Ok yall..Here we
are story #5. I have now met 15 drivers (10
Current WC drivers, One of them ive met twice
now, 2 BGN Drivers, 1 driver who drives in
BGN and the truck series every so often, 1
former driver
and 1 driver, who up until his death drove in
the Nascar Re/Max Challenge Series. One by
one im getting to my goal of meeting every
driver.
Well this story starts when I read in the
paper more drivers were going to be at the
Oneida Casino in Green Bay again. Although
they werent big names I was going. They were
Kenny Wallace (Who i met last year), Dick
Trickle, Rich Bickle and Scott Hansen. Once
again the work problem posed a problem. Well
I got the day off but I had to make it up. So
it was now August 10, 1999. I got some things
I wanted signed and was going to take those
with me, although I usually prefer
the driver handout cards they have and got
ready and headed to Green Bay. I arrived at
the casino and got in line. I stood in line
for about an hour when Dick Trickle arrived.
All of a sudden I heard a voice behind me say
how are ya kid and I kinda turned and Dick
was walking away. The kid behind me had on a
Dick Trickle shirt so Dick shook his hand and
stuff. He did that for a few people in line.
Someone said they saw Rich Bickle so both of
them were there but I overheard one of the
ladies in charge talking to someone and
saying that Kenny Wallace was going to be a
few minutes late. So they started the line
going through a little bit til Kenny got
there. Then the lady announced to us that
Scott Hansen couldnt make it because of an
incident or something on pit road at the
track the guys were racing at in Kaukauna. I
dont know what happened. Maybe he just didnt
wanna show up again. He didnt back on May
31st when he was supposed to be there. Well I
was a little ways back in line. There must
have been about 100 people in front of me. During the hour waiting in line I was talking with a couple of the kids behind me and a guy behind them. We were talking about fav drivers and something and then somehow they got talkin about the Packers. I mentioned my fav. team was the Cowboys so the one kid was joking and looked up and started saying that the light fixtures on the ceiling would probably work good to hang me from..lol..
Well when I finally got up to the table where they
were seated. Rich Bickle was first. He didnt
seem friendly. U can usually tell by the way
someone acts how they are. He just didnt seem
like he wanted to be there. He signed a bunch
of the handouts and had a little stack going
and u just could take one so some people were
taking a lot more than one. (I took one. Im
not greedy) When I got up to him I took one
of those and had him sign a poster I had.
Then I asked him if I could get a pic so he
smiled for the camera..lol. That was about
the only time I saw him smile. Even as some
people talked to him he just didnt seem
friendly. Thats just my observation. Then was
Dick Trickle. Well before I got up to him his
mom had showed up and got in line in front of
a couple people in front of me so it was
kinda hard to get through the line. She got a
kiss from Dick and Kenny Wallace as did the
lady she was with. So they got autographs.
One lady was introducing herself to Kenny as
Dicks mom. One lady also did introduce
herself as Dicks sister. Well Kenny said,
"Sorry to interupt folks but Dick Trickles
mom is here."..lol..I did ask Dick if I could
get a pic so he smiled for the camera
too...lol..Next was Kenny Wallace. Well since
Dicks mom was in the way it was kinda hard to
get in front of Kenny cuz it was crowded in
the area where they put the drivers. Well I
got one of his handout cards and then I had
him sign a 1:64 scale diecast. Its still in
the package so he signed the cardboard. Its
cool. So then I asked Kenny if I could get a
pic and he said sure so he smiled for the
camera too..lol..So then I got out of line
and hung around where I could kinda take
pics. I was standing next to a security guard
for about the next 45 minutes. He must have
wondered what I was doing..lol..I wanted to
get good pictures though when they were
leaving and maybe a pic of myself with the
drivers.
Standing around watching them u can learn
stuff about their personalities. Thats what
it seemed like. Rich just kinda sat there
like a bump on a log. He just didnt seem to
have a personality. Dick was pretty talkative
and laughing sometimes. He was probably
comfortable being in Wisconsin around the
fans where most of them grow up watching him
and stuff. Kenny was so funny though. One
lady had a really old pic of Dick. He was
about 20 yrs old. Kenny said that Dick looked
about 18 and that he looked a lot like James
Dean. He was really getting a kick out of
that picture. Hes just has a really great
personality. Hes always laughing. I dont
think he stopped laughing once during the
time he was there. Hes really nice too. So
much unlike his brother. I wish I had brought
that pic of Kenny I have when he was real
little. He must have been like 5. I didnt
wanna rip it out of the magazine though.
So when the line had gone through and the
people in charge and security guards got
their autographs I got a few more good pics.
They had to hurry up and leave and there was
a door behind Rich so they had him open that
and he was like out of there the first chance
he got. Dick sat around a little bit talkin
to some family since hes from Wisconsin and
Kenny was kinda sitting there so I went up to
him and asked if I could get my pic with him.
I had to kinda lean back cuz he was sitting
at the table and there was no way to get
around the side to get next to him. He didnt
stand up either he was sitting so ill look
bad in the pic. Really bad. Well I had the
one lady in charge take the pic and then I
kinda wanted to talk a little bit to him. I
told him happy early birthday because his
birthday is Aug. 23 and it was Aug. 10 so I
just figured Id mention it..lol.So he said
and these are his exact words, "Aw thanks
sweetheart. Whens yours." I said Nov. 10th.
Then he said something else. I said a couple
more things to him but knew he had to go. I
was gonna mention the pictures were for on my
site in case he was wondering why I was
taking so many but I forgot..So then I walked
next to the table where they were going out
the door so I was standing next to the door
to get a few more good pics as they were
leaving. I took a couple pics and then Kenny
was gathering up his stuff to go and as he
was walkin up to the door I snapped a couple
more pics and he looked at me and said, "Bye
hun." That was cool. I was like..awwww he
called me sweetheart and hun.. lol..What a
cool guy. Dick was kinda still sitting around
and I got a couple pics and then left. I met
Kenny last year but didnt have time to chat.
I was towards the end of the line and almost
didnt get any autographs cuz they were
hurrying to leave and almost cut the line
off. The people behind me did ask him to
laugh because they thought his laugh was
kinda funny. I swear they asked him that. I
could have asked Dick Trickle if he had heard
that one joke but with his mom there I
couldnt...lol..Still Dale Jr was my most fav
to meet since hes my favorite driver but
Kenny Wallace is right there. He has got to
be the friendliest driver.
As I type this they should be getting ready
for the race at WIR tonite. I wanted to go
but I didnt have anyone to go with. They had
a couple more drivers signing autographs
there and I would have gone but by the time I
got there I know there would have been a huge
line so I didnt wanna bother and I didnt know
how to get there..lol..So that is my latest
meeting with the drivers. I hope we get more
up here again soon. I wanna meet as many as I
can.