Just when we southerners think we invented live telecasts of stock car racing, I happened to see that those darned Yankees in New York City were watching live remote coverage of stock car racing at least as early as the summers of 1950 and 1951.
Listings and station histories show that both WATV Channel 13 and WPIX Channel 11 were telecasting stock car races via live remotes.
If anyone knows what tracks originated these telecasts, it would sure be interesting to know. The WPIX listing mentions Bayonne and there was a 1/5th mile track at Veteran's Stadium in Bayonne, New Jersey running stock cars at this time. Also be interesting to know if stations in other cities were airing live stock car racing in late 40s - early 50s.
Baseball and WPIX Channel 11 History
The station was strong in sports from the beginning.
The station's association with Major League Baseball started only 21 days after the station first went on the air. On July 6, 1948 WPIX aired a game between rivals the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers. And WPIX camera crews began their dominent telecasts of top Madison Square Garden events. By the end of the station's second year, WPIX led all stations with remote telecasts of baseball, Rangers hockey, football, Knicks basketball, boxing, wrestling, and stock car races. The New York Giants started in 1949 and the Yankees in 1951 on WPIX.
Listings for WATV Channel 13 Stock Car racing in 1951:
ON TELEVISION THIS WEEK; LEADING EVENTS TODAY
$3.95 -
New York Times - May 6, 1951
Plnky Lee, Bllly De Woite, Others (4)--Comedy Hour, With Phll Slivers; ...... a( Bayonne (13)-Stock Car Racing 9:4S-(2)-Kentucky Derby Highlights 1A:00 ...
ON TELEVISION THIS WEEK
$3.95 -
New York Times - Jun 24, 1951
From Aqueduct (4)-Vletor Borge Show (13)-Stock Car Racing (7)-Date With Judy 4: AO-(13)-Nesters Roundup (7)-Hollywood Theatre Tlme 0 3O-(2)-The Show Goea ...
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM