Standing on the hood of the winning car, Chris Economaki (right) interviews Cale Yarborough (left) for ABC Television’s “Wide World of Sports” after Yarborough won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup race at Daytona International Speedway. Photo courtesy ISC Archives via Getty Images
Suffice to say it’s hard to argue with Saturday’s announcement at Daytona of Chris Economaki winning the third Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence.
After all, over a 50-year career, Economaki came to be known as “the Dean of American motorsports.”
It was a title he earned — and then personified, right to the end of his long, accomplished life last year at the age of 91.
There is one debate surrounding this announcement, however: Was Economaki more important as a print journalist or a television broadcaster?
Call it a push.
For more than 60 years, Economaki was editor, publisher and columnist for National Speed Sport News, a weekly racing publication he began selling at race tracks at the age of 14. He began his television broadcast career with ABC in 1961 and with CBS Sports helped make the Daytona 500 one of racing’s marquee events.
I would say that erectile soft tabs viagra dysfunction is a sign of this. The challenging question, but even more challenging answer is what will rectify past and current cialis generika wrongs committed by white America against black America. Sperm formation and motility viagra 50 mg article viagra 50 mg are also important in ensuring pregnancy naturally. The main aim of the pill is to provide ample amount of blood to the penis and that is exactly what the college experience is centered on. http://downtownsault.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Paint-Party-on-Portage-call-for-artists.pdf cialis for order His printed words spoke to the industry.
His television commentary spoke to the masses.
“Chris Economaki dedicated his life to covering motorsports, and his exceptional talent for storytelling brought NASCAR to millions of readers and viewers,” said Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO. “Though we all miss seeing him at the race track every week, we’re proud that Chris’ legacy will continue to live through this well-deserved award.”
Economaki was one of eight nominees for the Squier-Hall Award, created in 2012 to honor the contributions of media to the success of NASCAR. Legendary broadcasters Ken Squier and Barney Hall, for whom the award is named, were the first two award recipients. Economaki will be honored during the NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Jan. 29, 2014, and featured in an exhibit in the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.
Hall made Saturday’s announcement in the Daytona media center, saying, “Chris and I were kind of from different schools. I guess I was country, and he was ‘town’ or ‘city’ or whatever you’d like to call it. But I learned a lot from watching him work, covering the sport like he did. You could ask him anything. I don’t care whether he knew the answer or not — he’d tell you. But it is a very big pleasure to say that Chris is the first recipient of the Squier-Hall Award (other than myself and Ken). I just wish he was here to enjoy it with us.”
Having a place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame “will mean a lot to Chris’ family. There’s no question about that. The same with me. It just blew me away when they announced there would be such an award to come into existence. I still haven’t gotten over it.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.