Ex-Racer Tim Richmond Dies in Florida at Age 34

Tim Richmond, a former Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year whose subsequent stock car racing career was cut short by controversy and illness nearly two years ago, is dead at age 34.

Richmond died Sunday with his parents at his side in Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach, his physician, David Dodson, said Tuesday.

Dodson, citing the wishes of the family and medical confidentiality, declined to give the cause of death or talk about Richmond’s medical condition.

He declined to say where or when a funeral would be held.

Richmond led the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit with seven victories in 1986 before contracting what he said was pneumonia a year later.

His career ended when NASCAR suspended him before the 1988 season-opening Daytona 500 for failing a drug test showing excessive amounts of two non-prescription drugs found in over-the-counter remedies for allergies and respiratory conditions. He passed a subsequent test, was reinstated, but failed to get a ride.

Richmond, who lived in semi-seclusion in south Florida, had been hospitalized recently for injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident, friend and former physician Jerry Punch said Monday.

Richmond drove Indy cars and was the Indy 500 rookie of the year in 1980 before switching to stock cars. He had 13 career victories, including two immediately after returning from a layoff due to illness in 1987. After six more starts that year he quit again, citing his health.

He sued the stock car sanctioning body in April, 1988, for suspending him after a drug test. An out-of-court settlement was reached later that year.

The Ashland, Ohio, native vehemently denied rumors of drug use in his last public appearance, at a news conference at Daytona Beach, Fla., in February, 1988.

“Pseudoephedrine . . . was deemed to render Richmond hazardous in a race car,” the sanctioning body said in a statement attributed to its drug adviser, Dr. Forest S. Tennant. “The measured amount indicated a dosage five to 20 times the normal amount.”

However, a negative test on Feb. 6 resulted in reinstatement of Richmond’s NASCAR license. He said he was on medication for a cold and a severe sinus problem.