Longtime NASCAR journalist David Poole died yesterday at the age of 50.  David was one of the most respected media members in the garage area who wasn’t afraid to give his opinion on the sport of NASCAR.  He authored several racing books, was a motorsports writer for the Charlotte Observer since 1990, and a satellite radio host. David will be missed.

Read David’s last blog entry

David on Facebook

Article from thatsracin.com a division of The Charlotte Observer

COMMENTS FROM AROUND NASCAR

BRIAN FRANCE: “The NASCAR community is stunned and saddened by the loss of David Poole. David was as passionate about NASCAR as anyone and had very definitive opinions about the sport. He served the industry, and most importantly the fans, through his reporting and commentary in the Charlotte Observer and Sirius Satellite Radio. Our thoughts and prayers go out to David’s family and friends. He will be missed.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON: “I am shocked and saddened to hear the news that our sport has lost David Poole. My thoughts go out to his family. He was someone who loved our sport and wasn’t afraid to voice his opinion. That’s what made him one of the most respected members of our media. I know I worked twice as hard to make sure I earned his respect. I am proud of what he has done for our sport and I know he will be truly missed by everyone in NASCAR.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR.: “David Poole was as much a fixture in this sport as the actual cars themselves.  As someone fortunate enough to make a living doing what I love, I am indebted to David for the exposure he generated for our sport for 13 years, and the direct connection he had with the NASCAR fan base.  He was a one-of-a-kind individual and an extremely talented writer.  Our condolences go out to David’s family and friends.  He will be missed.”

KELLEY EARNHARDT: “This is an extremely sad loss.  David Poole was a dear friend, not only to his colleagues in the media but to myself personally and the entire Earnhardt family.  We could count on David for so many things, whether it be his coverage of our teams and business endeavors, or simply his unique ability to offer encouragement and support when it was needed most.  My heart and prayers go out to David’s family, especially to the joy of his life – his grandson Eli.”

RICHARD CHILDRESS: “Our thoughts and prayers go out to David’s family. He was a friend of everybody in the garage area. He could be controversial from time to time but he always wrote and spoke what he believed. He didn’t pull any punches with anybody and that’s what people respected about him. He was good for the sport and will be missed.”

CLINT BOWYER: “David worked his ass off for our sport, whether it was in his writing or on his radio show. His life revolved around the sport and we’re obviously very saddened by the loss. He will be missed.”

JEFF BURTON: “I’ve gotten to know (David) Poole really well over the years. He spent a lot of time with the No. 31 team every weekend and would sit and have conversations with us on just about everything. He was fun to agree and debate with. I admired his professionalism and work ethic and he did a great job of reporting our sport to the fans. He’s someone I have a lot of respect for and he will definitely be missed.”

STEPHEN LEICHT: “David was a great person. I loved being on his radio shows because he always found a way to make you laugh during the interview. He always made you feel like you were best buds that had known each other for years. He was a superb writer that always had creative angles to make a story the best it could be. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family during this difficult time. We’ll all miss seeing his face in the garage area. It’s a sad day for our NASCAR community to lose this incredible writer and dear friend.”

CASEY MEARS: “David Poole was a professional and his passing is a big loss to our sport. I always had a very good working relationship with David. He always knew when the right time to approach a driver was and when it wasn’t. He was a fair and objective reporter and someone who I had a great deal of respect for. I always appreciated his no nonsense approach. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

RICK HENDRICK: “David was a devoted husband, father and grandfather, and he was exceptionally passionate about this sport that we all care so deeply for. His voice was unique, his opinions were his own, and his abilities as a writer and journalist were unsurpassed. He had the courage to say what others would not, and he was deeply respected for it. Without driving a car or turning a wrench, David Poole was a racer, and he will be sincerely missed.”

Auto Club Speedway President GILLIAN ZUCKER: “The staff at Auto Club Speedway is saddened to learn of the passing of David Poole.  His passion, knowledge and dedication to motorsports will be greatly missed.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and colleagues.”

DAVID RAGAN: “David Poole was one of my toughest critics for a year or so when I
was first starting out.  Through that we became real good friends and I
hate to hear that he’s gone.  He definitely had a passion for his work
and was a really good guy and a good friend.  He’ll be missed.”

GREG BIFFLE: “David Poole was one of those reporters who you knew would always shoot you straight.  He had a passion for our sport that gave him a unique
perspective and it came through in his reporting.  He will certainly be
missed in the garage for a long time to come.”

MATT KENSETH:  “David was a very fair and honest reporter. He had refreshing
honesty, and would speak his mind. He didn’t care if everyone liked it
or not, and never got wrapped up in the politics. You always knew where
you stood with David and I will miss having him around.”

CARL EDWARDS: “David is a straight-up guy.  If I picked up a paper and there was a David Poole article in it, I would read it.  His opinions and analysis
were always fair and educated no matter what happened.  I personally
feel like he’s one of the best at delivering our sport (NASCAR) to the
world.  My thoughts and prayers are with his family.  I’ll miss having
him around.”

