Barnyard to Brickyard: The Rich Bickle Story

by John Close

Rich Bickle’s rock star lifestyle of fast cars and legendary partying ranks among the more colorful journeys in auto racing history. An imposing figure for a racecar driver at six-foot-five, Bickle’s larger-than-life persona and burning desire to succeed took him beyond the Wisconsin short tracks he mastered early in his career to include the bright lights of Daytona, Indianapolis, and other stops on the NASCAR circuit. Bickle, with the assistance of author John Close, describes the relationships, good and bad luck, and garage politics that often play a larger role in determining fame and fortune than talent alone. The brutally honest narrative pulls no punches in giving race fans an inside look at a career that both benefited from and was hindered by dealings with some of racing’s biggest stars.

206 pages, Paperback

Published July 15, 2019

Reviews

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up in Indiana I was more a dirt and IndyCar guy during his hay day but found this book very entertaining. The best part was remembering all the awesome tracks the truck series used to race in before it became the baby cup series and running lost the same tracks as the cup cars each weekend.

IMHO the truck series was a million times better back then.

Overall great read!

[James Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

RB45

Having watched short track racing in Wisconsin for over 35 years..I attended many of the races detailed in the book.. I really enjoyed Rich’s call it as I see it no BS attitude..I think this is required reading for any race fan..from the short track to Daytona Rich’s story is sure to resonate with true race fans

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in the day Wisconsin was a hotbed of short track racing. Many of the drivers mentioned in this great book raced here early in their careers, and still return for special races.I found the book to be very interesting and would recommend it to racing fans.