Dick Trickles Racing Career: Part 54
NASCAR Dirt to Daytona: Part 54
Craftsman Truck Series Season 1: Race 8

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 8 of 14 here at Michigan International Speedway……..



Michigan International Speedway…….


Michigan International Speedway is 2 miles long with 18 degrees of banking in the turns..... Located in the heart of the American automobile industry........ This big wide track offers plenty of action..... With three and even four wide racing being the norm here....... You will need lots of horsepower to even be in contention....... Every manufacturer will be bringing their biggest and best engines to claim not only the victory but also the bragging rights that comes with winning at the home track of the automobile industry.......

No featherlite Modified Racing this week….. So Dick has been able to spend the entire week focused on the The Sears Craftsman Die Hard Dick Machine….. Im sure he will be hoping for a much better performance out of the truck than last week……

Seven races done and dusted….. Seven races to go….. We are at the half way stage of the Cratsman Truck Series……. Current championship leader Travis Kvapil has been superb during the first half of the season picking up two wins……. He will be looking to continue that form into the second half…… Matt Crafton is second in the points standings….. He has also been having a great year and has also had two wins so far…….. He will be looking to pick up more wins and close that gap to Kvapil…….

Dick is currently sitting third in the championship…… The rookie has been putting on strong performances all season long….. While not getting a win….. Dick has been the model of consistency getting six fifth placed finishes in a row…… While his only finish outside of the top five was a ninth back in Round 1 at Daytona……. Dick will be looking to pick up a couple of wins in the back half of the season to make a tilt at the championship……..

Bobby Dotter picked up his first win of the season last week and is currently fourth in the points standings……. He is well in with a chance and needs to rack up more wins to stay in contention……. So watch out for a desperate Bobby Dotter pushing his truck to the limits to stay in championship contention………

Rounding out the top five in the championship standings is Dennis Setzer……. Unlucky not to get his second win of the season last week….. Setzer has been fast at most tracks…… But also way off the pace in others……. His inconsistency has cost him dearly in the championship standings……. He needs to up that consistency to close the gap to Travis Kvapil………

As for last seasons champion the Scumbag Rick Crawford…… He is currently sixth in the championship and has not been driving to his usual standards……. He has spent almost the entire season hitting other trucks and losing lots of time and positions repairing his truck……. He needs to get focused on driving and not on whatever else hes thinking about……… It will take a monumental improvement for Scumbag Crawford to be champion again this season…….

Theres still lots to race for and the championship is still up for grabs as we start the second half of the season…….

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…… Both Dicks were not happy at all….. They are both VERY frustrated with the lap times they were getting out of the truck……. This is not looking good…… Dick could be in for another long and disappointing race……...

Qualifying was up next……. And it was championship challenger Matt Crafton who took pole position setting a time of 32.839…… Second was Dennis Setzer who set a time of 43.062…….

Third was Bobby Dotter with a good time of 43.311…… Following closely was Robert Pressley who put in a time of 43.471 to claim fourth place……

Rounding out the top five was the current championship leader Travis Kvapil who set a very respectable time of 43.533…….

Dick has again found himself down in ninth place……. Setting a subpar time of 43.873……. To be just over a full second off the pole position time set by Matt Crafton……. After qualifying the two Dicks were seen arguing with each other as the crew set about making some set up changes to the truck that Dick Trickle demanded…….




Qualifying Results........




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


Matt Crafton led the field to the green flag for the 200 lap race……. Crafton got a great start and had the clear lead going into turn one……. Dennis Setzer was right behind him in second…….. While Robert Pressley and Travis Kvapil were side by side battling it out for third……

Dick had a terrible start as he limped off the line…….. He had dropped down to fourteenth by turn one……. He managed to gain some positions back and was twelfth by end of the first lap…..

Out front and Matt Crafton had the clear lead with Dennis Setzer trying to keep up with him…… Robert Pressley had third position……. While Bobby Dotter and the Scumbag Rick Crawford had both got passed Travis Kvapil relegating him to sixth place…….

Dick was working his way through the field……. He had passed Jon Wood and Jason Small to claim tenth place…...

