speedway in August, ending 29 with a blown engine. He resigned from Hendrick Motorsports in September 1987.
Although Richmond tried his comeback in 1988, NASCAR stopped him for testing positive for illicit substances. Substances are identified as Sudafed, an over-the-counter, nonprescription allergy drug, and Advil, an over-the-counter pain reliever. In April 1988, Richmond sued NASCAR for the suspension. Although he was tested that year and recovered, he could not find a car to drive. In his last public appearance in February 1988, Richmond denied that he abused drugs and said that mistakes had been made in drug tests. Her suit with NASCAR was settled out of court, the requirements sealed.
Richmond resigned to her condo in Florida. There was a rumor about HIV and AIDS, which he denies. He was later admitted to a hospital in West Palm Beach.
ESPN sent a quick-card to Richmond when it aired the July 1989 NASCAR race at Pocono. The television network showed the spotlight of Richmond's victory on the track starting in 1986. "The team has a great appearance in Hollywood and Tom Cruise's charisma," said his friend, Dr. Jerry Punch. "There he is on the winning track with the team around him and the beauty queen hanging around him It's important for the people in the hospital to see Tim as he really is, when he's healthy and handsome and vital, not like he sees him every day in hospital. "
On August 13, 1989, Richmond died at the age of 34, about two years after his last NASCAR race. She is buried in Ashland, Ohio.
Confidentiality surrounding the circumstances of his death led to speculation for several days. At the time, Punch stated that Richmond had been hospitalized due to a motorcycle accident, though it was unlikely that Richmond had the power to ride a motorcycle during his final months. Ten days after his death, on August 23, the Richmond family held a press conference to reveal that Richmond died of complications from AIDS, which he obtained from an unknown woman. Doctor Richmond, Dr. David Dodson, said: "There is no way to know who the woman is: The team is a celebrity with lots of charisma, a handsome man who naturally attracts many women. Punch later claimed that more than 90 drivers and personnel underwent HIV testing in the wake of Richmond's death.
Legacy
In 1990, a few months after Richmond's death, Washington's WJLA-TV television and reporter Roberta Baskin reported that Dr. Forest Tennant, who at the time was a National Football League drug advisor, "forged a drug test" that ultimately helped shorten the NASCAR Richmond career. Baskin reports that closed court documents and interviews show Tennant and NASCAR using "alleged fake drug test results in 1988 to ban Richmond from racing". Baskin also stated that NASCAR had targeted Richmond, asking Tennant to make a substance abuse policy with Richmond in mind. A series of drug and fake tests reporting positive results shortly before 1988 Daytona 500 made Richmond out of driving in what had become his last major race... ", the report said. The New York Times published the findings, while neither Tennant nor NASCAR gave an official response at the time, NASCAR actually confirmed that they were looking to replace Tennant.
The Ashland County Sports Hall of Fame inaugurated Richmond in their second class in 1996. In 1998, NASCAR called Richmond one of the top 50 racers of all time. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002. The Mansfield Motorsports Park ARCA Re/Max Series race in 2009 was named the Richmond Memorial ARCA Re/Max 250 team to honor the original area. The race at Mansfield was promoted jointly by Mattioli's son, Joseph Mattioli III.
The documentary film The Richmond Team: To The Limit was produced as part of the ESPN series 30 for 30 with the premiere date of October 19, 2010.
By 2018, Dalton Sargeant drives the No. 1 truck. 25 for GMS Racing in honor of Richmond.
Motorports career results
NASCAR
(lock) ( Bold Ã, - Pole position is given by qualifying time. Italics - Pole positions received by points standings or practice time. * Ã, - Most lead round. )
Winston Cup Series
Daytona 500
Busch Series
References
Further reading
- Poole, David. The Richmond Team: Fast Life and Exceptional Time from the NASCAR Top Guns Champaign, IL: Sports Publications, 2005. ISBNÃ, 978-1-58261-833-3
External links
- Richmond Team's Driver Statistics on Racing References
- The Richmond Team on IMDb
- The Richmond Team at Search Tomb
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments