"He was the one that told me, and this is kind of corny, but it isn't when you're 18 or 19 years old he told me 'In order to finish first, first you must finish,'" Martin said. "That stuck with me always."

The NASCAR garage was full of Trickle stories on Friday, a day after the 71-year-old racer died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. An old-school driver with an odd name, and a guy who earned an almost cult-like following among fans, Trickle was mostly remembered Friday for his role as a mentor to many drivers who went on to have far greater success in NASCAR than Trickle ever achieved.

A short-track star from Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., Trickle was believed to have won up to 1,000 races while inspiring hundreds of racers throughout the Midwest. Among them was Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace, a St. Louis native who toured the same Midwest circuit and raced Trickle down to the wire for the 1983 ASA championship.

"When I was short-track racing, I would call him every Monday morning and he would always help me with race setups and stuff," Wallace said. "He and I had such a good time telling little stories, but he was the guy that taught me almost everything in the (Midwestern) American Speed Association. And he was the guy that I battled right to the end for my 1983 ASA championship. I barely beat the guy that taught me everything."

Martin said he, Wallace and the late Alan Kulwicki, a Wisconsin native, owed their success to Trickle.

"We wouldn't have been the racers that we were when we got here had we not come under his influence," Martin said. "For the influence that he had on us, and the etiquette and the way he raced he raced us real hard on the race track, but off the race track, he was very free with parts or advice. He gave freely. Really, really good dude. I'm confused and broken-hearted about what happened."

Audio released Friday by the Lincoln County (N.C.) emergency dispatch center revealed a calm Trickle stating his location in the Forest Lawn Cemetery, and telling the dispatcher where to find a '93 pickup truck.

"There's going to be a dead body. A suicide," said the caller, who never identified himself as Trickle.

"Are you there?" asked the dispatcher.

"I'm the one," he responded.

The call ended as the dispatcher said she was sending help.

Trickle's brother, Chuck, told The Las Vegas Review-Journal that his brother had been having constant chest pains, and his obituary posted on the website for the Warlick Funeral Home in Lincolnton said doctors could not find the source of "severe chronic pain."

"His family as well as all those who knew him, find his death very hard to accept, and though we will hurt from losing him for some time, he's no longer suffering and we take comfort knowing he's with his very special angel," said a statement from the family, referring to the Trickle's oldest granddaughter, Nicole Bowman, who was killed in a car accident nearly 12 years ago.

"Dick's passion in life was his racing. He touched many lives throughout his career, provided memories for many that will last a lifetime. Many thought when he retired he would continue as a car owner, but he was driver at heart, he wanted to be behind the wheel and be in control of his destiny," the statement continued. "We believe he felt himself no longer able to be behind that wheel of life or be the man he only knew how to be because of the pain and suffering."

Trickle is survived by his wife, Darlene, three children and three grandchildren.

Trickle didn't move full time to NASCAR until 1989, when he was 47 years old. He made 303 career starts in the Cup Series, and although he never won a Cup race, he scored two wins in the second-tier series.

His death shocked 2003 NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth, a Wisconsin native who last spoke to Trickle last July after Kenseth won a Late Model race at Slinger Speedway.

"He kind of peeked in the trailer there afterwards of course he asked if we had any beer in there and man, we sat in there for two hours," Kenseth said. "That was the last time I saw him. We talked for two hours and he always had a lot of he had a unique way of looking at things, he had a ton of common sense and he was really smart and always had a really funny way of putting things. Ninety percent of the stuff he told me through all the years I raced with him always proved to be right.

"I'm still in shock. I don't really get it. I don't really know what all went on there. That's about it."

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A New Zealand politician suspected of leaking a report on the country's spy agency stepped down Friday from his ministerial duties.

Peter Dunne said he didn't leak the report to a journalist but had made errors of judgment nevertheless. He resigned as revenue minister but said he'd continue as a member of Parliament.

His resignation came after an inquiry into the leak found that Dunne had exchanged 86 emails with Fairfax Media reporter Andrea Vance in the two weeks before Vance published a scoop on the report. Dunne refused to turn over all the emails to the inquiry.

The report on the Government Communications Security Bureau concluded the agency unlawfully spied on up to 88 residents.

Prior to the leak, Prime Minister John Key had promised to publicly release the report. He did release it after Fairfax published its story.

Fairfax Media Executive Editor Paul Thompson said Friday the company never comments on its confidential sources.

RELATED:

Some might call it overkill to so thoroughly protect a site that doesn't really have that much personal information. (Though, LinkedIn members do provide credit card details to pay for premium subscriptions.) But it's good to get in the habit of doing a lot more leg-work to make sure, you know, someone doesn't sabotage your rsumé. The future is in doubly sure password protection. Plus, as far as hackers are concerned, one site is just the gateway to another — before you know it, they're inside your email and running rampant.

I will keep his secret, but there is a young woman he is living with and planning to marry, and I do not believe this is fair to her or her child. He is not happy being a gay man, and that's why he's choosing to live a lie. He was raised in church and feels like he is betraying God by being gay.

How can I support him and lie to this young woman he is with? My son is so confused. How do I help him and keep his secret at the same time? -- ANONYMOUS

DEAR ANONYMOUS: Your son may not be "happy" being a gay man, but that is who he is. For him to keep a secret like this from his fiancee, who plans to share the rest of her life with him, will be more hurtful to her if he goes through with the wedding than telling her now.

Help him by encouraging him to seek counseling through an LGBT community center. It will be strictly confidential, and there is nothing he can tell them they haven't heard before. He has already cracked open his closet door by disclosing his sexual orientation to you. This tells me that on some level he wants to open it all the way.

He is fortunate that he has a parent who is as accepting and wise about life as you. Continue talking to him and encourage him to talk more with you. It may help him to become more comfortable opening up and to accept reality.

DEAR ABBY: I live in a small town where traffic isn't much of a problem. Recently, though, a young man was killed in a car wreck. He ran into a semi because he was texting while driving. His final text was to a friend who had asked if they could get together for a night of fun.

As a rule, we look down on people who drink and drive, as this is unacceptable in today's world. But we do nothing to drivers who text and drive. Please advise your readers that no message is worth dying over. Last night there was another traffic accident caused by the same thing! -- ROBERT IN KILGORE, TEXAS

DEAR ROBERT: Sadly, that "night of fun" will have to be postponed indefinitely. Sometimes it takes a tragedy (or two) to wake people up because they're operating under the delusion that they are the exception to the rules of the road or are invincible.

DEAR ABBY: My mother is in her mid-90s and in good health. She has no intention of dying soon, but asked me an interesting question. She has mileage points with a major airline and was wondering if she can use them for the "final trip" back to her home state for burial when the time comes. Do you know the answer? -- ONE-WAY TICKET

DEAR ONE-WAY: Your question is not only an interesting one, but it's a first. I contacted a spokesperson for a major airline who responded that his company does not accept mileage points as a form of payment for any type of "shipment." For her last flight, your mother would no longer be considered a passenger; she would be cargo, which is why her points idea won't fly.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Good advice for everyone -- teens to seniors -- is in "The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It." To order, send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

"Mally", a 23-week-old capuchin monkey, was confiscated by authorities at Munich airport in March while the Canadian singer was on tour. The pet has since become German national property because Bieber did not provide health and species protection certificates.

Mally, who had been living in an animal shelter, has now moved to Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen, northern Germany, where he will remain in quarantine for a few more weeks before permanently settling with other white-faced capuchin monkeys.

"He will go into our capuchin monkey enclosure where there is a lovely island that is 40 meters long and 20 meters wide. It has lots of trees so it will be a bit of a game to try and recognize him," said Fabrizio Sepe, head of the wildlife park.

Mally was taken to the park in secret for his protection but fans will now be able to visit the animal, Sepe said. While most animals stay in their transport boxes for the first three days, Mally ventured out soon after arrival, he added.

"He came out straight away and jumped onto the carer's head and was immediately curious about everything."

Sepe said he had not heard from Bieber but added that he would be happy to give the singer information if he was interested.

(Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Michelle Martin, Editing by Gareth Jones and Paul Casciato)

The 44-year-old South African, who pulled out of the PGA Tour's Wells Fargo Championship and Players Championship earlier this month due to the same ailment, will be replaced in the field by a successful qualifier for the season's second major.

Goosen, a seven-times champion on the PGA Tour who is known for his unflappable temperament and good putting on fast greens, won the U.S. Open in 2001 at Southern Hills and again in 2004 at Shinnecock Hills.

The 2013 U.S. Open will be played at Merion from June 13-16.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Dublin, Ohio; Editing by Frank Pingue)

A commercial asteroid-mining company aiming to launch a crowdfunded space telescope raised more than $200,000 on the first day of its campaign.

, a private venture aiming to mine near-Earth space rocks for water, minerals and other resources, announced Wednesday (May 29) that it would build and launchif it could raise at least $1 million in 33 days.

The telescope will be a twin copy of thethe company is developing to detect, track and study asteroids in preparation for its mining mission. A test version of the spacecraft is set for its maiden trial flight in April 2014, while the crowdfunded model would launch in early 2015. []

Its pretax profit rose to 286.4 million shillings, while earnings per share rose to 0.91 shillings for the six months ending in March from 0.78 shillings in the same period a year ago.

"The increase in profits is largely as a result of higher production and sales volumes for tea and coffee and also improved tea prices," the company said in a statement.

"The results were however negatively impacted by significantly lower coffee prices and the effects of a stronger Kenya shilling."

Sasini said that its performance was further curbed by rising labour, power and agricultural input costs which narrowed margins. Total revenue rose 7 percent to 1.47 billion shillings.

Sasini, which is also involved in dairy farming, horticulture, tourism and retailing, said it would pay an interim dividend of 0.25 shillings per share, down from 0.50 shillings per share last year.

