NASCAR on television in the 1960s

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]

Main article: NASCAR on television and radio

In the ensuing years, but before 1979, there were three main sources of NASCAR telecasts:

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

1962
Date Event Network Lap-by-lap Color commentator(s)
2/18 Daytona 500 ABC Jim McKay Stirling Moss
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. 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 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
Date Event Network Lap-by-lap Color commentator(s)
2/23 Daytona 500 ABC Bill Flemming 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
Date Event Network Lap-by-lap Color commentator(s)
2/14 Daytona 500[9] ABC Bill Flemming Dan Gurney
5/8 Rebel 300 (Darlington) ABC Jim McKay
7/4 Firecracker 400[10] (Daytona) ABC Bill Flemming Chris Economaki
10/17 National 400[11] (Charlotte) ABC Bill Flemming Rodger Ward and Chris Economaki

1966
Date Event Network Lap-by-lap Color commentator(s)
2/27 Daytona 500[12] ABC Curt Gowdy Rodger Ward and Chris Economaki
4/30 Rebel 400[13] (Darlington) ABC Jim McKay
9/5 Southern 500 (Darlington) ABC Bill Flemming Rodger Ward
10/16 National 500 (Charlotte) ABC Jim McKay Rodger Ward

1967
Date Event Network Lap-by-lap Color commentator(s)
2/24 Twin 100 Races (Daytona) ABC
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 and Chris Economaki
9/4 Southern 500[16] (Darlington) ABC Bill Flemming Fred Lorenzen

1968
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

1969
Date Event Network Lap-by-lap Color commentator(s)
2/23 Daytona 500[19] ABC Bill Flemming Chris Economaki
3/30 Atlanta 500[20] ABC Bill Flemming Chris Economaki
7/4 Firecracker 400[21] (Daytona) ABC Jim McKay Chris Economaki
9/1 Southern 500 (Darlington) ABC Chris Economaki
10/12 National 500[22] (Charlotte) ABC Jim McKay Chris Economaki

See also

References
  1. Ryan McGee (2007). ESPN Ultimate NASCAR. ESPN Books. pp. 42–43. ISBN 1-933060-25-5.
  2. "NASCAR Countdown: Chicagoland". ESPN MediaZone. July 7, 2007. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008.
  3. http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1232064927/0%5B%5D
  4. 1962 Southern 500 @ Darlington on YouTube
  5. 1963 Daytona 500 (ABC Broadcast) on YouTube
  6. 1964 Paul Goldsmith flip @ Atlanta on YouTube
  7. 1964 World 600 on YouTube
  8. 1964 Firecracker 400 @ Daytona on YouTube
  9. 1965 Daytona 500 on YouTube
  10. 1965 Firecracker 400 on YouTube
  11. 1965 Charlotte 250 - NASCAR Modified-Sportsman/Grand National on YouTube
  12. 1966 Daytona 500 on YouTube
  13. 1966 Rebel 400 on YouTube
  14. 1967 Daytona 500 on YouTube
  15. 1967 Firecracker 400 Finish on YouTube
  16. 1967 Southern 500 on YouTube
  17. 1968 Daytona 500 on YouTube
  18. 1968 Rebel 400 in 4K on YouTube
  19. 1969 Daytona 500 on YouTube
  20. 1969 Atlanta 500 on YouTube
  21. 1969 Firecracker 400 on YouTube
  22. 1969 National 500 @ Charlotte on YouTube
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