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[edit]
1960[edit]
| Date | Event | Network | Lap-by-lap | Color commentator(s) |
| 2/12 | Twin 100's | CBS | 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.[2] 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.[3]
1961[edit]
| Date | Event | Network | Lap-by-lap | Color commentator(s) |
| 7/4 | Firecracker 250 (Daytona) | ABC | Bill Flemming | Chris Economaki |
1962[edit]
| Date | Event | Network | Lap-by-lap | Color commentator(s) | Reporters |
| 2/18 | Daytona 500 | ABC | Jim McKay | Stirling Moss | Chris Economaki |
| 7/4 | Firecracker 250 (Daytona) | ABC | Bill Flemming | Chris Economaki | |
| 9/3 | Southern 500[4] (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[edit]
| Date | Event | Network | Lap-by-lap | Color commentator(s) |
| 2/24 | Daytona 500[5] | ABC | Bill Flemming | Chris Economaki |
| 7/4 | Firecracker 400 (Daytona) | ABC | Bill Flemming | Chris Economaki |
1964[edit]
| Date | Event | Network | Lap-by-lap | Color commentator(s) | Reporters |
| 2/23 | Daytona 500 | ABC | Bill Flemming | Stirling Moss | Chris Economaki |
| 4/5 | Atlanta 500[6] | CBS | |||
| 5/24 | World 600[7] | NBC | |||
| 10/18 | National 400[8] (Charlotte) | ABC | Jim McKay | Chris Economaki |
1965[edit]
| Date | Event | Network | Lap-by-lap | Color commentator(s) | Reporters |
| 2/14 | Daytona 500[9] | ABC | Bill Flemming | Dan Gurney | |
| 5/8 | Rebel 300 (Darlington) | ABC | Jim McKay | Chris Economaki | |
| 7/4 | Firecracker 400[10] (Daytona) | ABC | Bill Flemming | Chris Economaki | |
| 9/6 | Southern 500 (Darlington) | ABC | Jim McKay | Rodger Ward | Chris Economaki |
| 10/17 | National 400[11] (Charlotte) | ABC | Bill Flemming | Rodger Ward | Chris Economaki |
1966[edit]
| Date | Event | Network | Lap-by-lap | Color commentator(s) | Reporters |
| 2/27 | Daytona 500[12] | ABC | Curt Gowdy | Rodger Ward | Chris Economaki |
| 4/30 | Rebel 400[13] (Darlington) | ABC | Jim McKay | Rodger Ward | |
| 7/4 | Firecracker 400 (Daytona) | ABC | Jim McKay | Rodger Ward | Chris Economaki |
| 9/5 | Southern 500 (Darlington) | ABC | Bill Flemming | Rodger Ward | |
| 10/16 | National 500 (Charlotte) | ABC | Jim McKay | Rodger Ward | Chris Economaki |
1967[edit]
| Date | Event | Network | Lap-by-lap | Color commentator(s) | Reporters |
| 2/24 | Twin 100 Races (Daytona) | ABC | Jim McKay | Chris Economaki | |
| 2/26 | Daytona 500[14] | ABC | Jim McKay | Chris Economaki | |
| 5/13 | Rebel 400 (Darlington) | ABC | Chris Economaki | Fred Lorenzen | |
| 7/4 | Firecracker 400[15] (Daytona) | ABC | Jim McKay | Fred Lorenzen | Chris Economaki |
| 9/4 | Southern 500[16] (Darlington) | ABC | Bill Flemming | Fred Lorenzen | Chris Economaki |
| 10/20 | National 400 (Charlotte) | ABC | Keith Jackson | Ned Jarrett |
1968[edit]
| Date | Event | Network | Lap-by-lap | Color commentator(s) |
| 2/25 | Daytona 500[17] | ABC | Bill Flemming | Chris Economaki |
| 5/11 | Rebel 400[18] (Darlington) | ABC | Bill Flemming | Fred Lorenzen |
| 7/4 | Firecracker 400 (Daytona) | ABC | ||
| 9/2 | Southern 500[19] (Darlington) | ABC | Bill Flemming | Chris Economaki |
| 10/20 | National 500 (Charlotte) | ABC | Jim McKay | Fred Lorenzen |
1969[edit]
| Date | Event | Network | Lap-by-lap | Color commentator(s) |
| 2/23 | Daytona 500[20] | ABC | Bill Flemming | Chris Economaki |
| 3/30 | Atlanta 500[21] | ABC | Bill Flemming | Chris Economaki |
| 5/10 | Rebel 400 (Darlington) | ABC | Jim McKay | Chris Economaki |
| 7/4 | Firecracker 400[22] (Daytona) | ABC | Jim McKay | Chris Economaki |
| 9/1 | Southern 500 (Darlington) | ABC | Bill Fleming | Chris Economaki |
| 10/12 | National 500[23] (Charlotte) | ABC | Jim McKay | Chris Economaki |
See also[edit]
- 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
References[edit]
- ^ Ryan McGee (2007). ESPN Ultimate NASCAR. ESPN Books. pp. 42–43. ISBN 1-933060-25-5.
- ^ "NASCAR Countdown: Chicagoland". ESPN MediaZone. July 7, 2007. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008.
- ^ http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1232064927/0[permanent dead link]
- ^ 1962 Southern 500 @ Darlington on YouTube
- ^ 1963 Daytona 500 (ABC Broadcast) on YouTube
- ^ 1964 Paul Goldsmith flip @ Atlanta on YouTube
- ^ 1964 World 600 on YouTube
- ^ 1964 Firecracker 400 @ Daytona on YouTube
- ^ 1965 Daytona 500 on YouTube
- ^ 1965 Firecracker 400 on YouTube
- ^ 1965 Charlotte 250 - NASCAR Modified-Sportsman/Grand National on YouTube
- ^ 1966 Daytona 500 on YouTube
- ^ 1966 Rebel 400 on YouTube
- ^ 1967 Daytona 500 on YouTube
- ^ 1967 Firecracker 400 Finish on YouTube
- ^ 1967 Southern 500 on YouTube
- ^ 1968 Daytona 500 on YouTube
- ^ 1968 Rebel 400 in 4K on YouTube
- ^ 1967 Southern 500 on YouTube
- ^ 1969 Daytona 500 on YouTube
- ^ 1969 Atlanta 500 on YouTube
- ^ 1969 Firecracker 400 on YouTube
- ^ 1969 National 500 @ Charlotte on YouTube