Goodbye, my friend

David Poole and Mike Bagley on Sirius Satellite Radio's The Morning Drive Show from Hendrick Motorsports last year during between the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 weekends. Photo by Jerry Jordan

David Poole — 1959 - 2009

A lot of people knew David Poole as gruff and ornery but to me he was a friend and one of the first people to help me out when I had a question about the inner-workings of NASCAR.

I would never claim to know David Poole, as well as, other more regular reporters covering the sport but I still looked up to him for inspiration and advice.

David Poole invited me into a tight-nit club known as the NASCAR press corps and he would always make it a point to say, "hello" when he walked by me in the media center. He and I even started working on a major story together but we never got around to finishing it.

For his family and anyone that might stumble across my Blog, I want to let you know that David Poole will be greatly missed. My condolences to you as I know you are struggling to cope in this very difficult time.