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Chris Economaki
By Gregg Leary
Category:Auto Racing
Born in Brooklyn, NY
His dad was a successful businessman, who had a car and a chauffeur
Dad “Lost everything and then some” in the Stock Market crash of 1929
Moved to his grandparents’ home in Ridgewood, NJ when Chris was in the 4th grade
Saw first race at Ho-Ho-Kus Speedway…snuck under fence
Went to races with a local racer’s father…at 13 or 14 he was traveling to races in Philadelphia, Allentown and Pottsville, PA…over 100 miles from home
Hitchhiked 7 miles to Paterson, NJ to catch rides with race teams…did menial tasks on cars…load and unload, fill radiator, clean windshield etc
In 1934, Chris began selling what is now “National Speed Sport News” at the racetracks.
He noticed that how many papers he sold was in direct proportion to how well the track announcer promoted the paper. So Chris started announcing races for the express purpose of promoting the newspaper. He got very good at both. A couple years later, he began writing “Gas-O-Line,” a column for the paper.
1938: Chris attends his first Indy 500. Legend has it he skipped his high school graduation to go there. I think he will dispute that notion.
The promoter Chris worked for prior to Bill France was Sam Nunis…a showman. He wanted the people to leave the grounds on race day knowing they had seen the greatest auto race ever run, regardless of how bad it was. “Sell it! Sell it! Sell it!” Chris fudged the Beach/Road races…he turned a parade into a series of miraculous passes he saw through his binoculars on the backstretch…he invented them…then had to get the cars in the correct order for their run up the beach in front of the grandstands…he heard a couple fans say, “Next year I’m going to sit in the South Turn. That’s where all the passing happens.”
Ask Chris about the jackass story at Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly’s “Party Pad” near Robinson’s Bar in Daytona.
1950: Bill France hires Chris to announce the Daytona Beach-Road races. He does so from 1951-58.
1959: Chris was the trackside announcer of the first Daytona 500. “I had to stand on the back row of the grandstands on what looked like a picnic table and the wind was blowing the lineups out of my hands. I called the last 200 miles with no paperwork in front of me.”
Chris Economaki was credited with saving the life of driver Lenny Page in the October 16, 1960 National 400 at Charlotte. Don O’Dell had hit Page’s T-Bird in the driver’s door. Chris, covering the race for NSSN, gave emergency first-aid to Page until the ambulance arrived. (“NASCAR Chronicle,” p.137) …photograph on page 34 “Charlotte Motor Speedway” by Greg Fielden.
July 4, 1961. Chris broadcasts his first Daytona Firecracker race for ABC.
Did TV for 33 years…1961-94…(23 years for ABC, 10 for CBS)
1965-70. Chris and Jim McKay called Indy 500 for ABC “Wide World of Sports.” Highlights were broadcast the week after the race.
1971-73. Chris Economaki, Chris Schenkel, Jim McKay and Jackie Stewart broadcast Indy 500 for ABC. In 1974 Jackie Stewart was absent. It was shown on same-day delay basis.
1987-90…Chris, Ken Squier, and Ned Jarrett broadcast the Daytona 500 for CBS.
In 2005 the Red Bull Driver Search announced “The Chris Economaki Junior Journalism Award.”