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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400

    From the unique race command from Muppet star Gonzo to Denny Hamlin’s pre-race trip to the hospital for a sinus infection and vision problems, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, California.

    Surprising:  There are not many drivers who, after winning a thrilling race in green-white-checkered fashion, can combine ‘Days of Thunder’ with faith-filled references right out of ‘Talladega Nights’. But Kyle Busch surprisingly managed to pull it all together in his Victory Lane remarks.

    “Man oh man.  The first thing that comes to mind when the caution came out with just a few laps to go — that was total Rowdy Burns ‘Days of Thunder’ right there,” the driver of the No. 18 No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry said. “There’s a couple laps to go — I’m not pitting.”

    “Everybody has to pit, Cole (Trickle), we’re coming down for four tires because there’s a green-white-checkered coming,” Busch continued. “I knew four tires was going to win the race, so I’m glad Dave (Rogers, crew chief) called that.”

    “I was able to keep Kyle Larson behind me. Man, what a shoe that boy is,” Busch continued. “If he drove it in further than I did, Jesus must have told him to stop.”

    “I just can’t believe it.  I thank the Lord for putting ourselves here and getting us locked in the Chase.”

    This was Busch’s 29th win in 334 Cup races but his first victory of the 2014 season. This was his third victory and 12th top-10 finish at Auto Club Speedway.

    Not Surprising:  What double file restarts and shortening up the length of the race has done for Pocono Raceway, the rough, aged racing surface with multiple grooves and huge bumps has done the same, if not more, for Auto Club Speedway.

    In fact, it seemed like just a few years ago when the track was criticized for boring racing and the grandstands were empty. This Cup race yielded some of the most exciting racing to date, with six and seven cars abreast, in front of a packed house, most of whom barely sat down for the entirety of the show.

    Surprising:  Kyle Larson went from thinking he was pretty much going to have a tough day to finishing as the highest running rookie, in P2 no less. This stellar finish came on the heels of his Nationwide victory over none other than Cup race winner Kyle Busch.

    “I thought we were in trouble or not be able to get to the front,” the driver of the No. 42 said after the race. “I don’t know where everybody went on that last restart.”

    “It went through my mind then that I might sweep the weekend,” Larson continued. “That last run, we got good enough to charge to the front. What a weekend.”

    Not Surprising:  Sam Hornish’s new mantra should be ‘have helmet, will drive.’ Originally, the currently unspoken for driver was on standby to drive for Matt Kenseth in the event that his wife Katie went into labor with their third child.

    In the end, however, Hornish ended up substitute driving for Denny Hamlin, finishing a respectable 17th in the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota. This was his best finish since his 13th place run in 2012 at Martinsville.

    Surprising:  The normally cool, calm and collected Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion, had some surprisingly harsh words for competitor No 33 car driver Brian Scott after their accident brought out the fourth caution of the race.

    “The 33 was obviously a dart without feathers and coming across the race track,” Almirola said. “Man, he came from all the way at the bottom of the race track and ran into me.”

    “He’s not even racing this series for points,” Almirola continued. “He’s out there having fun because his daddy gets to pay for it and he wrecked us.”

    Not Surprising:  After tires blew out in practice as well as the race, the debate not surprisingly was on as far as what exactly led to so many tire issues, especially in the left rear.

    Brad Keselowski, a driver that suffered particular tire problems in practice and the race, weighed in after the race to share his perspective.

    “There were a lot of reasons why we blew a tire today or two or five over the weekend and the field did,’’ Keselowski said after finishing 26th. “I don’t know what to really say about it. As a driver you are left between the choice of driving your car to the limit and blowing a tire out or being a wuss and saving it.”

    NASCAR’s most popular driver weighed in with a whole different take on the tire situation.

    “I don’t think there is anything wrong with the tire OR the way we choose 2 use them,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted after the race. “My bet is it’s the bumps on the backstretch.”

    “Those are more like jumps and ramps.”

    NASCAR representative Vice President for Competition Robin Pemberton shared the more official perspective, saying that some teams were running tires with air pressures as low as 14 pounds, whereas Goodyear had commended tire pressures at 22 pounds for the race weekend.

    And finally, Goodyear, echoing Pemberton’s assessment, advised that the problems were not tire-related but more team-related due to the very aggressive set ups.

    “Every left-side tire that we’ve seen gone down or had issues with is kind of the same characteristics as (Saturday),’’ Greg Stucker, Director of Race Tire Sales for Goodyear, said.  “The common denominator being aggressive on air pressure.”

    “You’re in race conditions, so everybody is running a little bit harder.”

    Surprising:  For the second straight race, NASCAR official human error came into play. This weekend, a NASCAR official actually got his uniform stuck in the fence and he literally could not move to flip the pit road light switch to green.

    Because of this error, Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer did not pit because there was a red light instead of a green light.

    All three drivers went on to suffer less than ideal finishes, with Jeff Gordon finishing the best of the bunch in 13th, Bowyer in 16th and Keselowski in 26th.

    “We can’t seem to catch a break,” Bowyer said. “We lead for a while, we came back after confusion with the lights on pit road and were in contention to win at the end.”

    “However, we started feeling a vibration with about four to go and it just didn’t make it,” Bowyer continued. “It just stinks for this team.”

    Not Surprising:   Bosses sometimes do influence the workplace even at the track. One of NASCAR’s most notable bosses, team owner Rick Hendrick, played the encourager role with driver Jeff Gordon, who started from the back not once but twice, passing at least 70 plus cars.

    Kurt Busch, who finished third, was also quite emotional about racing with his boss Tony Stewart. “The amount of emotions running well today and we were face and then to race your boss for the win,” Busch said. “Neither one of us got the win but it was a genuine moment for us to race.”

    The Cup Series heads next to Martinsville Speedway for the STP 500.

     

     

  • Reaction to NASCAR Legend Dick Trickle Death Complicated by Suicide

    Reaction to NASCAR Legend Dick Trickle Death Complicated by Suicide

    While any death is tragic, especially when it is unexpected, reactions are even more complicated when the person takes his own life. This was definitely demonstrated after the NASCAR family learned of Dick Trickle’s death of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in a local cemetery.

    As a NASCAR fan and citizen journalist, as well as a mental health professional, I was most interested to see how the NASCAR community would react on learning this news. And as the story has unfolded, the reactions did indeed mirror those that are normal when learning of a death by suicide.

    When news of Trickle’s suicide first broke, there was the most normal initial reaction of shock. Most expressed that they could not understand how someone with Trickle’s apparent love of life could turn around and end his own.

    “He had a special personality,” Mark Martin, veteran NASCAR Cup Series driver, said. “He was tough, but he was fun.”

    “He was just a very unique person,” Martin continued. “He was doing it his way.”

    Jimmie Johnson, five-time NASCAR champ, also expressed his feelings on Trickle’s death in much the same way as his colleague Mark Martin. While Johnson had never raced with Trickle, he had gotten to know Trickle while racing in the IROC Series.

    “I’m shocked and saddened by it,” Johnson said. “His stories were legendary.”

    NASCAR racer and now television analyst Rusty Wallace described it best.

    “I am in 100 percent shock,” Wallace said on learning the news of Trickle’s suicide. “Dick Trickle was my mentor.”

    “He was a legend,” Wallace continued. “He was a role model to many short track racers coming up.”

    Geoff Bodine, another veteran racer of the genre of Trickle, was also shocked by his passing at his own hand.

    “He was fun. Just plain fun,” Bodine said. “People everywhere knew his name.”

    “That’s why they used his likeness in the movie ‘Days of Thunder’ with Tom Cruise portraying a driver named Cole Trickle,” Bodine continued. “He was such a character.”

    There was also a real sense in the NASCAR community after the news broke of responsibility and even some guilt. Many of those calling in to Sirius XM NASCAR Channel 90 wondered why they did not see the signs and why they had not reached out to Trickle sooner in the hopes that the suicide could have been prevented.

    “It’s crazy surprising news,” Matt Kenseth, NASCAR champion and fellow Wisconsin native to Trickle, said. “I don’t really know all the circumstances.”

    “I’m still in shock,” Kenseth continued. “I don’t really get it.”

    In addition to that wondering and guilt about being able to step in and stop the suicide, anger is also a very normal reaction when someone has taken their life, especially someone so vibrant and colorful.

    “I know one thing: next time I see him I’m going to slap him,” Butch Fedewa, who raced against Trickle in the 1960s said. “I had just talked to him a few weeks ago.”

    “He wasn’t a coward,” Fedewa continued. “I don’t understand it. I don’t.”

    “But he had to have a reason.”

