Dick Trickles Racing Career: Part 52
NASCAR Dirt to Daytona: Part 52
Craftsman Truck Series Season 1: Race 6

Intro music…... Hello and welcome to Left Turn Heaven exclusively on the Crass Racing Association Programming..... Im Murray Eastlake and today im going to be bringing you all the action from the 2006 Craftsman Truck Series: Round 6 of 14 here at Kansas Speedway……..




Kansas Speedway…….


Kansas Speedway is 1.5 miles long with 15 degrees in the turns..... This tri-oval is very challenging to drive fast with its relatively low banking for a 1.5 mile track..... A very good handling car is the order of the day here at Kansas...... Setups will be paramount...... Drivers and teams will spend hours to dial in the vehicle just right....... Get it wrong and you wont be in Kansas anymore.......

Dick Trickle as per usual has been keeping busy……. This time competing in the Featherlight Modified Series race at Richmond International Raceway…… After missing the race last week due to the clash with the Craftsman Truck Series…… Dick needed a good result and he got a very dominate win…… Jason Sulivan leads the championship standings due to Dick missing last week but Dick is hunting him down like a pro…….


2006 Featherlite Modified Series Season: Round 7 of 10……


After taking his second win of the season Matt Crafton will be looking to continue his dominate form fromlast week…….. the Craftsman Truck Series championship leader Travis Kvapil will be looking to extend his lead in the championship with a good result here today……. Dennis Setzer will also be looking to bounce back after a disappointing race last week……. The Scumbag Rick Crawford will be itching for his first win of the season……. And Bobby Dotter will be looking for another strong performance here today as well…..

While series rookie Dick Trickle will be hoping to keep his top five streak alive…… He has been very consistent this season and will be hoping to improve on his string of top five finishes with a win here today at Kansas……..

Dont touch the sets...... Dont touch the dials...... You wont want to miss a single moment of the 2006 Craftsman Truck Series....… Practice and qualifying are coming up right now……



Dick Trickle at the track ready to race.…


Dick Trickle and Dick Seaman as per usual spent a lot of time in practice sorting out the truck…… Working on everything from gear ratios to grill tape…… They seemed a bit lost…… Both Dicks were left scratching their heads after the the session was finished…… They look like they might have found the teddy bears picnic again……

Qualifying was up next……. And Jon Wood stole the show claiming his first pole position of the season with a sensational lap time of 34.654……. Second was another surprise driver in Lance Norick with a great lap time of 34.826……

Third was last weeks dominate winner Matt Crafton who set a time of 34.859…… While the current championship series leader Travis Kvapil captured fourth after setting a respectable time of 34.893……..

Rounding out the top five is last years champion the Scumbag Rick Crawford who set a time of 35.261…….

Rookie sensation Dick Trickle was only able to capture eighth with a time of 35.625 to be almost a full second off the pole time……. It could be a long hard day for Dick Trickle…..




Qualifying Results........



Dick Trickle lined up ready to start the race..….


Jon Wood led the field to the green flag for the 167 lap race……. Wood got a great start but so did Lance Norick and Matt Crafton and they were three wide for the lead heading into turn one…… Norick was hung out to dry on the outside while Wood and Crafton ran neck and neck down the back straight……

Dick also had a good start and had got past Bill Lester before turn one…… Robert Pressley was proving to be more difficult to pass…… As he was able to keep Dick at bay down the back straight….

At the end of lap 1 and it was Jon Wood who had the lead over Matt Crafton with Scumbag Rick Crawford up to third while Lance Norick had been relegated to fourth…… Current championship leader Travis Kvapil was in fifth…….

While just behind them Robert Pressley was doing everything he could to keep a hard charging Dick behind him……. Pressley was doing a great job hugging the bottom of the track while Dicks ill handling car was meant he couldnt pass around the top……..

Out front and Jon Wood was stretching his legs and building a nice little gap to Matt Crafton while the Scumbag Rick Crawford was now pressuring Crafton from behind…… Travis Kvapil manages to get around the outside of a clearly struggling Lance Norick…… Is Noricks truck alright…… He is not looking fast out there at all right now……..

Half a lap later and we got our answer…… As smoke bellowed from Lance Noricks truck……. Norick thumps the wheel in anger as he gets off the racing line and down to the apron……. He slowly limps back to the pits…… His race is over and he sits in the truck and wonders what might have been after that great qualifying performance……. There was no caution and the race continued without any interruption …..

With Lance Norick out of the race…. The battle between Robert Pressley and Dick was now for fifth place…… Pressley was doing an expert job placing his truck in just the right places to keep Dick behind him…….

Dick was getting very frustrated with being stuck up Pressley rear……. Both Dick Seaman and Jacques O’Ften were on the radio trying to clam Dick down…… There was still a long way to go in this race…… Plenty of time to improve the truck to be the best they could during the pit stops…….

