Loveable losers: Trickle’s label doesn’t bother him

Thursday, Feb. 26, 1998 | 1:30 a.m.

He has never visited Victory Lane in a NASCAR Winston Cup points race in 254 starts and he has driven for 20 different car owners since 1970. But Dick Trickle may be the only driver every race fan will be pulling for when the green flag drops on Sunday's Las Vegas 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The legendary Midwest short-track racer who has gained somewhat of a cult following on the NASCAR circuit (thanks largely to weekly mentions of his finish on ESPN's SportsCenter), is one of a handful of Winston Cup's "Lovable Losers" -- drivers who have been around for years without ever winning a race.

That label, however, doesn't grate on the down-to-earth Trickle, who won the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award in 1989 at age 48 -- in fact, he even pocked fun at himself in a television commercial last year.

"It doesn't really bother me at all because I've won well over a thousand (short-track) races and I know that you single-handedly can't go win these races -- it takes a team," Trickle said.

"I feel that I've got the ability driving the car but it takes so much more than that."

Throughout his 20-year Winston Cup career that began in 1970 when he took his own car to the Daytona 500, Trickle never has been able to hook up with one of the front-line race teams.

"I've kind of struggled in my Winston Cup career here because it's so hard to get a good supporting cast to be a star," Trickle said, not feeling sorry for himself. "I've be-bopped with a lot of different teams and I probably haven't been able to get the team that I should have gotten through the years.

"The teams have struggled and, of course, the driver struggles. It's a deal where I've been here, there and everywhere and bounced back every time."

Trickle said one reason he has never landed a ride with one of the top Winston Cup teams has been his age. Even though he had nine top-10 showings and finished 15th in the points in 1989, he said he didn't receive many offers because of his age.

"I think some of the teams are looking for this guy who is going to run for them for 10 years that's 26 or 28 years old," he said. "Of course, I'm above that -- I was above that when I won the rookie of the year in '89.

"I think they felt that I was able to only drive for another three or four years. (But) that little fellow that they hired that they thought was going to be so good isn't there anymore anyhow. It's like I had to start over everywhere. I came in more or less on the bottom side with new teams, new crew chiefs, and they all had to learn."

Starting his second full season driving the Heilig-Meyers Ford owned by Junie Donlavey, Trickle has a new-found optimism despite a spate of bad luck in his first two Winston Cup races this season. Trickle got caught up in a pit-road accident during the Daytona 500 and finished 27th, then had radiator problems last weekend at North Carolina Speedway and had to settle for a 37th-place finish.

Trickle was running strong in both races before trouble hit, leading the 56-year-old Wisconsin native to believe this could be the year he finally shakes that "non-winner" label.

"I'm positioned right now better than I've ever been," Trickle said. "I've got good support from my sponsors and teams on both the Winston Cup and the Busch series so I'm looking at it as it's finally all coming together.

"I realize it's competitive out here and you ain't going to go out to win all the races. But I think we're in line to win a race and should have some pretty consistent top-five and top-ten finishes in both leagues."

Trickle also is excited about coming to Las Vegas for the inaugural Winston Cup race here. In addition to returning to the track on which he finished second in last year's Busch Grand National Series race, the weekend will allow him to reunite with many of his family and friends.

"Vegas is a place everyone wants to go -- especially on a race weekend," Trickle said. "I've got a lot of family there and a lot of fans from the Midwest, where I'm originally from, will be out that way. My brother lives out there and both my brothers and sisters and parents will be coming out so it will be a great weekend for me."

On a more somber note, Trickle said he will be attending tonight's benefit at the Santa Fe Hotel & Casino for his nephew, local former race Chris Trickle, who was seriously injured as the result of a shooting on Blue Diamond Road last year. The benefit runs from 6 to 11 p.m.

"Thursday at the Santa Fe, I'll be signing autographs for a couple hours at least and all of the proceeds go to the foundation for Chris," Trickle said. "It really was a terrible tragedy. Chris was going to come up; he was a rising star, no doubt. I still can't believe it -- I don't understand why or how. There was no reason for it, he was a pretty mild kid."

Trickle said he will be thinking about his nephew when he is running in this weekend's Busch and Winston Cup races and could think of no better way to honor Chris than to take his first Winston Cup checkered flag in Las Vegas.

"That would be special," Trickle said. "Very special."