Bidding a friend farewell

Forgive me for a moment as I reflect upon the life of David Poole, a colleague who also covered NASCAR for The Charlotte Observer. As I'm sure you're well aware, David suffered a fatal heart attack Tuesday. He was 50.

Many of you might have known him through his articles in the Observer or his role as co-host of the "Morning Drive' on Sirius Satellite Radio. You got a glimpse of David from his argumentative style to the fun he had with music lyrics or with guests. I was fortunate to share the beat for a decade with him, spending times not only in media centers but airplanes, cars and even baseball games. We argued. We laughed. We shared stories about family.

With what has happened, I'm so glad he was able to attend my wedding April 18. We were talking on Saturday in the Talladega media center, the first time we really had a chance to talk since the wedding. He started giving me grief for the homework he got at the wedding. He said he thought he was just going to go to the wedding and have a good time. Yet in the middle of the ceremony, the pastor asked the audience if they would help guide my bride and I, helping us on our journey through life. They answered they would.

So there we were in the  media center the other day, Poole is yelling at me in a fun way how he has so much work to do and now he's got to keep an eye out for me on the road. We laughed. It was the last laugh we shared.

One of the other special moments was back in 1999 when he grabbed me at Infineon Raceway and told me to join him and a few others on a road trip. They were going to drive up the coast and enjoy the scenery. We drove for hours, chatting and seeing sights. We ended up stopping at what looked like a dive of a restaurant that had some of the best seafood I've had. Althought it was more than an hour from the track, it became an annual trip for us. It was one of the things we looked forward to the most on that trip.

Of course, nothing lit up David more than to talk about his grandson. Often I asked about how his grandson was doing and each time David had another story about him. With all that David had to do with work he seemed to find so much time for his family. I admired for that. Between travel and all the things to check up on, this job can be all consuming. He reminded me that it's OK to take a break from time to time.

The shock is still there, and I'm still numb about David's death. But what might be hardest is seeing his empty seat in the media center this weekend at Richmond.

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