Tim Richmond

The Fast Life and Remarkable Times of NASCAR's Top Gun

By: David Poole

Narrated by: Christine Padovan

Tim Richmond was, fellow NASCAR driver Kyle Petty said, "a stranger in time." In one regard, the flashy, flamboyant driver from Ashland, Ohio, was years ahead of the trends in a sport that would soon enjoy explosive growth in popularity. Women who were NASCAR fans loved him - and so did their husbands and boyfriends.

Richmond believed he could use his stardom in racing as a springboard to a second career as an actor, and he had the Hollywood good looks to make that a realistic dream. At the same time, Richmond was also a throwback. He pushed his race cars hard, too hard at times, driving every lap like he was hauling moonshine through the mountains of the Carolinas with a revenuer on his rear bumper. Those who saw him drive still compare him to veterans like Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly, who ran as hard off the track as they did off of it.

In the early 1980s, however, Richmond stood out. He was not from the South; he had not grown up slinging a stock car through the dirt on red-clay ovals. He had, in fact, never raced at all until he was 21. And just 10 years later, after making a splash in the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie, he was emerging as one of the brightest stars and greatest talents in NASCAR's Winston Cup Series. Richmond's star was bright, but its light went out too soon.

As he neared stock car racing's zenith, Richmond's life took a tragic turn. A man who thrived on the affection he felt from those who enjoyed watching him compete spent his final months almost completely shut off from that world. Tim Richmond: The Fast Life and Remarkable Times of NASCAR's Top Gun tells the memorable story of a born racer and how he raced headlong through life with the throttle wide open and his wheels burning rubber at almost every turn.

©2005, 2012 David Poole (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Great story

Whoever is the narrator for this book should not ever narrate another thing. It was horrible. The book was awesome. I'm an English teacher and she pauses where she shouldn't and the sentences do not make sense. Then, she mispronounced several things and names.

Great story - As read by Siri!

Great story, Tims life story would make a great movie. I had to verify that the narrator was human after starting it however. She reads at the same cadence as Siri (maybe even worse), and puts the emphasis on the wrong syllables enough to make it quite annoying.

Excellent listen about one of the greatest

Great story of one of the greatest drivers NASCAR has ever known and one that lived life to the fullest and could always put smiles on peoples faces. Told by one of the best writers to cover the sport. Both of whom are greatly missed. Other than the butchering of many of the names by the narrator it was a great listen and you can still hear David Poole’s voice in the words.

great story, HORRIBLE narration

it's a shame. intriguing story, a brilliant driver. however, narration was so terrible, it made it hard to get through.

Narrator was awful

I picked this book because Im a Nascar fan. The writing is good, especially with a driver like Richmond who liked to live on the edge. But the narration was stiff and almost one step above virtual voice narration. Ruined what could have been an interesting book.