Chris Economaki changed motor sports coverage

Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

DOVER, Del. -- The auto racing community waxed fondly on the intrinsic influence and boundless passion of legendary motor sports journalist Chris Economaki, who died Friday at 91.

Economaki made his fame as the editor for more than 60 years of National Speed Sport News, once considered racing's publication of record, and served as track announcer and a pit reporter and host for nearly 40 years of TV race broadcasts on ABC, CBS and ESPN. The Ridgewood, N.J., native's distinctive nasally voice and direct, plainspoken delivery made him a fan favorite.

He also was highly respected by drivers, having covered virtually every legend of the sport during his career. Mario Andretti once said if Economaki wasn't aware of you, "you simply were not a factor in the sport."

Economaki, though, also wasn't known for playing favorites, offering sharply pointed views in his The Editor's Notebook column (which ran for six decades from a 1934 debut when Economaki was 13) and behind the microphone.

In an interview after a multicar crash that started the 1982 Indianapolis 500, Economaki tracked down ornery A.J. Foyt and conducted a somewhat terse but informative interview on ABC in which the four-time Indy 500 winner fingered Kevin Cogan as instigator of the wreck.

"Chris Economaki meant a whole lot to my career," Foyt said. "He saw me when I first started, and he wrote, 'You will read about this boy.'

"Chris was writing when racing was at its very best. I'm talking about midgets, sprints, dirt cars and Indy cars. He saw the sport grow to where it is today and how it grew, including NASCAR, and he contributed to that growth. When he was in his heyday, more people would read his column than any column that's been written today by far. He really knew what he was writing about, and he understood the sport in every field of it because he came through all the different types of racing. Today's writers don't understand racing like Chris did."

Four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon said he was a religious reader of Speed Sport News.

"It's a huge loss," Gordon said. "Chris did a lot for that newspaper and for motor sports and he was passionate about all of it. The last time I saw him was earlier this year, and still all he thought about was racing, and he cared so much about what was happening in this sport and wanted to make a difference and wanted to get those stories out there. It's just not very often that you come across somebody that puts their heart and soul and entire life mission into that."

Said five-time champion Jimmie Johnson: "I think many generations of race fans and racers and everybody in between has an 'Economaki moment' and remembers hearing his voice and seeing him on television and maybe meeting him. Everything he's done for motor sports, it makes me so thankful for what he contributed to our sport and his passion and dedication for our sport."

Known as "The Dean of American Motorsports Journalism," Economaki attended his first race in Atlantic City as a 9-year-old and began selling copies of Speed Sport News a few years later.

NASCAR founder Bill France asked Economaki to announce a 1951 race on the Daytona Beach, Fla., road course, and he also was part of ABC's first Daytona 500 telecast from Daytona International Speedway a decade later.

Economaki might have had an even larger impact on IndyCar. The trackside media conference room at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is named after Economaki, who continued to write stories on a typewriter into the 21st century. Though Economaki was perhaps best known for his impact on print journalism, his straight-talking interviews also left an indelible mark on TV, too.

Veteran pit reporter Dick Berggren said Economaki had a simple philosophy for imparting good information during an interview: Ask a good question.

"Chris Economaki became the prototype for all radio and television journalists in his sport," Fox and Speed play-by-play announcer Mike Joy said. "His depth of knowledge and skilled questioning made network execs understand that auto racing needed specialists to properly cover the sport. Chris opened the door for a whole generation of voices you hear today, and we are all indebted to him."