Catchfence

David Poole, the lead NASCAR beat reporter at the Charlotte Observer since 1997, died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack. He was 50.

The Observer website reported that Poole had a heart attack in his home at Stanfield, N.C. After his daughter called 911, emergency crews rushed him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Poole was a 1981 graduate of the University of North Carolina and a 1977 graduate of Hunter Huss High School.

Poole had worked at the Observer since 1990 and previously worked at the Gaston Gazette. - SPEEDTV.com