Grave of Dick Trickle

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Richard Leroy Trickle or as we will call him Dick was born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.

Eight-year-old Dick was playing tag with his cousin Verlon on the rafters in a house under construction when he fell two floors to the basement and broke his hip. He was transferred from a local hospital to the University of Wisconsin Hospital and continued his slow recovery. His 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. Trickle later began to walk, although he walked with a slight limp for the rest of his life. He spent three years in a cast from his waist to his foot.

While he was recovering as a nine-year-old, a friend took him to his first races at Crown Speedway in his hometown of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. "When I got there I was flabbergasted," Trickle said. "I thought it was the neatest thing. Free shows were nothing compared to it. That race never left my mind until I was 16. I knew I was going to drive a race car when I was 16.”

Trickle's family lived on welfare, so there was no money available for racing. Trickle spent his summers working for area farmers, starting as a 13-year-old. He also spent a lot of time at the Rudolph Blacksmith shop that his father was a partner in.

"I worked part time at the shop to earn a nickel or dime," Trickle said. "At that age, it was mostly sweeping the shop, but I started to play with the welder and soon I could make an arc and then weld. I started junking machinery. I save some things getting a head start for when I would go racing at 16. I didn't have any money, but I had this pile of stuff to build a race car with. It was a hope chest.”

"When I turned 16, I let the farmer I was working for keep most the money I earned until fall. That fall I collected my money and went down Main Street wheeling and dealing. I finally bought a 1950 Ford in good condition for $100. It was going to be my street car, but the urge to race got too strong and I cut up and made a stock car out of it.”

A turning point in Trickle's career happened at the National Short Track Championship race at Rockford Speedway in 1966. Trickle said, "The cars in that area were fancier and looked like they were ahead of us. They didn't treat us bad, but they sort of giggled at us kids with the rat cars. After two days, they look differently at those rat cars. I won and pocketed $1,645. Before, I questioned spending the money to travel that far. But if you could win, that was a different story.”

In 1989, Trickle made his full schedule debut driving the No. 84 Miller High Life Buick for Stavola Brothers Racing. He was rookie of the year in NASCAR's Winston Cup Series at age 48 (and a grandfather), becoming the oldest driver in Winston Cup history to do so. After being given the rookie of the year trophy at the NASCAR awards banquet, he quipped "I guess I’d just like to thank everyone who gave a young guy like me a chance”. His best career Winston Cup finish was third (five times). He started 303 races, with 15 top five and 36 top ten finishes.

He was also 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. Trickle was allowed by NASCAR to smoke in the race car during yellow flag periods, and in the 1990 Winston 500 (now the Aaron's 499), Trickle was seen on live television by the in-car camera lighting up and smoking a cigarette.

Trickle died May 16, 2013, from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Lincoln County Communications Center received a call, apparently from the victim, saying that "there's going to be a dead body. Suicide." When the 911 operator asked who was about to commit suicide, Trickle responded: "I'm the one.” Police attempted to call his phone back, but there was no response. Trickle was found dead beside his pickup truck.