Ten laps in and smoke was again bellowing from the hapless Dick Blahas truck…… The pit crew looked very disappointed……. As they had left the sausages back at the hotel and had nothing to cook on the BBQing engine headed their way…….. Blaha made it back to pits and looked very dejected as he got out of the truck…… His day was done and the pit crew was left sausageless and hungry…… Poor fellas……

Dick Blahas luck has been so bad this season I wouldnt be surprised to hear that his pet duck drowned……..

There was no caution as Dick Blaha made it back to the pits safely so there was no interruption to the on track action…… Matt Crafton was happy about that as he continued to extend his lead over Dennis Setzer……..

Travis Kvapil was trying hard to fight back against the Scumbag Rick Crawford but Scumbag Crawford was just to fast and was pulling away from Kvapil……. Kvapil now had Randy MacDonald for company who was hounding the rear of Kvapil wanting to take sixth place away from him……

Dick powered around the outside of Rich Bickle and was now in ninth while eyeing up eighth spot as he was starting to pressure Brendan Gaughan from behind……..

45 laps into the race and the Scumbag Rick Crawford thought it had been to long since he hit anyone and it was now a great time to hit the lapped truck of Mich Mellons square in the back……. Both trucks careened into the outside wall…… Mellons hit the wall with a lot of force head on and that ended his day as there was major damage to the entire front end of the truck as well as the engine…….. This brought out the first caution of the race……...

Of course the Scumbag Rick Crawford was able to get away from the scene of the crime and limp back to the pits to repair his truck…….. Scumbag Crawford lost a lap repairing the truck…….

Dick along with the rest of the leaders came down pit lane…….. Dick Seaman made a slight tyre pressure adjustment as well as a small wedge adjustment…… And Dick was back on his way……. The pit crew did a great job and gained him two positions and he was now in seventh place……..

Matt Craton was still the leader when the green flag waved to restart the race……. But he didnt get as good a jump as before and Dennis Setzer who got a good start took full advantage to grab the lead……. Another driver to get a good start was Dick who penetrated his way up the outside at the restart to pass Robert Pressley and Travis Kvapil to move into fifth place…….

Dennis Setzer was only able to enjoy the lead for a few laps before Matt Crafton thundered passed him down the back stretch….. Dragging Bobby Dotter along with him who was enjoying setting behind Crafton taking advantage of the draft……..

Dick was still in fifth and was battling for fourth with Randy MacDonald…….. MacDonald was not going to make it easy for Dick and was putting his truck is great positions to deny Dick at every turn……. The setup changes made after qualifying where working well for Dick who was now much faster than in qualifying……. And has so far set the fastest lap of the race……..

It was time for a round of green flag pit stops……. Matt Crafton was one of the first to pit……. Which is not to surprising……. He has to be using the most fuel sitting out in front pushing through the air alone…….. He takes four tyres and fills the tank with fuel and is gone in a hurry……..

Bobby Dotter stayed out…… Saving fuel by sitting in Matt Craftons draft and has taken the lead of the race……. Picking up some bonus points for doing so as well…….

Championship leader Travis Kvapil came in for new tyres and fuel……. He had a trouble free pit stop and was gone in quick time……. He doing well but he is slower than he normally is out on track……..

Dick is one of the last trucks to stop with Bobby Dotter for fuel and four tyres……. He is getting excellent fuel mileage…… Dick was serviced as gone in very quick time…… He comes out on track…… And has taken fourth from Randy MacDonald……. Staying out longer has really worked for Dick……

Out front and Matt Crafton was still the leader…… He has a nice gap to Bobby Dotter who has lost ground during the pit cycle and was now well out of Craftons draft……. Dennis Setzer was third and was now chasing down Dotter…… With Dick slowly but surely catching Setzer…….

We hit the half way mark of the race…… Matt Crafton has been totally dominate this race leading 94 of the 100 laps so far…….

With 90 laps to go the Scumbag Rick Crawford decided it was time to hit another lapped truck…… This time it was the innocent Chris Lee that had his race ruined by Scumbag Crawford…….. Lee hit the inside wall hard and then bounced off and across the track into the outside wall…… His race was done…….. And this brought out the second caution of the race…….

