Remembering the life of Dick Trickle on his 75th birthday

Today should have been the 75th birthday of the late Dick Trickle, one of the greatest short-track racers of all time, and one of racing’s most colorful personalities.

Trickle died in May 2013 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Boger City, N.C., about 30 miles northwest of Charlotte.

According to police reports, Trickle called the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and told them “there would be a dead body and it would be his.” Authorities called the number back, but Trickle never answered.

Friends and family said Trickle was suffering from constant pain that doctors were unable to successfully treat.

Trickle’s life and death were chronicled in this Beyond the Wheel short film produced last year for FS1’s NASCAR Race Hub.