Karen Madden

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

WISCONSIN RAPIDS - A Stevens Point man is guilty of stealing an iconic Dick Trickle stock car.

Patrick J. Langreck, 50, of Stevens Point, pleaded no contest to felony theft Monday morning in Wood County Circuit Court, and was found guilty of the charge by Wood County Circuit Judge Greg Potter. Langreck faces a maximum sentence of up to six years in prison. No sentencing had been scheduled Monday.

Langreck stole a Dick Trickle race car that belonged to his brothers Leslie and Kenneth Langreck, who bought the vehicle from a member of Trickle's pit crew about 30 years ago, Leslie Langreck told a USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reporter. The car, known as the Purple Knight and driven by the racing legend in 1974, had been placed in an abandoned barn in the town of Marshfield.

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Leslie Langreck discovered the car missing in May 2016, and Wood County investigators later learned that Patrick Langreck sold it to a Grand Rapids man for $6,000, according to court documents.

Trickle, a native of Wisconsin Rapids, made a name for himself racing late-model stock cars before graduating to NASCAR, where he started 303 races and finished in the top five 15 times.

Karen Madden: 715-424-7308, karen.madden@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter as @KMadden715.