Tim Richmond: To the Limit (19 Oct. 2010)

Natural. Rock star. Outsider. In the 1980s, race car driver Tim Richmond lived his life the way he raced cars - wide open. Born into a wealthy family, Richmond was the antithesis of the ... See full summary »

Director:

Rory Karpf

Stars:

A.J. Foyt, Bill France Jr., Rick Hendrick

Cast

Episode credited cast:
A.J. Foyt	...	Himself
Bill France Jr.	...	Himself (archive footage)
Rick Hendrick	...	Himself
Ed Hinton	...	Himself
Harry Hyde	...	Himself (archive footage)
Ted Koppel	...	Himself (archive footage)
Greg Louganis	...	Himself
Hal Needham	...	Himself
Kyle Petty	...	Himself
Richard Petty	...	Himself
Jerry Punch	...	Himself (as Dr. Jerry Punch)
Dan Rather	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tim Richmond	...	Himself (archive footage)
Morley Safer	...	Himself (archive footage)
Darrell Waltrip	...	Himself

Storyline

Natural. Rock star. Outsider. In the 1980s, race car driver Tim Richmond lived his life the way he raced cars - wide open. Born into a wealthy family, Richmond was the antithesis of the Southern, blue-collar, dirt-track racers who dominated NASCAR. He also was a flamboyant showman who basked in the attention of the media and fans - especially the attention of female admirers. Nevertheless, it was Richmond's on-track performances that ended up drawing comparisons to racing legends. And in 1986, when he won seven NASCAR races and finished third in the Winston Cup series points race, some believed he was on the verge of stardom. But soon his freewheeling lifestyle caught up to him. He unexpectedly withdrew from the NASCAR racing circuit, reportedly suffering from double pneumonia. In reality, the diagnosis was much more dire: He had AIDS. Richmond returned to the track in 1987, but he was gone from the sport by the next year as his health deteriorated. He spent his final days as a ...

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Plot Keywords:

nascar | auto racing

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Genres:

Sport

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Details

Release Date:

19 October 2010 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

NASCAR Media Group

User Reviews

Very, very sad.

This episode of "30 for 30" is one of the sadder ones you can see. You might even want to keep some Kleenex handy! It's the story of Tim Richmond--a NASCAR driver who you might have never heard of, as he died more than two decades ago. What makes this unusual? Well, he was at the top of the game AND he died from AIDS--something that really scared folks back in the 1980s. And, sadly, like most celebrities who died from AIDS during the era, no one talked about it--and folks denied the disease. In fact, while the people interviewed today all seem to have come to terms with HIV/AIDS, a few still seemed to be possibly in some denial--and maybe the film is as well, since they never really discussed how Richmond contracted the disease--and one guy said what a great eligible bachelor he was. Since there was no evidence of drug abuse (and normally using needles would have been detected and destroyed his ability to compete) or blood transfusions, Tim's sex life was oddly ignored. Gay, straight or bisexual--it's odd this wasn't mentioned. However, despite this odd omission, a very compelling episode--one that is sure to impact you.