(Reuters) - Federal authorities approved a Nevada hospital's proposal on Friday for correcting deficiencies that led to newly discharged psychiatric patients being bused out of state without adequate plans for continued care.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also said it would conduct unannounced inspections of Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas to ensure that procedures are in place and working to prevent further instances of so-called patient dumping.

Officials at the state-licensed hospital said they have increased oversight of discharge planning to guarantee patients released to other states are enrolled in appropriate after-care programs when they arrive. The hospital also has enlisted chaperones to accompany newly discharged patients on Greyhound Bus rides.

Rawson-Neal came under fire after the Sacramento Bee newspaper reported the hospital gave one-way bus tickets to as many as 1,500 newly released patients for destinations in 47 other states in the past five years. About one-third were sent to neighboring California, the bulk of them arriving in Los Angeles.

Nevada health officials later acknowledged the hospital shipped 10 newly discharged patients out of state without documenting adequate aftercare plans for food, housing, medication and treatment. They said two employees were fired and three others faced disciplinary action.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department agency warned the hospital in April that it was in violation of Medicare rules governing discharge of patients and gave the facility until May 6 to come up with a remedy.

"We'll continue to inspect the hospital until we're convinced that it's in full compliance with Medicare rules that protect the health and safety of patients," said Jack Cheevers, spokesman for the Medicare and Medicaid Centers. "If the hospital fails to comply, it could lose its federal funding."

Also this week, Rawson-Neal released a hospital-commissioned report that confirmed a lack of follow-up care for some patients bused out of state as well as for some patients released within the Las Vegas area.

The independent report, prepared by a psychiatry professor and a clinical psychologist who spent a week in the facility, commends the hospital staff as "competent, compassionate, respectful and dedicated." But it said the unit was constantly filled to capacity and, as a result, staff members felt pressure to move patients out.

The report also concluded the 190-bed facility was severely understaffed.

Nevada health officials said they already had corrected some of the problems the report cited and were working to correct the remainder.

In one patient-dumping case cited by federal inspectors in March, a psychotic man who entered the hospital hearing voices and talking about worms in his head was put on a bus out of town the same day. The discharge was signed by a staff psychiatrist, and the man was sent to Sacramento, where he knew no one, with little more than cans of nutritional supplements and a three-day supply of medication, the report said.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Bill Trott)

DUBLIN, Ohio (Reuters) - Attention to detail helped Adam Scott clinch his first major title at last month's Masters and the Australian is adopting the same strategy as he grapples with the implications of the 2016 ban on anchored putting.

Golf's governing bodies announced the widely expected ban on May 21 after players anchoring long putters had won four of the last six major championships, with Scott the most recent.

The European Tour expressed its support for the idea but both the U.S. PGA Tour and PGA of America voiced opposition and Scott is among at least three players who have consulted lawyers while the U.S. circuit ponders its official response.

"My intention is just to get all the information given to me possible from the PGA Tour, and for me, like anyone else in a business, to have some professional guidance on this issue," Scott said on Wednesday. "That's all it is."

"I don't think I have the ability to get that or ask the right questions. I'm not a lawyer. That's not my area of expertise, so I just want to get that information and make sure that my views are expressed to the Tour and that's that.

"There's no intention of filing suit or making problems. But this is a business and I'm treating it professionally and I have professional counsel to do that. Just like I'm sure the Tour has professional counsel when they make decisions about things."

JOYOUS CELEBRATIONS

Scott, who uses a broomstick putter anchored to his chest, says his life has changed very little since he sparked joyous celebrations in his homeland after becoming the first Australian to win the Masters with a playoff victory over Angel Cabrera.

"It's more demanding (media-wise) when I come to a golf tournament, but other than that there's no difference, "the 32-year-old told reporters at Muirfield Village Golf Club while preparing for Thursday's opening round at the Memorial Tournament.

"I've been home a lot enjoying some time there and getting some practice done, but other than that it's just been quite a nice few weeks. It doesn't get old being congratulated for winning the Masters."

With the year's second major, the U.S. Open, being played at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania in two weeks' time, Scott hopes to make the most of his competitive play this week at Muirfield Village where the rough is up after recent rain.

"Generally I put my schedule on courses I like to start with; that's the first thing that I'm going to go there (Merion) with a good attitude and this is a good golf course," the Australian said of Muirfield Village which shares a few similar characteristics with Merion.

"There are some unique courses, but the rough here is something that I think is really good preparation (for Merion), although you don't want to miss too many greens here this week.

"It's the first time this year we've been in grass like this, rough like this. Having a week of playing out of it here can certainly just get you set for what you're in for going to Merion."

Scott, who has already played two practice rounds at Merion, is scheduled to tee off in the company of South Africans Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel in Thursday's opening round at Muirfield Village.

"The course sets up well for me and my game is in good shape," said Scott. "I'll be looking to take advantage of that trying to put myself in position over the weekend."

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Frank Pingue)