ATLANTA — It took longtime Arkansas radio man Mike Nail a long time to get to Saturday’s SEC Championship Game.

Nail, who traveled with the basketball team to call Thursday’s game at Missouri, was stranded with the Razorbacks after a snowstorm hit the Columbia, Mo., area and shut down the local airport. Because of that, Nail missed the football team’s charter flight to Atlanta on Friday and was left scrambling to find alternate means to travel.

Nail and University of Arkansas employee Toni Bahn eventually secured one-way tickets from Kansas City, Mo. to Atlanta. To get from Columbia to Kansas City via snow-packed highways, however, Nail and Bahn ended up paying Rusty Plunkett $ 200 for a ride in his Chevrolet Tahoe.

Plunkett, who lives in Columbia, overheard Nail discussing his dilemma, then made his offer. Nail agreed after getting a couple of positive recommendations from people who knew Plunkett.

Arkansas Razorback Sports Network executive Todd Curtis said he could have had a private plane pick up and deliver Nail on Saturday if necessary, but Nail still endured some anxious moments.

“There was a point [Friday ] where Toni and I had pretty much resigned ourselves that we weren’t going to make it,” Nail said from the Arkansas radio booth on Saturday.

Instead, Nail and Bahn arrived in Atlanta on Friday night, reaching the team hotel haggard but happy at approximately 8: 30 p. m. Eastern.

“I slept like a baby,” Nail said.