While out front Jon Wood had built a huge lead over Matt Crafton….. Who just didnt have the pace to stay with Wood…… In fact no one had the pace to match Wood…… Wood was coming up to lap Dick and Robert Pressley……. Dick didnt put up much of a fight cause of his ill handling truck and let Wood pass quickly without a fight…….. Pressley though was determined to stay on the lead lap and was taking big risks to avoid getting lapped by Jon Wood…..

In trying to keep Jon Wood behind him Robert Pressley made a big mistake and hit the lapped truck of Alex Pragman…… This sent both trucks spinning…… Pragman went to the inside across the grass and into the pit lane thankfully avoiding everything…… While Pressley went straight up into the wall causing a lot of damage to the truck…….

The yellow flags flew to bring out the first caution of the race…… The caution does not officially start until you pass the start/finish line…….. Wood slowed down a bit while Dick kept his foot in it and passed Wood before the start/finish line to get his lap back before the caution officially started…… Some good heads up driving there by Dick………

During the caution Dick came down the pit lane while smoking a cigarette to change all four tyres and fill the tank up with fuel…….. Dick Seaman made a tyre pressure change and added some tape to the front grill while also making a big wedge adjustment………

We were just over 40 laps into the race and to both Dicks surprise no one else came down pit lane……. And Dick was back out in fifth place last truck on the lead lap but now with fresh rubber and with adjustments made to the truck he was actually looking pretty good at that time to at the very least lead some laps…… As all the other trucks would have to pit it the next 20 or so laps for fuel……..

The green flag waved to restart the race…… Jon Wood again had a great start while Matt Crafton and the Scumbag Rick Crawford struggled…….. Travis Kvapil managed to pass the Scumbag Crawford…… And Dick even got in on the action to make a pass the Scumbag Crawford………

Dick was not finished there and even put a move on Travis Kvapil……. The Sears Craftsman Die Hard Dick Machine was looking much better…… And Dick was now a few tenths faster than he was before……..

Of course the other trucks are on well worn tyres at this point of the race but im sure Dick still really enjoyed making a few passes…….

Not long after the restart and the Scumbag Rick Crawford hit another lapped truck that caused another caution……. Sadly the Scumbag Rick Crawford was able to continue with his race without to much damage……..

This brought everyone except Dick down the pit lane and Dick now found himself in the lead of the race……. Getting those 5 bonus points for leading a lap…… And also more money from his sponsors…….

As the green flagged waved again to restart the race it was Dick Trickle leading the pack…… With Jon Wood right behind him…. Dicks lead didnt last long after the race restarted and Jon Wood had retaken the lead…… While Dicks truck was better than before it was still no match for the leaders who just powered past Dick…….

Dick settled into a nice rhythm keeping fifth place nice and safe as he was the last truck on the lead lap he was almost guaranteed fifth place as long as he finished…..

The Scumbag Rick Crawford was not as fast as he once was after that contact…… And he soon fell back to Dick after his tyres wore a bit……. Dick and the Scumbag Crawford had a great scrap for fourth place…… Positions changed constantly between the two……. But Dick was not able to keep it up for long and after his tyres had worn down more he lost touch with Scumbag Crawford……

Out front and Jon Wood was still leading the way…….. He had again built up a huge lead over Matt Crafton who was just able to keep Travis Kvapil at bay…….. Kvapil has found some more speed after the pit stop and was hounding the rear of Crafton…….

Alex Pragman was in the wars again….. This time colliding with Larry Tate……. Both men were sent hard into the wall…. Pragmans race was over instantly while Tate was able to limp away with a very heavily damaged truck……. Though his race was soon over once he reached the pit lane and his crew could do nothing to fix the truck…….

This brought out the third caution of the race…….. And everyone was just inside their pit window…… This made the pit lane a very busy place…… The five lead lap trucks all pitted together…… And it was Dick who won big with his pit crew doing a fantastic job servicing the truck to bring Dick out in second place…….

Dick Seaman made further changes to the truck…. Added some more grill tape to the front and also made a further air pressure adjustment…….. This was more than likely the last pit stop of the race…… Dick Seaman is praying that his adjustments made enough of a difference……

The green flag waved to restart the race again…… Jon Wood was leading with Dick right behind him……. And Dick got a great jump and penetrated his way through the hole……. Jon Wood was taken by surprise as he felt Dick slip up through the hole and got lose…… This allowed the Scumbag Rick Crawford and Travis Kvapil to get passed Wood as well……

Dick lead for 1 lap before Travis Kvapil got past……. Dick did a great job blocking the Scumbag Rick Crawford from getting passed as well……. That allowed the recovering Jon Wood to get passed both men……. Thats the best thing Dick has done all year…….

As Dick and the Scumbag Rock Crawford battled they slowed each other down and this allowed the slow restarting Matt Crafton to catch them……. Crafton managed to find a way past both men without to much of an issue….. The battle between Dick the Scumbag Crawford was now for fourth place…….

