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.

"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