Richmond was always a threat to win at Pocono (cont'd)

"Our radios were not working right," Hyde said. "We could hear Tim but he couldn't hear us. We had the gas planned for 36 laps, but he came in a lap early and that meant he had to go one more than we wanted.

"He came on the radio [about 12 laps from the end] and said to raise the [pit] sign if I wanted him to conserve fuel. I waved it up and down like crazy and he feathered the engine down and used some slower traffic to draft a little. I think he would still have made it if it had stayed green."

But Richmond never had any doubts.

"I knew we'd make it," he added. "It was our day."

Weather again played a factor when the series returned to Pocono one month later. Fog delayed the start of the race for more than 90 minutes, and then forced NASCAR officials to shorten the event to 150 laps.

And even though Richmond lost a lap after getting caught up in an accident with Richard Petty late in the race, he battled back to be in contention for what turned out to be a wild eight-lap sprint to the finish with Geoffrey Bodine and Ricky Rudd.

Bodine was leading Richmond and Rudd when the trio took the white flag for the final circuit.

"I passed [Bodine] on the inside going into Turn 1, and then I went into the Tunnel Turn a little too high and had to do everything I could to keep the car together," Richmond said.

"I went low into Turn 3, and we brushed sheet metal. My car stuck, and I got on the throttle a little quicker than Geoff. I knew I was running Geoff, but then as we got to the start-finish line, I looked over to the left, and there was Ricky. He really surprised me."

The two crossed the line side-by-side, with Richmond beating Rudd by .05 seconds in the gathering darkness. Bodine wound up a close third.

"It was a real barn-burner," Richmond said. "I've been wondering when I'd be in one of those typical NASCAR finishes everyone talks about. I guess this was it."

Bodine had no problem with the bumping duel on the final lap.

"As far as anybody leaning too hard on each other, it was just good, hard racing," he said. "I just got outpowered to the finish line."

Richmond would add four more victories to his total to finish out the 1986 season, but when the series returned to Daytona the next spring, Richmond wasn't there. The official word was that he was undergoing treatment for double pneumonia -- but later, it would be revealed that he had tested positive for HIV.

So few people knew what to expect when Richmond returned to the driver's seat for the 1987 Miller High Life 500 at Pocono. But it was almost as if he never skipped beat. Starting third, he took the lead from Terry Labonte on Lap 5, and led 82 laps on his way to the win.

He led the final 46 laps and beat Bill Elliott by eight car-lengths.

"Everything just went off like clockwork," Richmond said. "It was just like the last four or six months that I was out didn't happen.

"I didn't know I'd ever have a chance to drive a racecar again."

But things weren't all smooth sailing for Richmond. His car began to have gearbox problems midway through the race and he ran the rest of the way with just fourth gear, limping in and out of the pits for service. He took over the lead from Dale Earnhardt on Lap 154 but the Intimidator stayed right in Richmond's tire tracks, hoping for one more opportunity to return the favor.

A final caution seemed to set up for a classic duel between Richmond and Earnhardt over the final seven laps, but the No. 3 Chevrolet ran over some debris on the track, forcing the Intimidator to pit to replace the right-front tire. Earnhardt finished fifth.

"I was right where I wanted to be," Earnhardt said. "I felt the right front going flat. It was all I could do to survive."

Richmond was emotional following his victory.

"I had tears in my eyes when I took the checkered flag," he said. "Then every time anyone congratulated me, I started bawling again.

"It's not every day I cry on the last lap."

Richmond would win again the following weekend at Riverside, but the effects of AIDS were already taking its toll on his body. He made his final Cup start at Michigan in August, finishing 29th. A short-lived comeback effort in 1988 was thwarted when Richmond was suspended by NASCAR for testing positive for a "banned substance."

Richmond died of complications from AIDS on Aug. 13, 1989, nearly two years to the day of his final race.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer