Racing Legend Dick Trickle Dies. NASCAR Driver Commits Suicide at Age 71 (VIDEO)

Racing legend Dick "The Man" Trickle has died.  He was 71.

North Carolina authorities have confirmed that Trickle died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Trickle was a mainstay at race courses for more than four decades.  He competed in more than 300 Sprint Cup races.  He was a "lonesome loser" in NASCAR, having never won a major race despite some 36 Top-Ten finishes.

He was a colorful personality both on and off the track.  He insisted on smoking cigarettes while driving his Winston-sponsored NASCAR auto, so he had a hole drilled into his helmet to hold his cigarette while he was racing.  He competed in more than 1,000 featured races, 2,200 races total and has been called "the winningest short track driver in history."

Dick Trickle was the first driver to log more than one million racing laps.

In 1997 he filmed a very famous NAPA auto parts store TV commercial making fun of his total racing losses.  View it here.