GEOFF SMITH: “David was a great contributor to the knowledge base of the NASCAR fan and greatly influenced the sport.  He will be missed.”

JACK ROUSH: “I was saddened to hear of the passing of David Poole.  His candor and insight into NASCAR was refreshing and at the same time, established him
as a leader in the media.  Our thoughts and prayers are with his family
at this difficult time.  He will be greatly missed.”

KERRY MURPHEY: I am saddened to learn of the passing of David Poole, he was a member of the media you could always count on to tell things like they are.  I met him once in a media lunch line at the track, and it was an honor to meet such a longtime respected member of the media.   His written word was second to none,  and I will miss his honesty and professionalism.

Statement from Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 28, 2009) – “The NASCAR community is stunned and saddened by the loss of David Poole. David was as passionate about NASCAR as anyone and had very definitive opinions about the sport. He served the industry, and most importantly the fans, through his reporting and commentary in the Charlotte Observer and Sirius Satellite Radio. Our thoughts and prayers go out to David’s family and friends. He will be missed.”

After the weekend’s horrendous crashes at Talladega Superspeedway, the fans are outraged. I don’t count myself among those outraged. I rather take the time to thank the Lord that nothing worse happened. Maybe it is just me but I hate to dwell on things.

A few years ago I was at a track here in Tucson called United Sports Arizona and there was a really crazy wreck that happened that was eerily similar to the one between Brad and Carl and which involved Ryan Newman. The one big difference, which I believe made the wreck all that much worse, was the fact that the car which had become airborne ended up facing the opposite direction on top of the other car. The car did hit the fence but no fans were injured. It was scary because had there not been a fence there, I would have had a car on top of me.

And yet after having experienced that I am not upset or screaming for more protective features and better safety at races. When you buy a ticket, there is a disclaimer! You take the risk when you buy it that something can and might happen but probably won’t. If something does happen, it is not like you were not warned beforehand.

Moving on to the subject of the drivers. There have been a number of pretty spectacular crashes in recent NASCAR history. There have been a series of minor injuries as a result of those wrecks such as bruised ribs and other such things.

I am sure that with the recent death of Scott Kalitta, last June, safety has been a huge pressing issue on a number of motorsports fan’s minds. It was a tragic and horrible day that Scott was killed and I don’t intend for my following statements to take away from that. Please keep in mind that I was another member of the racing community that was heartbroken over Scott’s death. Now I may not have been a NHRA fan but it touched close to home when that happened because I believe motorsports fans, no matter what league of racing, are a huge family and when one racer dies, we all mourn.

However the NASCAR series is what I believe to be one of if not the safest series in racing. You have really hand it to the NASCAR safety engineers- they are doing something right because there have been no fatalities and very few injuries as a result of these wrecks.

I don’t claim to be an expert on any of this, all I know is that as a fan, I believe NASCAR is doing and has done all they can. I believe the HANS device, roll bars, roof flaps, SAFER barriers are all doing their job to protect the guys that are in those cars. I also believe that if you ask any driver about the risks they will tell you that they understand the risks that racing carries but they are willing to take those risks to do what they love.

Race fans- let the drivers to the racin’, the engineers do the worrying and let us just sit back and enjoy the races.

@NASCARGirl14

The opinions expressed in this article are solely that of the author and not this website.

By Tim Tuttle Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (April 27, 2009) — Mike Skinner drove Randy Moss Motorsports to its first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory Monday in the rain-delayed and -shortened O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway.

Skinner’s win was his first of the season and 26th of his series career. He joined the team, formed when NFL star Moss became partners with Morgan-Dollar Motorsports owner David Dollar last July, in January to form a two-truck effort with rookie Tayler Malsam.

“Randy, we got it buddy,” Skinner said. “We got us one. It’s really, really cool. We’ve got a lot of effort to build this program.”

Continue reading “Mike Skinner wins rain plagued Truck race in Kansas”

TALLADEGA, ALA. — Carl Edwards was heading for Victory Lane when a nudge from rookie Brad Keselowski sent him careening into the frontstretch retaining fence to end a wild and wooly Aaron’s 499 Nascar Sprint Cup race here Sunday. Edwards ended up finishing 24th.

The last-lap wreck also took veteran Ryan Newman out of the race as well. Newman had tucked in behind Edwards and pushed him towards what appeared to be a sure-fire Edwards win before the bumping incident.

Keselowski went on down the track to win his first-ever Sprint Cup race with smoke and parts from Edwards’ Ford filled the air.

It was a day of costly wrecks for many of NASCAR’s biggest stars but Dale Earnhardt, Jr., brought his Hendrick Chevrolet home second behind the rookie winner.

Continue reading “Race Recap for Talladega: Keselowski Wins, Edwards Flips”