Atlanta resident Dave Despain recalls some of his most interesting moments at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (SPEEDtv.com Photo) » More Photos

Despain’s NASCAR broadcast career came full circle last month when he reunited with old pal and colleague Squier for SPEED’s broadcast of 100 hours from Daytona Speedweeks.

“It was great reuniting on and off the air with Squier and sharing lots of good memories,” Despain said. “The things I learned from Squier laid the foundation for everything I’ve done in radio and TV so I owe the guy a lot. If you weigh the NASCAR contribution of all the broadcasters objectively, I think Squier goes to the top of the list.”


The duo had the opportunity to reflect on the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 500 and the sport as a whole. Despain’s best, although not necessarily pleasant, NASCAR memory came as a Turn Four reporter for MRN in the 1982 Daytona 500, the race in which Bobby Allison’s car lost the bumper at the beginning of the race and drew objections from the competition the “mishap” was intended to gain an aerodynamic advantage.

“I was perched on an open platform atop a construction scaffold 50 feet in the air and was calling the field through the corner when I saw something flying up out of the pack of cars,” Despain remembered. “It looked like a bumper and appeared to be coming straight for my head! I started to duck and then realized it was a bumper-shaped piece of sheet metal that I presume was behind the bumper when it came off.

“I felt momentary relief and then realized I still had a problem - a six-foot scythe coming straight at me somewhere north of 150 miles-per-hour,” he continued. “I was about to jump and had my hand on the rail when the thing turned in the air, stalled and fell harmlessly to the ground…at precisely the moment I dropped the call to Ken Squier in the tower. The whole episode lasted perhaps five seconds, I didn’t miss a beat and nobody listening to the broadcast ever knew.”

As the NASCAR “traveling circus” heads to Atlanta this week, Despain considers the Cup race 16 years ago to be the most memorable at the 1.5-mile speedway.

“I really liked the 1992 race because of its historical significance with Richard Petty in his last start and Jeff Gordon in his first,” Despain stated. “It was the end of one generation and the beginning of the next and I was impressed by King Richard’s cool. When his car caught fire, he just drove around the apron until he came to a fire truck, pulled in, parked it and waited as they put it out.”

Despain also recalls fondly a couple of epic events at Atlanta.

“The other two that are memorable for their emotional impact were when Bill Elliott won the championship at Atlanta in 1988 in front of his home fans and when Alan Kulwicki won the title there in 1992 because pretty much everybody was a Kulwicki fan,” he added.

In addition to his on-air accomplishments, Despain served on the AMA Pro Racing Board in the 1990s and became a promoter in 1998 when he inaugurated the Dirt Track Hall of Fame Race in Springfield, Illinois, a race that paid a record $100,000 purse.

Despite all the years invested in NASCAR, Despain makes no secret of the fact his heart is in the two-wheel world.

“I’m pleased I was good enough to have a career and actually make a living covering racing,” he said. “And I’m proud I tried to stay connected to my roots – motorcycle racing – to the very end.”

SPEED, now in nearly 78 million homes in North America, is the exclusive home of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Gatorade Duel at Daytona, NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The only network delivering live, at-track programming all season long, SPEED offers the definitive pre- and post-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series programs – NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane, as well as other popular NASCAR programs including Trackside Live, Tradin’ Paint, NASCAR Performance, NASCAR Live!, This Week in NASCAR, NCTS Setup, Go or Go Home and The Chase is On.