Dick Trickle

Race Car Driver. Born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin as Richard Trickle, but, fans and family alike knew him as Dick. The slight limp that Dick had came from a childhood injury. He was a normal 8 year old boy, he and his cousin were playing in rafters in a house and Dick fell two stories to the bottom breaking his hip. He was in a cast for years. A childhood friend took him to his first races at Crown Speedway in his hometown, from there he was hooked. His family lived on welfare, so there was no money available for racing. He spent his summers working for area farmers, starting as a thirteen year old. He also spent a lot of time at the Rudolph Blacksmith shop that his father was a partner in. While his father was ill and stayed in the hospital for long periods of time, his uncle Leonard ran the shop. At the young age of 16, Dick had it set in his mind he was going to drive a racecar. He had saved all of his money from working the farms and in the Blacksmith shop. That fall he collected his money and went down Main Street wheeling and dealing. He found and bought a 1950 Ford in good condition for $100. In 1961 he married his widow Darlene. Dick would go on to win more than 1,000 races across the United States and Canada - 67 features in 1972 alone and he claimed nine championships in the '70s and '80s on the regional ARTGO and American Speed Association tours. He also won top rookie honors in the United States Auto Club stock car division in 1968. Dick was the Winston Cup Series rookie of the year in 1989 but never won a Cup race in 303 starts. He won two Busch Series races. He was considered old school, a hard drinker though no one ever saw him drunk, a hard living and hard partying veteran that the fans and other drivers alike respected and loved. Dick was a chain smoker who even had a cigarette lighter installed in his race cars. Dick had chronic pain that he could no longer endure, he had seen many doctors, none of which could find the source of his pain. He ended his life at the same cemetery he and his granddaughter now rests in. He was 71 years old at the time of his death.