Waid’s World: The Glen 1986, a Historic Race Won by NASCAR’s Charismatic Young Driver

When it was first announced that NASCAR would stage a NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International in Upstate New York, it was only natural that the hardcore fanbase and press corps responded with, shall we say, extreme disapproval.

After all, the bulk of NASCAR competition was played out south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Sure, there were major races held on superspeedways near Jackson, Mich., and Pocono, Pa., but they were exceptions.

Events held at such outposts as Ontario, Calif., and College Station, Texas, had gone the way of the Dodo, so it didn’t seem practical for the sanctioning body to once again venture into unfamiliar territory.

What was worse, Watkins Glen was a 2.428-mile road course, for crying out loud. Sure, there had been many such facilities in NASCAR’s past — one of which, Riverside International in California, had been part of the schedule for years.

But by 1986, it was all but assured Riverside was headed for the graveyard, a victim of commercial and residential expansion.

Since most of NASCAR’s southern faithful had only heard of Riverside and had never been there, few tears were shed.

I reasoned that the coming loss of Riverside was the main reason NASCAR adopted Watkins Glen. After all, if it could keep a road course race on the full Cup schedule, why not do so?

I was only partly correct.

After negotiations, NASCAR determined that The Glen had the suitable facilities and amenities to stage a Cup event.

But, more importantly, it had a notoriety and wealth of tradition unmatched by many speedways. It was, unknown to most at the time, also a part of NASCAR’s past.

Just nine years after its birth in 1948, NASCAR ran a Cup race at Watkins Glen.

It was held in August 1957 and covered 44 laps. Buck Baker won it in a ’57 Chevrolet.

But afterward, NASCAR disappeared likely because, in its pioneer days, the sanctioning body filled its schedule of 50 or so races by competing on almost any track it could secure.

That included speedways of any shape or size — short track, big track, road course — at any city or hamlet that would cooperate.

This is probably the reason NASCAR returned in 1964. In July, Billy Wade won a 66-lap affair driving the No. 1 Mercury for Bud Moore.

It came back in 1965, when Marvin Panch drove a Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford to victory in another 66-lap race, which, incidentally, was the 35th race of a gargantuan 55-race season.

It would be 21 years before NASCAR returned.

Appropriately, its race, called the Budweiser at the Glen, was won by the season’s hottest, flashiest, most charismatic and controversial driver.

Those of us among the media who made the journey to Watkins Glen were treated to a vintage track nestled among a lush, green setting in New York’s Finger Lakes region. Forests seemed to be everywhere, surrounded by the Allegheny Mountains and nearby Seneca Lake.

The track hadn’t been dormant since NASCAR’s last appearance. Hardly. Among many other things, for years (1961-80). It had been home to Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix, which meant it hosted some of the world’s greatest drivers. Whoever won the Budweiser at the Glen was going to join some elite company, indeed.

However, a history of another sort was made just one night before the race.

Budweiser and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. sponsored a press party held at the Corning Glassware Museum located in the city of Corning, which served as media headquarters for the race.

The museum was fascinating. It featured glass of all types and sizes used for everything from scientific and technical purposes to artwork. It also featured a small stage backed by a motion picture screen.

My friend Tom Higgins of the Charlotte Observer stood in front of that screen. He had been told to do so because the party was going to evolve into a celebration of his 50th birthday.

On cue, three women emerged from the back of the room. Donned in gray wigs and hobbling on walkers, they were called “Higgins’ Harem.”

But no one knew if he saw them. He was gone from the stage. He had disappeared.

There was a six-foot gash in the movie screen. Turns out Higgins was taken by surprise by his “harem,” took a step backward and fell off the stage through the screen.

“I always wanted to be a smash on the silver screen, but this isn’t what I had in mind,” he said.

That screen was worth considerably more than a white sheet. Budweiser and Reynolds paid $5,000 each to replace it.

As for the race, the outcome was predictable after Tim Richmond, driving for the powerhouse, multicar Hendrick Motorsports team, won the pole.

Sure enough, the 31-year-old driver from Ashland, Ohio, won the race to continue a remarkable competitive streak he had created in 1986.

His victory at The Glen was his fourth in the last six races. Over the last eight events, he won four times and finished second on three more occasions. Only once, the May 25 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, had he wound up outside the top two, a 15th at Michigan International Speedway.

The race wasn’t really much of a contest. Richmond led several times and took the lead for good on lap 79 of 90 when he shot past Darrell Waltrip in Junior Johnson’s No. 11 Chevrolet. He was never challenged thereafter and won by 1.45 seconds.

“This is a historic track, and I’m glad to win NASCAR’s return event,” Richmond said. “I am especially proud to be on the roster of winners here. As for the hot streak, well, I don’t know. I can’t take all the credit for it. That belongs to Harry Hyde (crew chief) and the crew. They are responsible for it.”

That might have been the case, but it was Richmond who captured the attention of the fans, with whom he had become extremely popular.

Movie star handsome, dashing, outgoing and witty, Richmond entered NASCAR full time in 1982, and by ’86 he had won four times and become a fan magnet. Blessed with natural driving talent, Richmond was considered the competitor who would lure the coveted 18-30 year-old audience into NASCAR.

After 1986, that seemed to be a certainty. Following Watkins Glen, Richmond won three more times, including in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and on the road course at Riverside. He finished a career-high third in points behind champion Dale Earnhardt.

However, Richmond was always the subject of innuendo and rumors, largely due to his playboy lifestyle. Everything intensified after the 1986 season, particularly when it was learned Richmond had visited the Cleveland Clinic.

Whatever his illness, it kept him away from NASCAR (which wasn’t eager to welcome him back) until the June 14, 1987, event at Pocono Raceway, which he won dramatically. He followed that up with another win at Michigan. He was in tears in both victory lanes.

Turns out Michigan was his 13th and last career victory. He entered only eight races in ’87 before he withdrew from NASCAR forever.

Richmond died on Aug. 13, 1989, due to complications from AIDS.

His short, tragic career and life have been a well-chronicled — and oft-told — addition to NASCAR history.

It’s worth remembering that by winning in 1986 at The Glen, his name is on a list that, unlike many others, includes some of the world’s best.