    Unlike many suicides, where the reason is never known to those left behind, the motive for Dick Trickle’s suicide has been made public. This may assist those in the NASCAR community to understand Trickle’s taking of his own life, however, still does not totally ease the pain of the manner in which he died.

    Trickle shot himself in the Forest Lawn Cemetery, the same cemetery where his granddaughter was buried, in Boger City, North Carolina. Police revealed a note was found with the body and the audio from the 911 call that Trickle placed himself said “There’s going to be a dead body. Suicide. I’m the one.”

    When emergency responders went to the scene after being unable to reach Trickle, they did indeed find his body lying next to his 1993 Ford pickup in the cemetery.

    Chuck Trickle shared after the suicide became public that his brother Dick had been having chest pain that no doctor seemed to be able to diagnose or ease. In fact, Trickle had just been to the local hospital at Duke University for testing to try to identify the cause of the pain, which he described as being under his left breast.

    “He was very down,” Chuck Trickle said, sharing some insight into the why of his brother’s suicide. “He more or less said he didn’t know how much longer he could take the pain.”

    “He must have just decided that the pain was too high, because he would have never done it for any other reason.”

    “I thought about it pretty hard last night,” former Sprint Cup crew chief and now television analyst Ray Evernham, said. “The only thing you can say is Trickle lived on his own terms and died on his terms, and that’s the only sense I can make of it.”

    “He raced the way he wanted to race,” Evernham continued. “He came up with that one hour sleep rule for every hundred miles he raced.”

    “He partied hard and he raced hard,” Evernham said. “He didn’t conform.”

    “That’s helping me try to make sense of it in my mind.”

    Perhaps the biggest reaction in the garage, especially now that the potential cause for Trickle’s suicide is somewhat explained, is that of loss and sadness for Trickle’s passing and his legacy and meaning to the sport of racing.

    Not only was Trickle a character of the largest proportions, he was also an outstanding short track racer, winning around 1,200 feature races throughout his time on the track. He had 303 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series from 1989-1998 and also had two NASCAR Nationwide Series wins under his belt.

    “The era of stock car racing up in that area really died with him,” Matt Kenseth said of his fellow Wisconsin racer. “He had a unique way of looking at things, a ton of common sense and he was really smart.”

    “He was a very talented racer,” Jimmy Fennig, Trickle’s former crew chief, said. “The one thing about Dick, he built his own cars, he knew his cars inside and out.”

    “He was fantastic.”

    “A guy like Trickle and Richie Evans (another modified racer great), they wanted to race on their own terms and they raced a lot,” Ray Evernham said. “I’m glad that there are some guys like that.”

    “You don’t have to be Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt or Jeff Gordon to be a racing legend,” Evernham continued. “Those guys, Trickle and Evans, are racing legends too.”

    Reigning champ Brad Keselowski also paid tribute to the late Dick Trickle.

    “He was ‘the guy’ during the great short-track era,” Keselowski said. “His loss, in some ways, is a symbol of the end of that era.”

    “That’s very sad to see.”

    The NASCAR community will no doubt continue to remember and mourn the passing of Dick Trickle throughout the All-Star race weekend. One of the most touching tributes has been Dick Trickle’s name over the door of All-Star pole sitter Carl Edwards, particularly with Jimmy Fennig, Trickle’s former crew chief, now on the box for Edwards.

    Trickle’s obituary best sums up his life, as well as his death at his own hands, as follows. Rest in peace now Dick Trickle.

    Richard Trickle (October 27, 1941-May 16, 2013)

    Richard “Dick” Trickle, age 71, of Iron Station, NC died of a self inflicted gunshot. He had been suffering for some time with severe chronic pain, had seen many doctors, none of which could find the source of his pain. His family as well as those who knew him, find his death very hard to accept, and though we will hurt from losing him for some time, he’s no longer suffering and we take comfort knowing he’s with his very special angel.

    He is survived by his wife Darlene (McMahon) Trickle, three children Victoria Bowman (John), Tod Trickle, and Chad Trickle (Shannon), and 3 grandchildren, Lucas Bowman, Courtney Trickle and Carlee Trickle. He lost his oldest grandchild Nicole Bowman in a tragic car accident nearly 12 years ago. He was the son of the late Leo and Lauretta Trickle and is survived by his brothers Duaine Trickle, Charles Trickle and sisters Delores Iwanski and Susan Trickle.

