ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 30, 1997 TAG: 9703310153
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HICKORY, N.C.
SOURCE: CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Dick Trickle's victory Saturday brought tears and smiles to everyone's face at Hickory Motor Speedway.
Dick Trickle said he was too old to cry.
Five months after his 55th birthday, though, Trickle also might seem too old to win a NASCAR Grand National race. But that's what he did on a sunny Saturday afternoon at historic Hickory Motor Speedway.
``I'm honored,'' Trickle said after beating Randy LaJoie and Tim Fedewa to win the Galaxy Foods 300, becoming the oldest driver to win a Grand National event. Harry Gant was 54 years, 2 months old when he won in Atlanta in March 1994.
Trickle got a call from his wife, Darlene, during the victory celebration. He said she was crying.
If he had lost his composure, nobody would have noticed. They were all too busy cheering wildly at what ranks as one of the most popular outcomes in recent memory.
Trickle had been close in his past two outings - second at Las Vegas two weeks ago and third last weekend at Darlington.
``I said after I finished second at Las Vegas that I needed to win a race for all of the fans who have stuck by me for so long,'' he said. ``I needed to win for my wife and for my kids and for my grandkids, and for all of my crew and all of the people who have backed me.
``But I think I also needed to win a race for Dick Trickle.''
Trickle is no stranger to winning. He has been racing since 1958 and has more than 1,200 victories at dirt and asphalt tracks in the Midwest, including an incredible 67 in one season.
Still, he never had won a Winston Cup or Grand National race before Saturday, where the fans embraced the Wisconsin native as though he had won all of those races on this .363-mile oval.
``I knew I had it in me,'' Trickle said.
LaJoie, the defending series champion, dominated much of the day. He took over the lead on lap 19 and stayed in charge until about lap 180, when Trickle decided to test his car leading to a mandatory yellow flag at lap 200 set up to keep pit road safe.
Trickle and LaJoie battled side-by-side over much of the next 20 laps in a stirring display of short-track racing that brought fans to their feet. It would be a preview of things to come.
Trickle's car was better toward the end of long green-flag runs, and he got such a run after the day's 14th yellow flag on lap 232. By lap 271, he battled past Fedewa and took off after LaJoie. He moved around LaJoie on lap 278, avoided disaster when he ran up on lapped traffic eight laps from the finish, and held on to win.
``It was a good race, and nobody gave it away,'' Trickle said. ``We beat them fair and square.''
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB