I came home from school today and received some of the worst news in a while. I found out that we lost one of the greats of short track racing and NASCAR, Dick Trickle. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 71. But I don't want to remember him that way. I want to remember him for the great things he did for the sport. He was one of those men that you always remembered for doing something extraordinary. He won over 1,200 feature events in his short track racing career, which gives him the designation of the winningest short track driver in history. He took these credentials to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series. In the Winston Cup Series, he was unable to win a race, but he grabbed fifteen career top 5's and thirty-six career top 10's. He also won the NASCAR Rookie of the Year award in 1989 at the age of 47, making him the oldest to pull off the feat. In the NASCAR Busch Series, he was able to win two races and capture twenty-four top 5's along with forty-two top 10's. He was mostly known for his antics in the race car. He was allowed by NASCAR to install cigarette lighters in his car and a hole in his helmet so that he could smoke during caution flags. He was a class act that created a lot of good times for the drivers in all the series. I did not have the pleasure to watch him race live, but I have seen some of his races and feel that he would have been one of my favorites. I still feel his impact on the sport and wish that he was still here. Rest in peace, Dick Trickle, and you will never be forgotten.
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