    Dick’s passion in life was his racing. He touched many lives throughout his career, provided memories for many that will last a lifetime. Many thought when he retired he would continue as a car owner, but he was a driver at heart, he wanted to be behind the wheel and be in control of his destiny. We believe he felt himself no longer able to be behind that wheel of life or be the man he only knew how to be because of the pain and suffering.

    “His passion was racing but his love was his family. This is a very difficult time for the family, they hope everyone will understand and respect their wishes to have private services for his funeral. They appreciate all the calls, messages, and letters of support, but at this time need to be together as a family.

    There have been requests for where to send flowers, in lieu of flowers the family has asked that a donation be made in Memory of Dick to: Victory Junction, 4500 Adams Way, Randleman, NC  27317. They thank you for all your love, thoughts and prayers.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Good Sam 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Talladega Good Sam 500

    [media-credit name=”Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”230″][/media-credit]With Chase race four at Talladega delivering on its reputation as the ‘wild card’ and ‘game changer’ in the championship battle, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 44th running of the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500.

    Surprising:  Manhandling a very free race car and making a miracle save or two did not prevent this driver from being the loneliest, but no doubt happiest, man at Talladega Super Speedway. Matt Kenseth survived the last lap ‘big one’ to score his first ever win at the track.

    Kenseth, in a very pink No. 17 Ford EcoBoost/National Breast Cancer Foundation Ford, notched his 23rd victory in 466 Cup races. This was his second win and 17th top-10 finish for the 2012 season.

    Kenseth’s spotter Mike Calinoff described his driver’s lonely but lucky status best with his radio call on the final lap of the race.

    “They’re wrecking behind you,” Calinoff said. “The whole field is wrecking.”

    “There isn’t anyone who isn’t wrecked.”

    “I looked behind me and saw nothing,” Kenseth said, echoing his spotter’s words. “Being in front of it all was the best place to be.”

    Not Surprising:  Although making the Chase, albeit barely, and admittedly not having the best of racing luck with him for much of the season, this driver was thrilled that things finally went his way at unpredictable ‘Dega.

    “For a change, I finally came out on the good side of it,” Jeff Gordon, who finished second in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, said. “I really have no idea how we all made it to the white flag because it was three, four wide.”

    “I got hit by the No. 18 and somehow that turned me down on the apron and I just put it back to the floor and drove by every car.”

    “I came out of that second behind the No. 17,” Gordon said. “That is like a win.”

    This was Gordon’s 19th top-10 finish in 40 races at Talladega and his 15th top-10 finish for the season.

    Surprising:  It was a surprisingly humble and contrite Tony Stewart that greeted the media after causing the twenty-four car pileup and flipping end over end in his own No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet amidst the melee.

    “I just screwed up,” Smoke said. “I turned down across, I think it was Michael (Waltrip) and crashed the whole field.”

    “It was my fault blocking to try to stay where I was at,” Stewart continued. “So, I take 100% of the blame.”

    Not Surprising:  Not surprisingly, the theme for the day for the point’s leader Brad Keselowski was simple. He just wanted to survive Talladega and come out intact on the other end.

    Keselowski, in his now familiar Blue Deuce, did indeed survive, finishing seventh in spite of being caught in the pile up. He now has a 14 points advantage over second place Chase contender Jimmie Johnson.

    “We were four-wide for about two and a half straight laps and it was just a matter of time before you are wrecked,” Keselowski said. “It happens but that’s just Talladega.”

    “That’s pretty big,’ Keselowski said of his points lead. “I just feel lucky to survive Talladega.”

    Keselowski was so happy to have survived that he tweeted the following entrepreneurial thought after the race.

    “Someone needs to make a t-shirt that says, “I survived Talladega,” @keselowski said. “Guaranteed at least 43 customers.”

    Surprising:  NASCAR’s biggest loser at Talladega was surprisingly one of Dega’s darlings, as well as fan favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr.  The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Paint 88/National Guard Chevrolet finished a disappointing 20th, dropping four positions in the Chase standings to 11th, all as a result of the ‘big one.’

    And even more surprising, NASCAR’s most popular driver had some pretty harsh words to share after the race, particularly for the style of racing at Talladega and the longevity of the sport in light of it.

    “Yeah, I took a lot of hard shots,” Junior said. “If this is what we did every week, I wouldn’t be doing it.”