And just like the last caution the Scumbag Rick Crawford drives away from the scene of the crime……. There really is no justice in this world…….. Scumbag Crawford gets to the pit lane and repairs the truck……. He loses yet another lap due to repairs…….

After that long green flag run there are now only seven trucks on the lead lap……. Travis Kvapil is the seventh and last truck on the lead lap…… Thats a huge break for the championship leader…….. He really just needs to stay out of trouble now to secure at worst a seventh place finish…….

The two Dicks talked on the radio for quite a bit…... Dick lit a cigarette as he talked on the radio…… They decided to come in for some fresh rubber and to top off with fuel…… Its a bit of gamble…… But at worst its a seventh place finish now for Dick……… So he came down to get some tyres and fuel……. All the leading trucks seem to the have the same idea and have come down the pit lane as well…….

Now the leading trucks need to only make one more pit stop to make it to the finish if it stays green for the rest of the race……...

Matt Crafton led the field as the green flag waved to restart the race……. Crafton again got a great start and was well clear of the field by turn one…….. Dick also had another great start and used his superb driving talent to make it three wide around turn one while passing Travis Kvapil and Robert Pressley to reclaim fifth place……..

Out front and Matt Crafton was gone as he almost effortlessly pulled away from Dennis Detzer in second…….. While Bobby Dotter and Robert Pressley were battling it out for third place….. This allowed Dick to close up on them…… And now it was a three way battle for third……..

Randy MacDonald has a spin after contact with a lapped truck and collides with the outside wall….. He cut a tyre down and has sustained some heavy damage down the ride side of the truck…… The right front corner has also been pushed in a bit as well…….. He manages to get it back to the pits and the crew goes to work repairing it…….. Looks like he will lose multiple laps due to the damage……...

Dick has managed to take fourth now as he sneaks up the inside of Robert Pressley……… Dick is now all over the rear end of Bobby Dotter……

50 laps to go now as we reach the three quarter mark of the race…… AND DISASTER FOR THE SECOND PLACED TRUCK OF DENNIS SETZER……… Hes now limping it down the back stretch…… Radio chatter from Setzer seems to indicate its a battery issue………. Setzer comes down the pit lane and the crew goes to work changing the battery…….. Hes going to lose a ton of time due to this…….. Any chance of a top 10 finish is now gone…….

Dick still hounds the rear of Bobby Dotter who is doing whatever it takes to keep Dick behind him…… Dick is driving really smart at the moment and is making sure there is no contact between the two and is doing a great job anticipating the very aggressive blocks of Dotter…….

Bobby Dotter is starting to drive recklessly out there now through the lapped traffic……. And is seemingly doing everything possible to shake Dick off his rear…….. Dotter makes a huge mistake……. And tries to squeeze between the wall and a lapped truck just as the lapped truck was moving up to make room for the faster trucks behind…..

Dotter is sandwiched between the outside wall and the lapped truck of yes that is Michael Rattner…… Rattner is now turned across the front of Dotter……. Oh this is not what Dotter needs…… As both trucks come to the stop……. Dotter backs up to try and go around Rattner……. Rattner backs up to try and let Dotter through……. Dotter doesnt wait long enough and drives into Rattner……. They both come to a stop again…… This is like a scene out of the Three Stooges…… We just need Moe to slap some sense into these two men……. Finally the yellow flags are forced to wave for the bumbling duo who still cant seem to get out of each others way…….

We were right in the pit window to go to the finish from here……. So its the perfect time for a caution for the leading trucks…….. And now there are only four trucks on the lead lap……. All four of them come down pit lane for what should be their last stop of the day……..

Matt Crafton still leads as the green flag is waved to restart the race again with 40 laps to go……. Matt Crafton leads the field through turns one and two with Dick behind him…….. What a great drive this has been from the series rookie…… Dick is now applying pressure to Crafton as Dick is really able to suck up to Craftons rear thanks to the draft…… Dicks truck is very very good in the draft…….

