Posted by Madison Speedway on 4/5/2005, 1:33 am
Board Administrator

Dick Trickle to Race Opener at MIS by John Wells April 4, 2005 Wisconsin's Track of Champions will truly live up to its billing when one of the top short track drivers in Wisconsin history comes to Madison International Speedway for the season opener on Sunday, May 1. The legendary Dick Trickle will be at MIS racing in the Wisconsin Challenge Series event that is part of the season opener. "I'm really looking forward to it. It's a great place to start the season for me coming back to Madison International Speedway," said Trickle. "I've spent a lot of time at Madison over the past thirty years," he added. Trickle is no stranger to Wisconsin's Fastest Half-Mile as he won track championships here in 1971 and 1972 and along the way has collected a record seventy-two feature victories. Trickle commented, "I won my share...maybe more than my share." Trickle also commented about the crowds at Madison...both past and present. "It was always an enthusiastic crowd. The fans were great. From Rockford to the Dells and into southwestern Wisconsin. The half-mile featured a lot of speed and the races were always great. I always enjoyed it...it was and always will be a challenging track." Trickle plans to bring his own car with him to Madison and it's a chassis he is very familar with from his full-time short track racing days. The car named Goldie was the same chassis Trickle ran before going south to race NASCAR events back in 1989. "It will be basically be the same chassis. I ran the car back in 1989 and 1990 in a half dozen shows. I ran at Slinger, Kaukauna, Dells, and Phoenix with this car. We will have a new motor and body on it and all the other updates for the five or six shows we plan to run in the midwest this season," commented Trickle, who noted that Minnesota's Kevin Lang has updated this car for him. "It's going to be a lot of fun. We're not going to go back into any full-time racing. It's going to be fun driving against second and third generation drivers of guys that I used to race against. For a lot of the new fans they probably heard about me from their dads or uncles and for many of the guys I used to race against it's special when they stop by and say hi. I get to see a lot of my old fans and they bring the young ones with them," added Trickle. Trickle will be part of an impressive lineup when the Wisconsin Challenge Series' makes its first ever visit to Madison International Speedway. "We are expecting a great turnout of drivers for this race. Interest is high and as we get closer to opening day the excitement will soar to even greater heights," said MIS promoter Steve Einhaus. "The Wisconsin Challenge Series is a great series and we are expecting many familiar faces to be among the super late model drivers trying to make the show...as well as some new faces too," he added. Pit gates will open on May 1 at 10:00 AM. Hot laps begin at Noon with qualifying at 1:30. Racing action begins at 3:00 PM. The Big Eight Limited Late Model Series will also be in action for the season opener. For more information please call the track at 608.835.9700 or email us at mismedia2@yahoo.com.