The Lincoln County (NC) Sheriff’s Office has confirmed
that former NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year Dick Trickle died
today from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.The incident occurred at 12:02 p.m. at Forest Lawn Cemetery on Highway 150 East in Boger City.
The Lincoln County Communications Center received a call apparently from the victim that “there would be a dead body and it would be his “. Communications Center workers tried to place a return call to the number but did not get an answer.
The first emergency units arriving on the scene located the body lying near the victim’s pickup truck.
Born October 27, 1941 raced for decades around the short tracks of Wisconsin and the midwest, winning an estimated 1,000 races and innumerable championships on the ASA, ARTGO, ARCA, All Pro, IMCA, NASCAR, and USAC circuits. Almost unquestionably the winningest short track racer of his – or any other – time, his finest season came in 1972 when he won an amazing 67 main event features.
He won seven championships
in nine years on the tough ARTGO Series between 1979 to 1987 and won
consecutive ASA titles in 1984 and 1985. He was USAC’s Stock Car rookie of the
year in 1967, became the old Rookie of the Year in NASCAR Winston Cup Series
history, claiming that title in 1989 at age 50.
Trickle had lived in Lincoln County, NC since the early
1990’s. He was 71 years old.
How sad. He was without a doubt a great racer. Watched him many times.
ReplyDeleteRest in peace. you will always be remembered.
ReplyDeleteThat sucks in every way. RIP Dick
ReplyDeletewow...well he did it his way....but such a great loss
DeleteI remember my dad telling me when he term ill with cancer if I start to lose my mind put me in my car and let it take me to the track in the sky..... I was gonna bury him in it...but the cost was too much ..
SO sad death is bad /but to take his own life .He must have had alot on his mind /or depressed/so many people are depressed and ashamed of it or just do not want to talk about it .GOD BLESS HIS FAMILY
ReplyDeleteWhile at Dover Speedway I let Dave Marcus ahead of so he could use the bathroom. after he went in Dick Trickle came up and started to shake it almost turning it over. When Marcus came out he was ready to kick some butt. I put my hands up and pointed to Trickle. He knew the deal.
ReplyDeletesad
ReplyDeleteMy prayers are with Dick and most of all his family. I’m sorry Dick choose to end his life in the manor his did, as a disable Vietnam Veteran I know that Dick was the only one who know what was on his mind. God Bless you Dick.
ReplyDeleteAfter Vietnam I ended up in Toledo, OH. It was always fun to watch Dick race he took no prisoners in 72’
Such a sad loss. I had the chance to watch him and meet him many years ago. He was a master at what he did. Racers like him may never come along again.
ReplyDeleteTo the ultimate Winner
ReplyDeleteMay you rest in peace
Hate to see it happen this way. He went out on his own terms, and I wouldn't expect anything else from Trickle. Just hate it for his family. The Man, The Myth, The Legend.
ReplyDeleteI am deeply shocked and saddened by this news. When I began watching NASCAR, Dick was driving the Gold Miller Buick. I remember a story I read in Stock Car Racing Magazine about him that still makes me smile. Dick attended qualifying for a race on the then Winston Cup Series. He was carrying a black briefcase. This made everyone else nervous...what was in the case? Someone had to ask, and with that gruff matter-of-fact voice, he said "Cracker Jack's" I can't believe he's gone. One of my favourites, regardless of where he was racing. My thoughts and prayers to his family. I am still in shock...
ReplyDeleteHe Started It!
ReplyDeleteI’ve gotten hooked on NASCAR. Most everybody who knows me, knows that. What they don’t know is where it started.
After getting disgusted with Major League Baseball when they took away my World Series in 1994, I just sort of floundered around in sports. My husband and my son had been into various kinds of car racing. and we sometimes watched NASCAR on week-ends. I picked up a few things I thought were interesting.
There was this name of a driver… Dick Trickle. Seriously….his name was Dick Trickle. Being the degenerate I am and always will be, I found this hilariously funny. So I looked closely at Dick Trickle. Dick Trickle (his real name, by the way) was a legend. He was known to be a good driver, a good story teller, and a real hard partier. Well… If a sport has someone like Dick Trickle…maybe I should listen some more? I did and I got hooked.
Along the way, while become enamored with drivers like Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, and Matt Kenseth, I would still hear the history of Dick Trickle. He broke his hip at age 8, doing something stupid, and spent 3 years in a cast. I heard that at one time in his career, he actually installed a cigarette lighter in his race car. During caution periods he would have a smoke. At age 48, in 1989, he was the Rookie of the Year in the Winston Cup Series. My kind of guy.
Sadly, today, Dick Trickle decided to leave this world. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 71. There’s talk of a serious illness he didn’t talk about. There’s talk of all kinds of things that don’t really matter. What matters is the amount of fun he packed into his life.
So…you never know what will have an effect on you in this life. A guy with a funny name and a terrific personality can send someone into an area of fantastic fun that they never knew existed.
RIP Dick and thanks for the new passion.
Nancy Kastle
5/16/13
RIP Dick, I have him to thank for my intrest in racing as my father took me to watch him in the late 60's at Golden Sands Speedway in Wisconsin Rapids, WI. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
ReplyDeleteJim Walsh