Robert Pressley and Travis Kvapil are battling it out for third…… Kvapil has been steadily improving the truck as the race has gone on…… And is now in a great position to challenge the top dogs………

Matt Crafton cant shake Dick from his rear……. And Dick is only sitting there behind Crafton…… He is not actually making any moves to pass Crafton…… Hes just sitting in Craftons draft…...

15 laps to go and its still the same up front….. Matt Crafton with Dick up his rear……. Followed by Travis Kvapil and Robert Pressley………

Back in the pack and two trucks many laps down come together and both spin…… They lightly touch the outside wall but both are facing the wrong way and this will bring out the caution again…….

None of the leaders pit as Dick Seaman yells at Dick Trickle to stay out there and not come in under any circumstances……. And it is again Matt Crafton that leads the field as the green flag is waved again with 11 laps to go……. Crafton has a terrible start and spins the rear wheels and gets lose…… Dick has to get out of the throttle to avoid going up Craftons rear as his spotter Jacques O’Ften desperately tries to guide Dick through the mayhem……. Kvapil and Pressley jump to the outside in avoidance…….

Crafton fights to regain control the truck but hes tagged by a lapped truck on the inside and this spins Crafton down to the infield……. He hits the wall……. Bounces off the wall and spins again……. Hes facing the right way…… And gets going…… But hes lost a lot of time……. And there was no caution…….

Out front and Travis Kvapil took the lead on the restart thanks to going up high and getting past Dick who was trying to avoid Matt Crafton……… Kvapil has Robert Pressley right behind him…… A recovering Dick is not to far behind either……. While Crafton is 10 seconds down and is not as fast as he once was thanks to the contact with the wall……

5 laps to go Kvapil still leads fending hard from Robert Pressley……. Dick has now caught them and is right behind Pressley……. The three men are giving it all they have got……. With just two laps left to run you couldnt fit a cigarette paper between the three trucks……. Tremendous racing this…….

FINAL LAP……. KVAPIL LEADS THROUGH TURNS ONE AND TWO……. ON THE EXIT OF TWO DICK MOVES TO THE OUTSIDE OF PRESSLEY AND USES THE SIDE DRAFT TO SLINGSHOT HIS WAY PAST……. HES NOW GETTING UP THE OUTSIDE OF THE TRAVIS KVAPIL DOWN THE BACK STRETCH………

THROUGH TURNS THREE AND FOUR FOR THE FINAL TIME…….. DICK IS ON THE OUTSIDE BUT HE IS HOLDING STATION WITH TRAVIS KVAPIL…….. ROBERT PRESSLEY IS STILL RIGHT THERE BEHIND THE THREE……… THEY DRAG RACE TO THE FINISH LINE…….. DICK IS DESPERATELY TRYING TO USE THE SIDE DRAFT TO PASS KAVAPIL……. THEY TOUCH THEY TOUCH AS THEY ARE NECK AND NECK HEADING TO THE LINE…….. PRESSLEY MOVES TO THE INSIDE OF KVAPIL…...

THEY CROSS THE LINE THREE WIDE AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHO WON…….. IF YOU CAN TELL WHO WON YOU HAVE BETTER EYES THAN ME…….. THAT IS YET ANOTHER PHOTO FINISH FOR DICK…….. IM PRETTY SURE ROBERT PRESSLEY HAS TAKEN THIRD…….. I DONT KNOW WHO WAS FIRST OR SECOND THOUGH…….

While we wait for the official word on who won……. What a finish that was….. And what an excellent race that was too…… Great action and lots of drama and the drama isnt even over yet either…… Travis Kvapil, Dick and Robert Pressley gave it their all out there on the final lap…... If you didnt enjoy that then you can simply arnt a motorsports fan……… We continue to wait to hear who won the race…….. Im just getting word…… I think we are abou…….. ITS DICK…… DICK TRICKLE HAS WON THE RACE…….. BY JUST 0.009 OF A SECOND OVER TRAVIS KVAPIL……..

