NASCAR on television in the 1960s

Main article: NASCAR on television and radio

One of the earliest telecasts of a NASCAR race was the 1960 Daytona 500, parts of which was presented as part of CBS Sports Spectacular, with announcer Bud Palmer.^[1]

In the ensuing years, but before 1979, there were three main sources of NASCAR telecasts:^{[citation needed]}

• ABC's Wide World of Sports, the sports anthology program, provided coverage of select NASCAR Winston Cup races in the 1970s. In 1971, it presented a 200-lap race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in its entirety, the first such broadcast of a NASCAR race. Throughout the 1970s, ABC presented portions of the Daytona 500, Southern 500, and other important races.
• In the late 1970s, CBS Sports Spectacular aired some races; like Wide World of Sports, they were taped and edited.
• Car and Track, a weekly auto racing show hosted by Bud Lindemann, recapped all of NASCAR's top-series races in the 1960s and 1970s in a weekly 30-minute syndicated show.

List of races televised

1960

Date	Event	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)
2/12	Twin 100's	CBS[2]	Bud Palmer

In February 1960, CBS sent a "skeleton" production crew to Daytona Beach, Florida and the Daytona International Speedway to cover the Daytona 500's Twin 100 (now the Bluegreen Vacations Duel) qualifying races on February 12, 1960.^[3] The production crew also stayed to broadcast portions of the Daytona 500 itself, two days later. The event was hosted by John S. Palmer. CBS would continue to broadcast portions of races for the next 18 years, along with ABC and NBC.^[4]

1961

Date	Event	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)
7/4	Firecracker 250 (Daytona)	ABC[5]	Bill Flemming	Chris Economaki[6]

1962

Date	Event	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)	Reporters
2/18	Daytona 500	ABC[7]	Jim McKay[8]	Stirling Moss	Chris Economaki
7/4	Firecracker 250 (Daytona)	ABC[9]	Bill Flemming	Chris Economaki
9/3	Southern 500[10] (Darlington)	ABC	Jim McKay	Chris Economaki

From 1962 to 1978, the Daytona 500 was shown on ABC's Wide World of Sports.^{[citation needed]} During the 1960s and early 1970s, the race was filmed and an edited highlight package aired the following weekend. In 1974, ABC began the first semi-live coverage (joined-in-progress) of the Daytona 500. Coverage was normally timed to begin when the race was halfway over. Brief taped highlights of the start and early segments were shown, then ABC joined the race live already in progress, picking up approximately the last 90 minutes of the race. This format continued through 1978.

1963

Date	Event	Track	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)
2/24	Daytona 500[11]	Daytona	ABC[12][13][14]	Bill Flemming[15]	Chris Economaki
7/4	Firecracker 400	Daytona	ABC[16]	Bill Flemming	Chris Economaki

1964

Date	Event	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)	Reporters
2/23	Daytona 500	ABC[17]	Bill Flemming[18]	Stirling Moss	Chris Economaki
4/5	Atlanta 500[19]	CBS[20]
5/24	World 600[21]	NBC
10/18	National 400[22] (Charlotte)	ABC	Jim McKay	Chris Economaki

1965

Date	Event	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)	Reporters
2/14	Daytona 500[23]	ABC[24][25]	Bill Flemming	Dan Gurney
5/8	Rebel 300 (Darlington)	ABC	Jim McKay	Chris Economaki
7/4	Firecracker 400[26] (Daytona)	ABC	Bill Flemming	Chris Economaki
9/6	Southern 500 (Darlington)	ABC[27]	Jim McKay	Rodger Ward	Chris Economaki
10/17	National 400[28] (Charlotte)	ABC	Bill Flemming	Rodger Ward	Chris Economaki

1966

Date	Event	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)	Reporters
2/27	Daytona 500[29]	ABC[30]	Curt Gowdy	Rodger Ward	Chris Economaki
4/30	Rebel 400[31] (Darlington)	ABC	Jim McKay	Bill France[32]
7/4	Firecracker 400 (Daytona)	ABC	Jim McKay	Rodger Ward	Chris Economaki
9/5	Southern 500 (Darlington)	ABC	Bill Flemming	Rodger Ward	Chris Economaki
10/16	National 500 (Charlotte)	ABC	Jim McKay	Rodger Ward	Chris Economaki

1967-69

Year	Date	Event	Track	Network	Coverage	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)	Pit Reporters
1967	February 24	Twin 100 Races	Daytona	ABC	Highlights	Jim McKay	Chris Economaki
	February 26	Daytona 500[33]	Daytona	ABC	Highlights	Jim McKay	Chris Economaki
	May 13	Rebel 400	Darlington	ABC	Highlights	Chris Economaki	Fred Lorenzen
	July 4	Firecracker 400[34]	Daytona	ABC	Highlights	Jim McKay	Fred Lorenzen[35]	Chris Economaki
	September 4	Southern 500[36]	Darlington	ABC	Highlights	Bill Flemming	Fred Lorenzen	Chris Economaki
	October 20	National 400	Charlotte	ABC	Highlights	Keith Jackson[37]	Ned Jarrett
1968	February 25	Daytona 500[38]	Daytona	ABC[39]	Highlights	Bill Flemming	Chris Economaki
	May 11	Rebel 400[40]	Darlington	ABC	Highlights	Bill Flemming	Fred Lorenzen[41]
	July 4	Firecracker 400	Daytona	ABC	Highlights
	September 2	Southern 500[42]	Darlington	ABC	Highlights	Bill Flemming	Chris Economaki
	October 20	National 500	Charlotte	ABC	Highlights	Jim McKay	Fred Lorenzen	Chris Economaki
1969	February 23	Daytona 500[43]	Daytona	ABC	Highlights	Bill Flemming	Chris Economaki
	March 30	Atlanta 500[44]	Atlanta	ABC	Highlights	Bill Flemming	Chris Economaki
	May 10	Rebel 400	Darlington	ABC[45]	Highlights	Jim McKay	Chris Economaki
	July 4	Firecracker 400[46]	Daytona	ABC	Highlights	Jim McKay	Chris Economaki
	September 1	Southern 500	Darlington	ABC[47]	Highlights	Bill Fleming	Chris Economaki
	October 12	National 500[48]	Charlotte	ABC	Highlights	Jim McKay	Chris Economaki

See also

• List of Daytona 500 broadcasters
• List of Wide World of Sports (American TV series) announcers
• List of events broadcast on Wide World of Sports (American TV series)
• NASCAR on television in the 1970s
  • NASCAR on television in the 1980s
  • NASCAR on television in the 1990s
  • NASCAR on television in the 2000s
  • NASCAR on television in the 2010s

References

1. Ryan McGee (2007). ESPN Ultimate NASCAR. ESPN Books. pp. 42–43. ISBN 978-1-933060-25-5.
2. "Ars Enter Daytona. - Page 17". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. January 14, 1960. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
3. "NASCAR Countdown: Chicagoland". ESPN MediaZone. July 7, 2007. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008.
4. http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1232064927/0^{[permanent dead link‍]}
5. "Speedway Has Year Round Impact On Area Economy. - Page 5". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. July 30, 1965. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
6. Barnes, Mike (September 28, 2012). "Chris Economaki, the Voice of American Motorsports on TV, Dies at 91". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
7. "Sonotone Of Reading. 112 South Fifth Street Fr 6-5305. - Page 92". Reading Eagle. March 18, 1963. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
8. Herbst, Alex (May 9, 2016). "Top-Five NASCAR TV Announcers of All-Time". Beyond the Flag. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
9. "Today's Sports. - Page 8". Warsaw Times - Union. July 16, 1962. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
10. 1962 Southern 500 @ Darlington on YouTube
11. 1963 Daytona 500 (ABC Broadcast) on YouTube
12. "Sports - Page 85". Reading Eagle. March 10, 1963. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
13. Kahn, Bernard (October 5, 1963). "France Sees Speedway Up In 63. - Page 16". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
14. Kahn, Bernard (July 26, 1962). "France Sees Speedway $$ Up In '63". Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
15. "Video: The 1963 Daytona 500". Motor City Garage. August 3, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
16. "Auto Race. Rehash Scheduled. On Tv. - Page 10". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. July 16, 1962. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
17. "Sports - Page 43". Reading Eagle. February 22, 1964. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
18. "Tv Key... Prevewers Recommend These Programs Tonight. - Page 6". Meriden Journal. February 29, 1964. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
19. 1964 Paul Goldsmith flip @ Atlanta on YouTube
20. "Test Slated For New Mode At International Speedway. L-Ri Ta. ..." Gadsden Times. March 17, 1964. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
21. 1964 World 600 on YouTube
22. 1964 Firecracker 400 @ Daytona on YouTube
23. 1965 Daytona 500 on YouTube
24. "Tv Key. Prevewers Recommend These Programs Tonight. - Page 3". Meriden Journal. February 27, 1965. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
25. "Fingerprinted Because Her Dog Barked. - Page 5". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. February 10, 1965. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
26. 1965 Firecracker 400 on YouTube
27. Ketron, Talmadge (September 16, 1965). "New Series Begins With This Issue. - Page 5". Kingsport Post. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
28. 1965 Charlotte 250 - NASCAR Modified-Sportsman/Grand National on YouTube
29. 1966 Daytona 500 on YouTube
30. "Saturday It's The Law Dtheflying Fisher Man Cmor Othe Texan ..." Daytona Beach Morning Journal. February 27, 1966. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
31. 1966 Rebel 400 on YouTube
32. Kahn, Bernard (April 30, 1966). "Daytona Beach Morning Journal - Page 9". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
33. 1967 Daytona 500 on YouTube
34. 1967 Firecracker 400 Finish on YouTube
35. "Ana Ufa Ri. Daytona Beach Florida. Sunday, July. Ger Fastest ..." Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal. July 2, 1967. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
36. 1967 Southern 500 on YouTube
37. "NASCAR on TV - Keith Jackson". NASCAR on TV. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
38. 1968 Daytona 500 on YouTube
39. Knight, Buck (March 7, 1968). "Pit Stop. With Buck Knight. - Page 19". The Free Lance-Star. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
40. 1968 Rebel 400 in 4K on YouTube
41. "Atlanta Car Race On Wide World. - Page 19". Schenectady Gazette. April 13, 1969. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
42. 1967 Southern 500 on YouTube
43. 1969 Daytona 500 on YouTube
44. 1969 Atlanta 500 on YouTube
45. Granger, Gene (May 19, 1969). "Accident Was Through No Fault Of Mine: Pearson - Page 5". Herald-Journal. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
46. 1969 Firecracker 400 on YouTube
47. "Flat Finish. Penske's Camaro Wins Again Nears Second ... - Page 7". The Telegraph-Herald. September 8, 1969. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
48. 1969 National 500 @ Charlotte on YouTube