Undoubtably you've heard that former Nascar driver (and all-time short-track legend) Dick Trickle passed away yesterday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It seems that Dick had been suffering from chronic pain lately, and while suicide is never the preferable outcome, we can only hope that Dick has reached some point of peace. A few stray thoughts on the life and career of Dick Trickle:
--I met Dick once, in the Dover garage (thanks Dad!) when he was running part-time for Dave Marcis' old team. I was watching him work with his bare-bones team--they were all dressed in short-sleeve button-down uniforms, like you'd see in an auto-body shop. Eventually, Dick noticed me and simply said, "Can I help you?" He then gladly signed an autograph and (if I remember correctly) posed for a picture.
--Dick's nephew Chris was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting outside of Las Vegas. The crime, despite being featured on America's Most Wanted, has not been solved to this day. An intriguing footnote was that Chris Trickle was replaced in his short-track car by a then-unknown Las Vegas native, Kurt Busch.
--The video below remains one of my favorite Nascar commercials of all-time. Besides showing a time when Napa would do commercials without Michael Waltrip, it shows a legendary driver who has no problem poking fun at himself. And the closing line makes me chuckle every time.