DICK HAS FINALLY DONE IT…… HES GOT HIS FIRST CAREER CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES VICTORY!!!…….. RIGHT IN THE HEART OF THE AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY HERE AT MICHIGAN…….. BY THE SLIMMEST OF MARGINS!!!!…….. LOOK HOW CLOSE THEY ARE AS THEY CROSS THE LINE…….. NOW THATS A DICK PIC HE WILL WANT TO SHARE WITH EVERYONE TONIGHT!!!…….. WHAT A STORY THIS IS I YELL YOU……..

Third was Robert Pressley who drove a really solid race……. And was just 0.044 seconds behind Dick……..

Fourth was Matt Crafton who dominated this race…… Lead over 170 laps but finished fourth 17 seconds behind the winner……. In stark contrast to Dick who only led 1 lap the entire race….. But it was the most important lap of the race to lead….. The final lap…… Crafton will be very VERY disappointed with that result……..

Rounding out the top five was Bobby Dotter…… Who paid the price for being impatient through the traffic……. He was 1 lap down…….





Race Results..…

Dick does a monstrous burnout down the front stretch in front of the packed grandstand and let me tell you….. Not a single person has left either……. They have all stayed to witness this burnout……. A huge “DICK” chant breaks out amongst the fans as Dick revs the engine hard and tyre smoke bellows out from the back of the The Sears Craftsman Die Hard Dick Machine……… The burnout only ends after Dick blows out both rear tyres…… The crowed goes absolutely nuts when they hear the bangs of the rear tyres exploding……. Dick has certainly become a fan favourite in the truck series.....

For the first time in his Craftsman Truck Series career……. Dick rolls the truck into Victory Lane……. The window net is barely taken down before an ecstatic Pussy Galore embraces Dick while hes still in the truck…… Dick climbs out of the truck and stands on the roof and celebrates his terrific victory as his crew throw drinks all over him……. A very slippery, wet Dick gets down off the roof and im able to grab him to get a few words……

“WHAT A RACE MURRAY!!!!……… FINALLY A CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNER!!!!!…….. It feels like a lifetime ago I was dominating that Martinsville race before the late tyre blowout and we were just not able to get back there…….. That is until today…… The Sears Craftsman Die Hard Dick Machine was just amazing during the race……… I want to thank all my sponsors and the crew for their amazing work today.....”

“We wernt happy after qualifying thats for sure…… We were way, way out in the woods……. We were so far out in the woods that I found a suspicious looking house made of gingerbread and candy……. We had a more conventional setup for qualifying….. But we realised that wasnt going to work…… So after qualifying I demanded drastic changes be made……. Basically I ordered them to lay down the rear spoiler as much as we legally could…… And then we taped up the front grille as much as possible without blowing the engine……… This was to make the truck as slippery as possible through the air and use the draft as best we could during the race……. We also upped the tyre pressures quite a bit to reduce the tyre friction on the track surface as much as possible.......”

“It worked better than we expected……. The truck was great out there…… Not the best or the outright fastest truck…… Even though I did get the fastest lap…… But we could use that draft almost to perfection and that really made the difference……..”

“Its a huge relief getting that monkey off my back and getting this win……. We were getting really frustrated with how we seemed to have gone backwards since that tyre blowout and Goodyear was no good at all trying to get any help from them……… We even talked about contacting Hoosier and reigniting the tyre war…….. This will definitely boost morale in the team thats for sure Murray……. Thanks to all my sponsors and crew for believing in me…...”

“Off to Richmond next week…… You cant get much different from this large wide 2 mile very fast oval to Richmonds small narrow 1 mile oval…….. We seem to do well at the smaller venues so this will be a good test for the truck……. We might even be able to get back to back victories……. Will see you there Murray……. Hopefully again in Victory Lane…….”

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 Richmond International Raceway…..

Can the championship leader Travis Kvapil continue his excellent run this season???……. Will Matt Crafton bounce back after a disappointing result this weekend???…… Can Bobby Dotter also bounce back from his terrible mistake this weekend that cost him so dearly……. Will the Scumbag Rick Crawford ever stop running into other trucks this season???…….. Or will the rookie sensation Dick follow up his historic victory here today with another one next week and go back to back???…….

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 7 of 14.…







First lap Hard Dick Truckin’ action....