Out front and after just a few laps Jon Wood swooped around the outside of Travis Kvapil to reclaim the lead of the race…… Jon Wood as been totally dominate today………

Dick was working hard to keep the Scumbag Rick Crawford behind…… Scumbag Crawford was clearly faster but Dick was able to position himself perfectly to fill the holes…… after a few more laps the Scumbag Crawford had enough of playing with Dick…….. He tagged the back of Dicks truck entering turn one……. This unsettled Dicks truck just enough to allow Crawford to make the pass on Dick………

Way out in front and Jon Wood was extending his lead over Travis Kvapil……. Matt Crafton was driving hard to try and catch Kvapil while Scumbag Rick Crawford was now leaving Dick behind and was focused on trying to catch Crafton in front…….

Dick soon lost touch with the top four…… It seems the tyre pressure adjustments had made the truck a bit worse on the long run…… And now Dick was resigned to his fate of getting fifth place…… He just needed to finish……..

As the laps wound down Jon Wood had a near 18 second lead over Travis Kvapil…… Who himself was around 2 seconds clear of Matt Crafton….. While Scumbag Rick Crawford was a further 3 seconds behind……..

Dick was in real trouble of getting lapped…… Not that it really mattered….. He himself was two laps clear of the recovering Robert Pressley in sixth place…… And when Jon Wood came by with just a few laps to go Dick did not put up any sort of fight and let Wood passed…….

Final lap now and Jon Wood has a near insurmountable lead and cruises around making sure he does not make any mistakes…….

The chequered flag waves and Jon Wood wins the race with ease…… He dominated the entire weekend…… And took a well deserved victory…… Second was the current championship leader Travis Kvapil……. Whos truck improved as the race went on…… Kvapil was just over 18 seconds behind the winner…….

Third was last weeks winner Matt Crafton who is continuing his great run of form recently…… He has put himself well and truly in the championship hunt this season……. While fourth was captured by that Scumbag Rick Crawford who drove well enough to take fourth but is still getting involved in to many incidents to claim a win……

Rounding out the top five was Dick who struggled all day for outright pace….. But was lucky enough to claim fifth place as well as to lead a few laps for the bonus points and sponsorship money……… No Dick pic photo finish this week….. Im sure he will be happy about that at least……...





Race Results..…


After the race Dick makes his way to the paddock area……. A very frustrated looking Dick gets out of the truck…… Pussy Galore is the first to greet him as per usual……. I managed to force my way through and grab Dick for a few words……. “That was a tough old race for us out there today…….. We just had no pace all weekend…… The more we tried to work on it the worse it got…… We were really struggling this weekend…….”

“We dug in and kept working on it the best we could……. But it was nowhere near enough to even match the pace of the leaders…… The Sears Craftsman Die Hard Dick Machine was a real handful setup wise and real slow down the straights……”

“We did manage to use some pit strategy to lead a few laps so that was a positive thing…… We just need to work out how to improve the truck……. When we are lost in the woods we have no way to get ourselves out at the moment……. So thats something Dick Seaman really needs to work on with the team……”

I then asked Dick about his meeting with Goodyear during the week……. “Ha…….. That was a joke and a half…….. All they did was accuse me of tampering with the tyres…… They reckon I used Embalming Fluid on the tyres and thats why it failed…….. Are you kidding me???…… They hand us the tyre and we put them straight on the rims and straight on the truck….. We dont have the time nor the privacy to apply anything to the tyres today….. Its not the 80’s anymore you know…….”

“Next week we roll onto New Hampshire International Speedway….. This could be another really tough race for us…… Its a very tricky track and if the truck is bad there we are in for a world of hurt…… I hope we have what it takes to improve the truck and hopefully drive it into Victory Lane……. Will see you there Murray……..”

Well there you have it folks…….. Another race has been entered into the great book of motorsport…...

Next week the 2006 Craftsman Truck Series heads to New Hampshire International Speedway…..

Can Jon Wood dominate again next week???……. Will Travis Kvapil keep his excellent run going and further extend his championship lead???……. Can the Scumbag Rick Crawford stop hitting other trucks???……. Or will Matt Crafton swoop in and claim another victory and put further pressure on Kvapil???…… Can Dick get his truck right and take it to victory lane for the first time in his Craftsman Truck Series career???…….

Tune in next week for the answers to all these questions and more….. Exclusively here on Left Turn Heaven…….. Same CRAP time…… Same CRAP network………..

This is Murray Eastlake reporting for Left Turn Heaven exclusively here on Crass Racing Association Programming..... And until next time its goodbye from me……

As for why I keep calling the Scumbag Rick Crawford a “Scumbag”…….. There is a very good reason for that…….. the Scumbag Rick Crawford was a real Craftsman Truck Series driver…….. Who is now sitting in jail…….. In 2018 The Scumbag Rick Crawford was arrested, charged and later convicted of "attempted enticement of a minor" when he was caught in a FBI sex crime sting operation……. He is currently serving a 10 year 10 month jail sentence…….. The Scumbag…….


Winnings.…



NASCAR Heat Weekly….



2006 Truck Series Championship Standings after round 6 of 14.…







First lap Hard Dick Truckin’ action....