Potts’s Shots: Happy Belated Birthday to Dick Trickle
On a personal level, I’d like to pass on a slightly belated “Happy Birthday” to Dick Trickle, who reached the milestone of 70 years within the past week.
Dick Trickle
Potts’s Shots: Dick Trickle & the Open Road Engine Change
The story goes that Dick Trickle’s guys actually swapped the engine on the way to the race on an open hauler.
Potts’s Shots: A Flagman’s Tale or 2
Tom in Lafayette, Ind. writes in: Are you the John Potts that was the flagman at IRP in the 1970s?
Driven to the Past: Working Inside…
I worked quite a few races indoors in my officiating career and each one was an experience in itself. Just like outdoor tracks, each venue has its own personality. The first time was with the United Midget Racing Association TQs in the coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in the ’60s. We’d run some pretty …
Driven to the Past: The Best Way to Slow a Racecar Down
Once again, one thing leads to another. In trying to explain how easy it is to misjudge a slower speed after you’ve been traveling really fast, I mentioned that I first heard the phrase “You lose your reference to zero” from Dick Trickle. He said that after the first ASA race at Milwaukee, on May 7, 1978. We had never run on anything bigger than a 5/8-mile track, so it stands to reason that most of our guys had never seen the kind of speeds they were experiencing on that big ol’ mile. Neither had I from the flagstand, actually. When the first car went out to qualify, I threw the green flag and then told the tower to wake me up when he got to turn 3.
Driven to the Past: NASCAR’s Most Spectacular Accident
The first thing I want to say this week is how much I appreciate the comments we’ve been getting and the emails I’ve been receiving, some from people I haven’t heard from in years. It’s nice to know that there are some folks having as much fun reading this stuff as I’m having writing it. …
10 Points to Ponder… After NASCAR’s Summer 2008 Off Week
1. Belt Tightening – It is a safe bet that not all the economic dominoes have fallen for the NASCAR community quite yet, as financially slumping General Motors attempts to identify cost-cutting measures while seeking to generate $15 billion in savings through 2009. This past week, the automaker has informed both Bristol Motor Speedway and …
Driven to the Past: Let Your Judgement Be Your Guide
Quite often somebody or other is asking me what was the most memorable race I ever flagged. After 30 years in the flagstand, it’s hard to isolate one race, but there is one I’ll never forget – actually two, but they were tied together. In ASA’s first appearance at Michigan International Speedway, I was in …
Frontstretch NASCAR Power Rankings: Top 15 Drivers Still Winless in NASCAR
With an off week in the schedule, the Frontstretch staffers decided to take a second look at a series of drivers looking for that lucky break. Our writers voted in the top-15 drivers who have never won a Sprint Cup race in their careers; and while these men might have been special in other forms …
Driven to the Past: Dick Trickle
From some notes on the internet, phone calls, and e-mails, I’m one of those who has learned that Dick Trickle is apparently having some chest and/or intestinal tract problems. The man himself, I’m told, isn’t worried; in fact, he’s told everyone things are fine. Trickle had a hip replacement recently, and the troubles started after …
10 Points to Ponder… During NASCAR’s Easter Break
1) Takes One to Know One! – Megastar comedian and TV personality Jeff Foxworthy talked NASCAR in a CNN interview this week, attempting to persuade host Glenn Beck that instead of taking in a race at Daytona, he would be better served going to Talladega, Ala. for his stock car racing experience. In fact, Foxworthy …