*** R.I.P. - Richard "Dick" Trickle ***
 

The world of NASCAR has lost one of its own (and a source of juvenile humor) today.

Former NASCAR driver Richard 'Dick' Trickle dies of apparent self-inflicted wound - NASCAR News | FOX Sports on MSN

May he rest in peace, now that he's free of the demons that drove him to this end.

:sad:

He was a competitive driver into his sixties. Also a heavy smoker who lit up on yellow flags. (was that his real name?)

RIP Dick Trickle.

He was from the mid years of NASCAR, a time when I still followed them.

RIP to the greatest name in all of sports.

yep gotta agree with ya there!

why would a 71 year old kill themselves?

Interesting question GT! Why would anyone kill themselves?

I saw a graph one time in a seminar, that showed crime rates by age. It was quite amazing to me at the time. It showed very high crime rate for people in their late teens through mid twenties and then went down from there and then started rising again at about the age of 65. I have always thought this to be quite interesting. The only explanation that ever made sense to me was, that as folks age, they require more medicine and many have money problems as they get into their retirement age.

BTW, I seemed to remember that he went by the name "Cole" Trickle when he was racing, but I may have him confused with someone else. He was not exactly a consistent top ten or top five racer.

:laughing: I have to laugh at myself! I just googled Cole Trickle, and that was the character name of Tom Cruises character in the Days of Thunder movie. :laughing:

From the google though, I saw that Dick Trickle was suffering serious chronic pain. That is probably the explanation.

A good article:

Dick Trickle was in constant pain before apparent suicide, brother says | Las Vegas ***************

RIP, Dick. The smoking during caution laps is legendary. He was so successful racing the short tracks of the midwest that he didn't join the (then) Winston Cup until he was in his late 40's when he won Rookie of the Year in '89. Back then, unless you were a top driver, there was more money in winning the local/regional races than in the Big Show.

Depression? Terminal illness and suffering? Financial problems along with one or more of the other reasons?

Depression? Terminal illness and suffering? Financial problems along with one or more of the other reasons?