Christopher “Crash” Clark is leaving 11Alive after 11 years as a traffic reporter at the NBC affiliate in Atlanta.
His final day on air is Friday, Dec. 27, according to Carol Fowler, director of content at the station, in a text Monday to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In an email to staff, Fowler wrote, “For the past decade, Crash has been an integral part of our morning show ensemble, waking up Atlanta with his energy, wit, and unparalleled traffic expertise. … We’ll miss Crash’s personality and his signature traffic red alerts, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
Clark did not respond to a text seeking comment.
Credit: From the 2019 11Alive Canathon for the Salvation Army December 6, 2019 with Crash Clark at Cumberland Mall.
Credit: From the 2019 11Alive Canathon for the Salvation Army December 6, 2019 with Crash Clark at Cumberland Mall.
Before 11Alive, Clark was a fixture on Atlanta radio for nearly a quarter century on multiple radio stations.
His first radio gig in Atlanta was with Power 99, a top 40 station, in 1989. He stayed on when the station became alternative rock 99X in 1992. On the Morning X show on 99X in the 1990s into the 2000s, he played the party-loving goofball. (He has been married and divorced three times. Now in his late 50s, he is single again.) He was also the traffic guy on hip-hop station Hot 97.5 as “Crash D.” He has also worked at the former rock station 92.9/Dave FM and hip-hop station V-103.
Earlier this year, Clark returned on the radio with 99X’s morning show featuring Steve Barnes and Leslie Fram, providing traffic and the occasional anecdote while doing double duty with 11Alive.
“We’re all a little older and grayer. I’m a little thicker. But it’s the same shtick in radio. We’ll have some fun,” Clark told the AJC in an interview in July.
Steve Craig, program director for 99X, said his arrangement with 99X ends on Dec. 29 as well. But he said “we are looking into other possibilities with Crash.”
Brian Phillips, who once ran 99X as program director in the 1990s and brought the station format back two years ago, said he “will always welcome him as part of the 99X family.”
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