Cool, Great, And Crazy Racing Stories

[Ingomike]

Dad and Dick Trickle were good friends. They had far more in common than many people could ever imagine (besides the smoking). I just bought a set of signed Dick Trickle gloves that have the thumb and forefinger cut off for holding a cigarette. First piece of memorabilia I’ve ever purchased outside the family. Read this article and you’ll understand why it meant so much to me to buy them. It’s the single best piece of motorsports journalism I’ve ever read. I tried to read it to our mom and dad down at Dale Hollow one weekend and several times I said to dad “that’s you…”. Had to hand my phone to our mom because I couldn’t finish it:

The good times and hard life of Dick Trickle

The elegy of a chain smoking, beer drinking, stock car racing legend who took his own life two months ago.

www.sbnation.com

Great article…

 

[BigRed]

Dad and Dick Trickle were good friends. They had far more in common than many people could ever imagine (besides the smoking). I just bought a set of signed Dick Trickle gloves that have the thumb and forefinger cut off for holding a cigarette. First piece of memorabilia I’ve ever purchased outside the family. Read this article and you’ll understand why it meant so much to me to buy them. It’s the single best piece of motorsports journalism I’ve ever read. I tried to read it to our mom and dad down at Dale Hollow one weekend and several times I said to dad “that’s you…”. Had to hand my phone to our mom because I couldn’t finish it:

The good times and hard life of Dick Trickle

The elegy of a chain smoking, beer drinking, stock car racing legend who took his own life two months ago.

www.sbnation.com

Wow... sad story

 

[tbhausen]

Dick was a good man. I think the article was a great tribute to him. Hard to read in places, but a great tribute.

 

[Ingomike]

Cool story of a wrecked pace car and life. Some of you likely know the players…

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Cage Campus is a collection of dynamic properties for entrepreneurs and businesses, located in Fishers, Indiana. Our mission is to provide today’s entrepreneurs with spaces and amenities that foster innovation, creativity and health.

www.cagecampus.com

 

[tbhausen]

Sure do!

 

[Ingomike]

I asked the mods to change the title to better reflect all the great stories being shared here. The new title is:

Cool, Great, And Crazy Racing Stories​

 

[DCR]

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this story, but here's how I heard it.
Apparently Curtis Turner was responsible for producing the car template inspection due to cutting a Chevelle in half lengthwise and welding it back together. After setting a qualifying record he was asked to appear in tech inspection where they tore his car apart looking for violations, including removing his gas tank. While Curtis fumed the whole time. WHen they were done, with parts laying around, he was told he had 12 violations. He climbed into the car, started it, and drove away, yelling "13" !

 

[tbhausen]

I swear, our phones listen to us. Look what showed up in my YouTube suggestions. If you liked the Dick Trickle stories, this is a real treat:

 

[Ingomike]

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Finds Rare Photo Of His Dad: 'He Was Flat Brok

Rare photo of Dale Earnhardt shows the Intimidator was a NASCAR legend before anyone ever knew his name.

www.outkick.com

 

[BigRed]

Cool story of a wrecked pace car and life. Some of you likely know the players…

Dynamic Properties for Entrepreneurs and Businesses

Cage Campus is a collection of dynamic properties for entrepreneurs and businesses, located in Fishers, Indiana. Our mission is to provide today’s entrepreneurs with spaces and amenities that foster innovation, creativity and health.

www.cagecampus.com

Meh.... could be worse.....

 

[thunderchicken]

Meh.... could be worse.....

I remember those events of 1992. That's the only time I have ever been to the 500. Man, it was almost brutally cold for the end of May. I recall we were all bundled up in winter coats and mom was wrapped in a blanket. I can remember during some pre race ceremonies, there were some very light snow flurries. Of all things, my brother was on crutches too. I was just 13 at the time. I remember we were seated about 50yds north of the flag stand in the main grandstand in the 5th row from the bottom. Seems the speculation was because of how cold the track temperature was that may have contributed to the issues. I also seem to recall as a result, I think they added some additional parade laps to try to get more heat in the tires before increasing speeds.
Was also the closest finish in history with Al Under Jr beating Scott Goodyear.

