In late July 1989, ESPN paid tribute to Tim Richmond as he lay dying in a Fort Lauderdale hospital. Stricken with AIDS and before the advent of YouTube, this was a way for the hospital staff to see Tim as a vibrant athlete full of life. His former crew chiefs Barry Dodson and Harry Hyde pay their respects to Tim. Richmond passed away three weeks later.
To explain his hospitalization, they mention a motorcycle crash Tim had in the spring of 1989 in which he suffered a concussion. "He couldn't get it cranked," fiend Bob Jones said. "He thought he'd try a tow and had a friend of his pull him with a cable," Jones said. "He didn't put a helmet on because he didn't intend to be riding the motorcycle." The clutch on the motorcycle popped as the car lurched forward, pitching Richmond onto the pavement. "He smacked his head on the street."
