44 Facts About Dick Trickle

Richard Leroy Trickle was an American race car driver.

Dick Trickle raced for decades around the short tracks of Wisconsin, winning many championships along the way.

Dick Trickle competed in the ASA, ARTGO, ARCA, All Pro, IMCA, NASCAR, and USAC.

Dick Trickle was billed as the winningest short track driver in history.

Dick Trickle was nicknamed the "White Knight" as referenced by his sponsored SuperAmerica paint scheme, when he raced in Wisconsin.

Dick Trickle was transferred from a local hospital to the University of Wisconsin Hospital and continued his slow recovery.

Dick Trickle's recovery was so slow that the doctors gave up and sent him home, presuming that he would be an invalid for the rest of his life.

Dick Trickle later began to walk, although he walked with a slight limp for the rest of his life.

Dick Trickle spent three years in a cast from his waist to his foot.

Dick Trickle's nephew, Chris Trickle, was a race car driver before dying in a drive-by shooting.

Dick Trickle's family lived on welfare, so there was no money available for racing.

Dick Trickle spent his summers working for area farmers, starting as a 13-year-old.

Dick Trickle spent a lot of time at the Rudolph Blacksmith shop that his father was a partner in.

Dick Trickle started out as the slowest car in a 100-car field at a Stratford, Wisconsin short track race.

Dick Trickle raced that car at the end of the 1958 season and throughout the 1959 season, after which time he built a 1956 Ford into a race car using all of the knowledge that he had acquired.

Dick Trickle's competitors checked the rules and found out that Trickle was too young to race, even though he had already raced there for two years.

Dick Trickle had to race at other tracks for a year until he was old enough to race at his hometown track.

Dick Trickle raced for several years before deciding to race full-time.

Dick Trickle had been uncomfortable climbing telephone poles as he was afraid of heights.

Dick Trickle transferred to a different part of the company.

Dick Trickle raced at over 100 events each year for over 15 years.

Dick Trickle was racing at the Tomah-Sparta Speedway when Francis Kelly noticed that Trickle was always in contention for winning the races, but he lost a lot of them because he had an inferior motor.

Dick Trickle suggested that Alan Kulwicki's father Jerry Kulwicki, who was building motors for Norm Nelson's USAC stock cars, should build the engine.

Dick Trickle toured on the Central Wisconsin Racing Association tracks in 1971.

Dick Trickle held the track record at six tracks: Adams-Friendship, Capitol, Wausau, Wisconsin Dells, and La Crosse.

Dick Trickle raced at the newly opened third mile Wisconsin Dells Speedway on Saturday nights.

Dick Trickle started his 1972 season by winning at Golden Sands Speedway near Wisconsin Rapids.

Dick Trickle became the winningest short track driver that year when he won his 67th race.

Dick Trickle won numerous special events outside of Wisconsin in 1973, including a 200-lap feature at Rolla, Missouri in April, followed by winning a 50-lap feature the following day at I-70 Speedway near Odessa, Missouri.

Dick Trickle used his purple 1970 Ford Mustang to win at the Minnesota Fair and at Rockford Speedway in September.

Dick Trickle started racing out of state a lot more in 1983.

Dick Trickle skipped the following week, and returned the week after to lose to Steve Burgess.

Dick Trickle did not win as much at State Park, but he did win the track championship.

Dick Trickle won ASA races at Coeburn, Virginia and Cayuga, Ontario in 1984, as well as the Red, White, and Blue state championship series at WIR and the Slinger Nationals at Slinger.

Dick Trickle raced in United States Automobile Club stock cars in 1968, and he won the series' rookie of the year award.

Dick Trickle was rookie of the year in NASCAR's Winston Cup Series at age 48, becoming the oldest driver in Winston Cup history to do so.

Dick Trickle started 303 races, with 15 top five and 36 top ten finishes.

Dick Trickle won his only career Cup pole, at Dover Downs International Speedway.

Dick Trickle was widely noted for having drilled a hole in his safety helmet so that he could smoke while racing, and for installing cigarette lighters in his race cars.

Dick Trickle even made fun of his lack of success in NASCAR's top-level series in a 1997 TV commercial for NAPA Auto Parts.

Dick Trickle raced in the Busch Series, where he won two races.

Dick Trickle had 158 career starts, with 24 top five and 42 top ten finishes.

Dick Trickle served as the de facto grand marshal of the Slinger Nationals after he retired until his death.

Dick Trickle died May 16,2013, from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.