Richmond was always a threat to win at Pocono

Tim Richmond's career in NASCAR was like a shooting star -- as acquired immune deficiency syndrome took his life much too early -- but no where did Richmond shine brighter than at Pocono Raceway.

From his NASCAR debut, which came just two months after winning rookie of the year honors in the 1980 Indianapolis 500, to his triumphant return to the sport following the diagnosis that he had Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Pocono seemed to play a central role of Richmond.

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Much has been made of the recent trend of open-wheel drivers heading for stock cars, but Richmond was a pioneer in that respect. Starting at the relatively late age of 21, Richmond drove USAC sprint cars before getting his chance to run at Indy. He started 19th after crashing on pole day, and worked his way into the top 10 -- even leading a lap -- before running out of fuel at the end of the race. He wound up riding back to Gasoline Alley on the sidepod of winner Johnny Rutherford, to the delight of the massive crowd.

Pocono founder and president Dr. Joesph Mattioli convinced Richmond to give NASCAR to try -- and he seemed to be a natural at it, finishing 12th in a D.K. Ulrich-owned Chevrolet in his first try.

Richmond finished second at Pocono in a J.D. Stacy entry in 1982, then after a pair of road-course victories at Riverside, earned his first win on an oval at the triangle-shaped track the next season.

But it was a three-race stretch at Pocono, beginning with the 1986 Miller High Life 500, that Richmond and Pocono would be forever linked.

A day after his 31st birthday, Richmond snapped a 64-race winless streak by surviving nine cautions and a nearly two-hour rain delay to hold off a charging Dale Earnhardt, partially thanks to a three-car accident with four laps to go that ended the race under yellow.

Earnhardt was able to shave five seconds off Richmond's advantage and was only two seconds behind when Buddy Arrington spun and was tagged by the cars of Morgan Shepherd and Harry Gant.

"I don't know whether I could have caught him or not," Earnhardt said. "My brakes didn't look too good and I was being careful with them. After we made the last pit stop, I tried to put some pressure on him. But I guess it wasn't enough."

Richmond, who led 97 laps -- including the final 30 -- was overjoyed to win for the first time in a Rick Hendrick car.

"I felt like we could hold him off," Richmond said. "And when that yellow [flag] came out, I knew we had it.

"It's just a big, big relief. We've been trying and trying and we've been so close. That's a long time when you're as competitive as I am. I kind of feed off these checkered flags."

Richmond almost never got the chance, as a heavy rain pelted the track on Lap 95 and NASCAR officials chose to run five laps under caution in an effort to get to the halfway mark. It took 26 minutes for the cars to slowly circle the track, with some drivers sticking their heads out of the side windows in an effort to see.

"It was really something," Richmond said. "I was running third [behind Geoffrey Bodine and Earnhardt] and I lost sight of the pace car. I didn't want to speed up and have the pace car wind up in my grill, but I really couldn't see where I was going."

But the sun broke through the clouds, helped dry the track, and with a few changes, Richmond's car responded.

"The car was pushing before the rain," he said. "Fortunately for us, we got to run again. We made a few changes and the car was excellent the rest of the way."

From that point on, the only concern was whether Richmond would have enough fuel to go the distance. Because of radio issues, he pitted one lap too early, leaving crew chief Harry Hyde worried that the car might not be able to go the final 37 laps. (Continued)