When Tim Richmond was paid tribute by Barry Dodson months after his unfortunate passing

Veteran crew chief Barry Dodson once paid tribute to former Hendrick Motorsports driver Tim Richmond in a unique manner. It all happened during the 1989 NASCAR Awards banquet.

Richmond won 13 races throughout his career, among which nine came under the banner of the Chevy team. However, like every driver, his dream was to win the NASCAR Cup Series championship, then known as the Winston Cup Championship. He even got a tuxedo tailored which was to be worn if he ever won the ultimate honor.

Sadly, Richmond succumbed to AIDS in 1989, leaving his dream of winning a championship unfulfilled. That year, Rusty Wallace bagged the titular win following six victories throughout the season. Dodson, his crew chief, walked up to the podium wearing the same tuxedo that Richmond had saved for the special occasion if it were to happen someday.

Remembering the moment, Nascarman posted a video of Dodson wearing Richmond’s tux while delivering his speech at the 1989 NASCAR Awards ceremony, and wrote,

“On this date in 1989: The NASCAR awards banquet. Barry Dodson accepted his trophy as champion crew chief wearing a tuxedo that Tim Richmond had custom made in 1986 to be worn if he won the Cup championship. Barry's tribute was 3 months after Tim's passing.”

From 1980 to 1987, Richmond ran 185 races at NASCAR’s premier level. Besides his 13 wins, the Ashland native amassed 42 top-5s and 89 top-10s. Richmond was buried in Ashland County Memorial Park in his hometown of Ohio.

Veteran NASCAR ex-crew regards Tim Richmond as the most talented driver

Hendrick Motorsports has just released the seventh part of the 40-part series commemorating the 40 greatest wins in the team's history to round up their 40th anniversary season. And this one was about Tim Richmond, the NASCAR star gone too soon.

In a section of the story, Larry McReynolds, a renowned crew chief and a current NASCAR analyst for FOX, recalled himself working with the fallen legend back in 1981 and 1983. While doing so, McReynolds admitted that in 40 years of his career as a crew chief, he never came across a driver more talented than Tim Richmond.

“Honestly, I worked with a lot of talented race car drivers; Davey Allison, Dale Jarrett, Ernie Irvan and obviously, Dale Earnhardt, and I’ve watched a lot of talented drivers but there’s just no telling what Tim Richmond could’ve done," McReynolds told Hendrick Motorsports via a telephonic interview. “I don’t want to take anything away from Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon or anybody else, but I’m telling you, Tim Richmond had to be the most talented race car driver in terms of raw talent that I’ve ever seen in my entire racing career.”

Richmond’s racing prowess shone arguably the brightest at Pocono Raceway. His dominance at the “Tricky Triangle” began by winning a 1983 race for Blue Max Racing and then continued through 1986 and 1987, recording three more wins for Hendrick Motorsports.