Chris Economaki
Encyclopedia
Christopher "Chris" Constantine Economaki (born October 15, 1920) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 motorsports commentator, pit road reporter, and journalist. Chris Economaki has been given the title "The Dean of American Motorsports." Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

 chose Economaki to author the auto racing history portion of its Encarta
Encarta
Microsoft Encarta was a digital multimedia encyclopedia published by Microsoft Corporation from 1993 to 2009. , the complete English version, Encarta Premium, consisted of more than 62,000 articles, numerous photos and illustrations, music clips, videos, interactive contents, timelines, maps and...

 Encyclopedia.

Background

Economaki was born in Brooklyn, New York. Economaki’s father was a Greek immigrant and his mother a great-niece of Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....

. He saw his first race at age 9 at the board track
Board track racing
Board track, or motordrome, racing was a type of motorsport popular in the United States between the second and third decades of the 20th century. Competition was conducted on oval race courses with surfaces composed of wooden planks...

 in Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...

. He was immediately hooked on the sport. He once attempted driving a midget car at a cinder track in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. "It wasn’t for me," says Economaki. "It was a really frightening experience. That was the first and last time I drove in competition."

He hung out and helped some of auto racing's most famous drivers at the famous "Gasoline Alley" at Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...

. He helped Duane Carter
Duane Carter
Duane Carter was an American racecar driver. He raced midget cars, sprint cars, and IndyCars. Carter was born in Fresno, California, and he died in Indianapolis, Indiana...

 with the setup on his outboard midget car in 1938 as an unofficial crew chief
Pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...

.

Journalist

He started his career at age 13 selling copies of National Speed Sport News newspapers. He wrote his first column at age 14 for the National Auto Racing News. Economaki became the editor of the National Speed Sport News in 1950. He began writing a column called "The Editor’s Notebook", which he continued to write over fifty years later. He eventually became owner, publisher, and editor of the National Speed Sport News. The newspaper was considered "America’s Weekly Motorsports Authority". His daughter Corinne Economaki took over as the publisher until the final issue of National Speed Sport News was published, on March 23, 2011.

He has co-written an autobiography called Let 'Em All Go: The Story of Auto Racing by the Man who was there.

In the inauguaral World 600 in 1960, Don O'Dell's Pontiac smashed the driver's door of Lenny Page's Chevy. Lenny Page, who was lucky to even survive the crash due to the safety systems at that time, was near death afterwards, but Economaki rushed to the scene and aided Page until safety crews arrived. He was later credited with saving Lenny's life.

Television & radio

He began as track announcer at a number of major races in the 1940s and 1950s. He began at the July 4, 1961 running of the Firecracker 250 NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 race at Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, Grand-Am and Motocross...

 for ABC Sports. He covered most ABC Wide World of Sports motorsports events, including several Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

s, Daytona 500
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....

s, Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 Grand Prix races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

, the East African Safari, and the Bathurst 1000
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia...

. He would also cover Wide World's less glamorous motorsports assignments, such as demolition derbies
Demolition derby
Demolition derby is a motorsport usually presented at county fairs and festivals. While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of five or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their vehicles into one another...

.

After 23 years he switched to CBS Sports
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...

. He covered International Race of Champions
International Race of Champions
International Race of Champions, better known as IROC, was a North American auto racing competition, promoted as an equivalent of an American All-Star Game or The Masters...

 (IROC) events, Daytona 500s, and Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 Grand Prix events.

He contributed to ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

's Speedweek
SpeedWeek
SpeedWeek is an American television program on ESPN. For 14 years, the weekly show aired multiple times in a week. When SpeedWeek ended in 1997, it was the longest-running motorsports magazine show...

, and TBS' Motorweek Illustrated. He covered Formula One events on ESPN in 1987 and 1988, before being replaced by the younger Bob Varsha.

He has covered several types of autoracing including sprint cars
Sprint car racing
Sprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa....

, Championship Cars
American Championship Car Racing
Since 1916 there has been a recognized United States national automobile racing National Championship for drivers of professional-level, single-seat open wheel race cars. The championship has been under the auspices of several different sanctioning bodies since 1909. Since 1911, the Indianapolis...

, stock cars
Stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, Brazil and Argentina. Traditionally, races are run on oval tracks measuring approximately in length...

, drag racers
Drag racing
Drag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....

, and CanAm
CanAm
The Canadian-American Challenge Cup or Can-Am, was an SCCA/CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1986.-History:Can-Am started out as a race series for Group 7 sports racers with two races in Canada and four races in the United States of America . The series was initially sponsored by Johnson...

 cars.

Economaki is a part of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network , is an in-house radio syndication arrangement which broadcasts the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar, and the Brickyard 400 to radio stations covering most of North America....

 coverage of the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

, contributing essays and analysis.

Awards/Halls of Fame

He has received numerous major awards. He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is a Hall of Fame and museum for American motorsports legends. It was originally located in Novi, Michigan and it moved to the Detroit Science Center in 2009.-Museum:...

 in 1994. He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a Hall of Fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members....

 in 1993. He was awarded the 1990 NASCAR Award of Excellence, and the NASCAR Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.

Other career awards include: inducted in the Oceanside Rotary Club of Daytona Beach Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1993, Tom Marchese Award, 1973 Hernry McLemore Award, 1978 Ken Purdy Award, 1981 Ray Marquette Award, first recipient of the 1982 Patrick Jacquemart Award, 1984 Dave Fritzlen Award (by the Chicago Boys Club), 1984 Walt Ader Memorial Award, the first Hugh Deery Memorial Award for Service to Auto Racing, the 1990 USAC Presidential Award, 1990 Charlotte Speedway Award, 2000 NASCAR/Federal Mogul Buddy Shuman award, the 2001 International Automotive Media Council Lifetime Achievement Award, and was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame and museum for midget cars. The Hall of Fame is located at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and can be accessed during weekly Sunday races during the summer.-A-C:...

 in 2002.

The Economaki Champion of Champions Award is named after him.

A day at the Dodge Charger 500 at the Darlington Speedway race weekend is named "Chris Economaki Day."

The press room at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the Brickyard 400....

 was named the Economaki Press Conference Room in 2006. Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway also known as the Tricky Triangle, is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania at Long Pond...

 named its press box The Chris Economaki Press Box. New Jersey Motorsports Park
New Jersey Motorsports Park
New Jersey Motorsports Park is a racing facility located in Millville, New Jersey. The park has two road courses and a high-performance karting facility. In the future, a tri-oval track and off-road course are to be built on the park's property. NJMP hosts amateur and professional automobile and...

's media center is named The Chris Economaki Media center

Acting career

Economaki appeared as a pit reporter in the movies Stroker Ace
Stroker Ace
Stroker Ace is a 1983 action comedy film, filmed in North Carolina and Georgia, about a NASCAR driver, the eponymous Stroker Ace, played by Burt Reynolds....

and Six Pack
Six Pack (film)
Six Pack is a 1982 American comedy-drama film directed by Daniel Petrie and starring Kenny Rogers, Diane Lane, Erin Gray, Anthony Michael Hall, and Barry Corbin-Plot:...

.

See also


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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