    “I would find another job.”

    “The way we are going ain’t the right direction,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I don’t care what anybody says for the good of the sport; I mean it’s good for the here and now and it will get people talking today, but for the long run that is not going to help the sport the way that race ended and the way the racing is.”

    “It’s not going to be productive for years to come.”

    Not Surprising:   With over half the field involved in the last lap crash, it was not surprising that several drivers, including some of the Chase contenders, were a bit confused as to where exactly they finished. There was so much confusion that crew chiefs gathered around the NASCAR hauler to see indeed where their driver ended up officially.

    “Everybody just merged together and we were all in a big wad at that point,” Jimmie Johnson, piloting the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, said. “Fortunately my car I could still drive to the finish so I passed a couple of guys that were sitting there on the bottom trying to get going themselves.”

    “I guess I finished 17th,” Johnson said. “I don’t know.”

    Teammate Kasey Kahne, in the No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet, also was a bit confused as to his finishing spot.

    “You are kind of along for the ride once it starts,” Kahne said. “We ended up making it back to the line; a few cars passed us so we might be a little better than 13th.

    Finally, Richard Petty Motorsports driver Marcos Ambrose, piloting the No. 9 DeWalt Ford, was confused but willing to forget about it in the end.

    “We had a strong day,” Ambrose said. “I thought I missed the wreck but at least I didn’t cause it.”

    “I have no idea where I finished, but we’ll just go on to the next one and forget about this.”

    Johnson did indeed finish 17th as he predicted, Kahne finished 12th, a bit better than he thought, and Ambrose ended up in 27th, a finish he most likely will want to forget.

    Surprising:  Kyle Busch became a surprisingly ‘lucky dog’ at Talladega. The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota was not only the official ‘lucky dog’, getting his lap back after a speeding penalty, but was also a ‘lucky dog’ in navigating his way through the major 24 car pile up to finish third.

    “Our day was pretty good,” Busch said. “I got busted for speeding, so that was my fault and we had to battle through that.”

    “That was probably one of the most tense parts of the race for me was having to race for the ‘lucky dog’ to get back on the lead lap.”

    “But all in all, our guys had some good pit stops and we gained some spots,” Busch continued. “I’m just glad and thankful that I was able to get through with no damage and make it through unscathed.”

    Not Surprising: The two drivers who will apparently swap their rides for the next race, with Kurt Busch going to the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team and Regan Smith taking over the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet, had polar opposite finishes to their last race in their former rides.

    Regan Smith ended his tenure at Furniture Row with a 5th place finish, his best ever at a restrictor plate track, while Kurt Busch finished 39th after being parked by NASCAR for not heeding their command to stop his race car after his wreck.

    “This is the way my life works,” Kurt Busch said. “I am leading, I wreck, I run out of gas and now I’m in trouble.”

    “This year has been a great year to test me in every way.”

    “What a wild ending,” Smith said. “We restarted the green-white checkered in 28th, picked up a bunch of spots on the first lap and then came the wreck.”

    “Somehow I was able to drive it to the checkered flag with a fifth-place finish.”

    Surprising:  Rather than having a ‘Talladega Nights’ flashback, Greg Biffle was having another movie moment instead.

    “It was like Days of Thunder, coming through the smoke and the grass,” the driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion said. “A car flew over the top of my car as I turned to the bottom and missed guys by three inches.”

    “It was the craziest thing I’ve ever been involved in in my life.”

    Biffle had his own crazy moment in the race, making an amazing save after being turned sideways in the draft. He finished the race in sixth, gaining two positions in the point standings to ninth.

    Not Surprising:  The difficult season for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing continued in agonizing style at Talladega for both of their drivers. Jamie McMurray, former Daytona 500 winner and driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Allstate Chevrolet, finished 34th after leading 38 laps of the race.

    Teammate Juan Pablo Montoya finished 38th in his No. 42 Target/Gillette Chevrolet after an engine failure on lap 156.

    “We were running right up there in the lead pack the majority of the day and then something happened to the motor,” JPM said. “The car started smoking and I felt like it was going to let go at any minute.”

    “We just can’t catch a break.”

    “The Bass Pro Shops Chevy ran great all day,” McMurray said. “It was great to get back up there and lead some laps.”

    “I wish the outcome had turned out differently,” McMurray continued. “The guys did a great job and I felt like we had the car to beat.”