Chris Economaki was considered the Dean of motorsport journalists.
He was “the man” when it came to not only print coverage of our sport, but radio and television coverage on the electronic side as well.
He wrote his first auto racing column when he was only 14, and started editing iconic National Speed Sport News in 1950 and eventually purchased the paper outright.
His TV and Radio work for CBS and ABC started back in the 60’s. His face, voice and enthusiasm introduced the sport to generations of fans.
His daughter Corinne took over the operation of National Speed Sport News up to their final edition in March of 2011.
Chris departed the planet a short time later, in September of 2012 at the age of 92.
Once a year here in “Tomas Tales” as a huge fan of the man, I salute Economaki and the 50 years he published his “Editor’s Notebook” column, which was a highly entertaining stream of consciousness list of racing news items, theories, opinions and observations.
So here we go, Economaki style:
It has to be the auto racing story of the year! After having a record-breaking 8th Formula One championship stolen from him last season by questionable race direction, Lewis Hamilton should have launched into this season with vengeful fury. But incredibly, Mercedes gave him an uncompetitive car, and they’re still trying to fix it. Lewis himself conceded the championship in April… After two seasons of close to zero gate due to Covid-19 restrictions, it’s simply splendid to see the big shows back in business, the F-1 Canadian Grand Prix Montreal in June and the IndyCar Toronto Indy in July. Equally excellent, the regional speed-plants are wide open again across The Raceline Radio Network. Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Toronto, Merrittville Speedway Thorold Ontario and Ransomville Speedway, Ransomville NY are all back aboard with advertising campaigns on affiliates co-flagship Sportsnet 590 The FAN Toronto and News Talk 610 CKTB St. Catharines/Niagara/Western NY… 30 years of Raceline Radio allows more than a few predictions in interviews to come to pass. In 1994, just our second season on the air, we asked then IHRA Alcohol FunnyCar champion Todd Paton if nitro drag racing was in the teams’ future plans. Fast forward to 2022 and The Paton’s field the only regularly competing Canadian Top Fuel team. Californian Cameron Ferre took the Paton’s rail to the T/F final at the 4-Wide Nationals at Charlotte at the start of May… Does NASCAR really want us to watch their Truck Series races on TV? Then why do they make the telecasts darn close to unwatchable by running the same promos over and over and over again every stop set? No spots. Just promos. The same ones. Ad nauseam. I’ve worn out the mute button on my remote! Can they not be more creative than that?.. The larcenous price of gasoline at the pumps and the related sky-high price for racing fuel isn’t the only challenge facing race teams. The constipated supply chain means racing tires in most quarters are extremely hard to come by and are a lot more expensive. It takes approximately seven gallons of oil to make one tire, and with the skyrocketing price of crude, blamed conveniently on the Russia/Ukraine war, it’s a major assault on the racing budgets!
Tale Pipes: Inside The Eastern Museum of Motor Racing in York Springs Pennsylvania, not far from Williams Grove Speedway in the heart of sprint car country, you’ll find The Chris Economaki Library. It’s a room full of Chris’ books, awards, research material and mementos. Economaki was so taken with the museum he left them a sizeable donation in his will. The Eastern Museum of Motor Racing is a must-see if you’re ever in that area of the States. So is nearby Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown PA, a short drive from Gettysburg. It’s a very fast oval well suited to sprint cars. Its most notable feature is the bright red clay! The iron rich soil produces oxide or “rust” that gives the clay the unusual colour.
