Pontiac hat signed by Tim Richmond
 

In 1984 a friend wanted to go to the spring Nascar race at North Wilkesboro that Tim Richmond happened to win. After the race, we were able to get into RJR's booth and Richmond came to visit the booth since he was the winner. Everyone got him to sign something and since he drove a Pontiac, I had him sign my hat. I have had this on a shelf in my closet every since and recently thought I should put it somewhere more appropriate.

It was hard to get a good picture of the autograph with a flash. It is faded some but can be seen pretty well. Since I have 2 of these hats, I have not worn this one since.

In the early 80's, Pontiac (the zone I believe) looked for some of the older cars to come for parade laps at Nascar races. I was able to do this once at Rockingham and once at Martinsville. Pontiac came out in force then and gave us each one of these hats.

Anyone else have one of these hats?

I have saw them back in his years, Tim was A great driver, I had a vhr tape wher he was at a bar singing with girles all over him.

I caught the last 15 minutes of the ESPN 30 for 30 " Tim Richmond To the Limit". It was really good and answered a lot of questions I had.

If anyone knows when it will re-air please post. If you are a NASCAR fan as far back as the 80's it is very good TV.

Speaking of Hats. I had Earnhardt sign a hat at Atlanta just 3 mos before his Death. I caught him walking up to his Condo between turns 3 and 4. It was kind of odd. He signed every letter on top of the last.

I wish I could find that Road America program signed by Donahue. He was driving the Pontiac TA back then.

He used to stop in at Middleburg Steak House over the NC line off I85 in his travels.

A group of us used to eat, drink there quite a bit in early days (before marriage) and one local guy who owned a large business knew him pretty well.
This was a relaxed place where you could brown bag.

He would pull up a chair and have a grand time. Larger than life man, who loved to party. Always dressed really nice too.

We saw him there the last time before his death when he was had started looking sick and wondered if it was "bad news".

Nascar tried to throw that under the rug. Banned him early in his diagnosis. I remeber then. Tried to say it was drugs. Could been an all time great. But hookers with aids ended his career. :(

He loved the women.

When he signed, was his pecker hangin' out?

If Richmond had been able to control himself a little better and stay healthy, I believe he would have taken a couple of Earnhardt's championships, but that is all just a guess now.

He said that he was sliding a lot near the end of the race and was just glad he made it to the end without crashing.

There were no cameras so I guess that is why he kept everything zipped up...............

He had great potential, other than racing. They were looking at him for movie roles, iirc.
He had that magic personality.

Ive got some stuff his crew gave us all one stop, unless my wife threw it away. Shirt, Hat, some PR pics/.

That was a Great Poster! Imagine one of todays stars doing that.

Cool hat! Tim would have done well if his he had stayed healthy. The way NASCAR handled it sucked. He deserved better treatment from them, instead of being railroaded out.
I've gotten some stuff signed by drivers over the years, but my favorite is a post card from the Daytona Beach Ramada Inn. In July of '92 my family and I stayed there and had the room above Davey Allison's. He had won the Feb. '92 race and was there with his wife, two small children and the baby sitter.
He spent lots of time on the beach with his family, and I didn't dare interrupt them. When I saw him lounging by the pool later I asked that he autograph the Ramada Inn-Daytona post card I had gotten in the gift shop. He was my wife's favorite driver and she was dying to have his autograph, but was too embarrassed to ask.
I apologized for interrupting him, and he was very gracious about it. I thanked him and wished him good luck in the July 4th 400.
He died a year later.

You are right KEN, But that was when we all knowed very little about aids. Nascar knowed that he was sick with all the cough that he had, But it was all new to them also.

Found it.....

Tim Richmond: To the Limit by Rory Karpf

Sunday Nov 14

5pm(EST) / 2pm(PST)

ESPN Classic