After suffering a heart attack Tuesday afternoon at his North Carolina home, David Poole was pronounced dead at the hospital. He was 50 years old.
Probably one of NASCAR's most well-known journalists, Poole will be remembered as an influence on writers in the NASCAR community.
I personally had the chance to talk with Mr. Poole back in 2007 on the Sirius radio show, The Morning Drive with Marty Smith, and we talked about Casey Mears winning the Coke 600 the day before and also about the pros and cons of the COT. I also met him in Daytona in the garage during the 50th Anniversary of the Daytona 500 last February.
As far as I could tell through those meetings, Poole was one of the tell-it-like-it-is people that this world needs. He will be missed.
“David Poole was as much a fixture in this sport as the actual cars themselves,” driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Tuesday. “He was a one-of-a-kind individual and an extremely talented writer.”
“He could be controversial from time to time but he always wrote and spoke what he believed,” said Richard Childress, president and CEO Richard Childress Racing. “He didn't pull any punches with anybody and that's what people respected about him. He was good for the sport.”
“He was truly one of the nation's best and he always wrote what he believed,” said Bruton Smith, chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports. “Whether you agreed with him or not, he made us all think, and that's what the best writers do. He cared about what he did and had a passion for his work. It came through in what he wrote every day.”
“I'd go in restaurants in Mooresville and people would say, ‘Did you read what Poole wrote today?'” said Tom Higgins. “And I'd say that's the first thing I read.”
In announcing Poole's death to a hushed newsroom Tuesday afternoon, Observer editor Rick Thames called him “the best in his field, there's no doubt about that.” Thames said: "David Poole was the fans' reporter, always covering NASCAR with their sensibilities in mind. Their passions were his passions. Their values, his values. If that occasionally clashed with the power brokers of the sport, so be it. David told it like it was. And by doing that, he made the sport richer and more genuine for all who love it."
Statement from Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO: “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.”
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