 

[tbhausen]

I remember those events of 1992. That's the only time I have ever been to the 500. Man, it was almost brutally cold for the end of May. I recall we were all bundled up in winter coats and mom was wrapped in a blanket. I can remember during some pre race ceremonies, there were some very light snow flurries. Of all things, my brother was on crutches too. I was just 13 at the time. I remember we were seated about 50yds north of the flag stand in the main grandstand in the 5th row from the bottom. Seems the speculation was because of how cold the track temperature was that may have contributed to the issues. I also seem to recall as a result, I think they added some additional parade laps to try to get more heat in the tires before increasing speeds.
Was also the closest finish in history with Al Under Jr beating Scott Goodyear.

What a day that was. I remember it well. Dad could have easily beaten both little Al and Goodyear had he not gotten tied up in Jeff Andretti‘s crash. They kept bringing him in at the end of every yellow to top him off with fuel, and he was very unhappy to be dodging all the crashes. There’s a YouTube compilation of all the crashes in that race and it’s unbelievable how much debris he dodges before he finally gets swept up in one of them. I was screaming at my scanner “Just don’t come in! Just don’t come in!” every time the yellow came out. He was running sixth at the time of the crash after having unlapped himself after an engine stall in the pit area. When he unlapped himself, he was the fastest car on the track. The crowd was roaring every time he passed as he streaked away from the leaders. That day is every bit as much “the one that got away” as 1972 was. No one would’ve beaten Michael Andretti, but he was in the right place if not for Jeff’s crash.

 

[thunderchicken]

What a day that was. I remember it well. Dad could have easily beaten both little Al and Goodyear had he not gotten tied up in Jeff Andretti‘s crash. They kept bringing him in at the end of every yellow to top him off with fuel, and he was very unhappy to be dodging all the crashes. There’s a YouTube compilation of all the crashes in that race and it’s unbelievable how much debris he dodges before he finally gets swept up in one of them. I was screaming at my scanner “Just don’t come in! Just don’t come in!” every time the yellow came out. He was running sixth at the time of the crash after having unlapped himself after an engine stall in the pit area. When he unlapped himself, he was the fastest car on the track. The crowd was roaring every time he passed as he streaked away from the leaders. That day is every bit as much “the one that got away” as 1972 was. No one would’ve beaten Michael Andretti, but he was in the right place if not for Jeff’s crash.

It was a crazy crash filled race. But, a good race too. I was really rooting for Michael Andretti but what a kick to the gut feeling it had to be when his fuel pump quit working.

As I said it's the only time I've been to the 500, but it was history in the making. My dad came home from that race and recorded the tape delay airing of it on VHS. Only other time I was at the track for anything 500 related was practice and qualifying the day A.J. Foyt turned some laps, came in the pits and announced his retirement.

 

[tbhausen]

Yeah, Robby Gordon kept trying to knock the wall down coming off of turn one in Foyt’s other car.

 

[JCSR]

I have a pretty cool motocross story from fall 1976. At that time I was racing local races and one of my favorite tracks was Mitchell Indiana.
It was a long flowing track with a 5th gear start into a 180* tight first turn.
At this particular race the 125 Expert class (my class) was loaded with well over 80 bikes.
Only 40 bikes started the A main. I had waded my way through the heats and got a mid 20's starting spot with the big boys in the A main .
I was riding my Suzuki RM125 with the cylinder ported to the gills. I was a fast bike!
We lined up and the gate fell and I jumped off to a good start. After clicking up into 5th gear I couldn't see another bike in my sight.
It's a very eerie sound when everyone chops the throttle and starts to brake for the first turn. It's a silence like no other I can remember.
But this time there was no silence. I could hear one bike with the throttle still pegged.
As rolled off the brakes and dipped the bike into the apex I was t-boned as hard as I ever had been by a red Honda that never let off for some reason. As I was picking myself up and trying my limbs and looking for my bike I saw a familiar face picking the Honda.
I rejoined the race dazed and dead last but I noticed the Honda vanished after a couple of turns.
Ok I told you all this to tell you that the Honda rider was National Amateur 125cc Champion Mark Barnett.
He took the time after winning the moto ( I finished mid-pack) to come over and apologize and to make sure I was ok. Him and his Dad were great people and always spoke to me when we crossed paths.

I didn't give him the nickname " The Bomber " but I found it very fitting.
https://www.vintagemx.net/mark-barnett/

 

[greg]

Them RM’s was ahead of the times back then!

 

[JCSR]

Them RM’s was ahead of the times back then!

Yes and I needed all the help I could get!

 

[tbhausen]

Cool… I used to literally run to the mailbox every month to get Dirt Bike and MXA magazines.