Just found a 54 minute long "Wide World of Sports" version of the 1962 Southern 500 on youtube. This was the broadcastthat got me interested in stock car racingas an eight year old. Interesting that withjust two announcers, they were to offer such an outstanding production.
I love these old broadcasts.
Ironic that three years later Cale's 1965 Southern 500 "adventure" became a permanent part of the "Agony of Defeat" opening of Wide World of Sports. Thanks for posting this great old stuff.
I always HATED Jim Mckay attempting to cover a NASCAR race with his Dick Petty and Dave Pearson junk. I am told that his ego knew no limits.
Economaki more than made up for the shortcomings of any of ABC's lead announcers during that era. Though McKay knew literally nothing about racing, he lent a good voice to the proceedings in most cases. My personal favorate of the ABC gang was Bill Fleming who probably did more Daytona 500's on the network than the rest combined.
Just watched that race--sure brings back old memories-----but I learned something either I had forgotten or never knew, That Fred lorensen was running a car with A/C... Never knew that and boy was they fast on pitstops 30 second stops wow. Also did you see Kris out standing in pit road during a race while they were changing a tire???Boy we have come a long way baby.....---------------------------------Memories
Interesting that this show devoted such a high percentage of time to the racing. NASCAR tape delayed segments helped make "Wide World of Sports" a ratings success, but after the showbecame a staple in its Saturday afternoon time slot, that percentage diminished to where, in some cases, you were lucky to see 15 minutes ofa coveredrace.
The biggest shock to me in this video was the huge crowd in the infield. I still remember sitting in the infield at Martinsville 25 years ago and how much fun it was... and how disappointed I was when I found out I couldn't do it anymore.
I have watched this twice and love it. I was at that race and this really brings back memories for me. I really like the way the cars look like they are really being DRIVEN rather than some radio controlled machines like today's cars seem to appear, at least on tv. I'm sure I'll watch this a few more times.
Have to agree with you on Bill Fleming. Outstanding.
Tim, I was wondering if there was a buzz amongst the crowd at this race concerning the insanity on the leaderboard. Did most of the crowd think Junior had won ? This is one of the most interesting races that I've ever had the pleasure to research. I hate that the scoring snafu robbed Larry Frank of his moment in the limelight.
Robert, the buzz in the infield, where I was, actually concerned the fact that everyone believe Richard Petty was leading the race until the left front tire blew going into turn one and he bounced off the wall a couple times but kept running the last two laps.. There were then several folks saying Junior was leading, some saying Larry Frank and a few believing that Richard was a lap ahead and still won the race by coming on around. One man near us was absolutely adamant that Larry Frank won the race and the guy was a Junior Johnson fan but he said he know Larry won it. Always impressed me that the old man knew Larry won and NASCAR couldn't figure it out until much later that night. I remember the races I attened back in those days much better than I remember my trips in the 80s and 90s. Guess that shows my age for real!
It struck me after reading your reply that the scoring mixup also deprived the television audience of a very exciting last lap where the real leader , Frank , lost a tire and held off the hard charging Johnson by just five seconds.Another question. Did the ABC lead announcers do those early races "live" or post production ? It sure seems that McKay is doing the race as it goes in this broadcast. Some of the sound effects ( including the way the cars sound) are definitely post production.
Robert, I'm sure McKay was doing the commentary as it happened, or at least it certainly appears that way. Some of the sound effects, as you point out, had to be added, especially the sound of the Petty rim on the track which you could hear although he was all the way across the track from where the camera was located. But. all in all, for 1962, that was awesome tv!
Jeff is the one who put it up , but it is awesome.
Getting back to mypost about whether the commentary was done during the race or afterward..... upon watching the video all the way through for the second time, it came to me that McKay stated that the race was coming to a point " about 22 laps from the end" shortly before the Johnny Allen crash. In fact that crash happened about 80 laps from the finish and the pass for the real race lead by Frank over Petty took place just after that caution. I would now guess that part of the race was done as it went with commentary added afterward to make the race flow better on the telecast. Of course Economaki's race time pit work was incredible and can never be duplicated. I hope we will soon see more of these early ABC efforts in the near future. Thanks for yourcomments, Wally.
