WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – Rich Bickle Jr. has enjoyed several memorable moments this year, but Saturday he’s hoping to add one more memorable moment in his home state of Wisconsin.
Bickle, who earlier this year announced he would retire from racing at the conclusion of the season, is set to compete in his final race in his home state Saturday during the Alive for Five Falloween 150 at Dells Raceway Park.
Did he ever think this day would come?
“No,” Bickle said with a laugh. “I’m one of the hard headed guys that never thought it would come.”
Bickle has accomplished a lot during his more than 40 years of racing. He’s won the legendary Snowball Derby at Florida’s Five Flags Speedway a record five times, captured the Slinger Nationals at Slinger (Wis.) Super Speedway four times and won the National Short Track Championship at Rockford (Ill.) Speedway twice.
He’s only added to his legacy this season. The 60-year-old native of Edgerton, Wis., scored two marquee victories with the ARCA Midwest Tour during his farewell season. The first came during the Joe Shear Classic at Madison Int’l Speedway in Oregon, Wis. He later added a win in the Jim Sauter Classic at Dells Raceway Park, which paid a whopping $15,555.
In addition to his success with the ARCA Midwest Tour, Bickle spent the entire season fighting for the track championship at Slinger Super Speedway. Despite multiple wins at Slinger this year, he fell 27 points short of capturing the title, which went to rising star Luke Fenhaus.
“This year, winning the Shear race and the Sauter race to me…after all these years I’m the only guy who raced those guys in the field and it’s just amazing to me,” Bickle said. “It really goes to show what we’ve got going here. We’ve have a very good program.”
If Bickle is to win Saturday’s Falloween 150, he’ll have to outrun some of the region’s top super late model competitors. Nearly 40 drivers have pre-entered the Falloween 150, headlined by Ty Majeski, who recently secured his fifth ARCA Midwest Tour title. Others entered include 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter, the aforementioned Fenhaus and Oktoberfest 200 winner Casey Johnson.
“It would be a storybook ending,” Bickle said. “In 1989 I basically was done. I sold my late model, it was the first late model Matt Kenseth bought, and I didn’t have a car. Wayne Lensing from Lefthander (Chassis) called me Tuesday night and said, ‘Get your butt down here tomorrow and get a chassis and put a car together.’
“We left Friday morning for Concord (N.C.). We built that car in 48 hours. I sat on the pole and won $10,000. That kept me going,” Bickle continued. “This place (Dells) has always been good to me. My dad raced here forever. It’s just always been a great race track and to win again would be awesome.”
For fans unable to attend the Alive for Five finale at Dells Raceway Park, it will be broadcast live by SPEED SPORT TV affiliate Pit Row TV. The broadcast is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. CST.