Dead at 71.. apparent self inflicted gun shot wound.

 

Just heard the same news, saw him drive back in the day, another talent that left too soon.
Ron

 

I worked on a pit crew for one of the better Late Model Stock Cars out of Elko MN. between 1973-1980. Trickle and the Wisconsin boys would always show up for big money events. His 1000+ feature wins is absolutely the fact. When the Wisconsin teams showed up @ Elko they would have started somewhere in WI , on Thurs. Night. + Friday + Sat. Afternoon , and just in time to Qualify for Elko. They sometimes ran Sunday afternoons , and Sunday nights. It was Trickle , Tom Refner , Marv Marsofka , Larry Detjens,
always took home the money.
We could only run with them at Wisconsin Dells , a super fast high bank 3/8 mile. Dick was almost 50 when made the move to North Carolina. It is hard to imagine how difficult reinventing yourself had to be at that time.
I've never met a man that would run you cleaner or faster , and always bring his stuff back without destroying it. A rarity , and an example of why we miss THAT kind of racing. RIP indeed.

 

Sad news...