Pit Stop

Chris Economaki, who lived by the credo those who can’t do and can’t teach, write about it, has died at the age of 91. He was known as "The Dean of American Motorsports" for his more than 50 years sniffing exhaust in the pits, infields and garages of some of America’s finest asphalt ovals. He was hooked from his childhood, but his one and only time behind the wheel was as a kid in a midget car at a cinder track. He was so terrified he never again donned the flame-retardant track suit, opting instead for ABC’s Century 21-style blazers. He became the editor of the National Speed Sport News in 1950 and was still writing his "The Editor’s Notebook" column more than 50 years later, and was so well regarded as a historian that he wrote the auto racing chapter for the Encarta encyclopedia and authored an autobiography called Let 'Em All Go: The Story of Auto Racing by the Man Who Was There. Among his many honors was induction into the Oceanside Rotary Club of Daytona Beach Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame.