THE CLOSING OF A GOOD FRIEND
Stock Car Racing History
On-line entities, websites, bloggers, TV and a rotten economy tanked National Speed Sport News.
Early on there were many regional racing papers - east, west, north, south - all over. But if you wanted to learn what was happening nationwide, you had to read NSSN. I first subscribed in the early 1960s, latter I even bought older editions. God! I wished I had saved them. In early 1976 I was out of work and hunting for a job. I talked with Chris Economaki. He read a piece I did in Stock Car Racing about Bay Darnell (a USAC stock car driver) and liked it. I was desperate for a job and when he offered it, I said yes and drove out to New Jersey. It was a virtual whirlwind of auto racing copy from all over and all kinds. You started editing on Monday and went straight through to Tuesday evening, then laid out the pages - cold type, thank you. You would answer the phone and it could be Roger Penske, Mario, Bobby Unser or a driver from Massachusetts or Oklahoma. They all wanted to talk with Chris. I stuck it out until I found a good job back home in Illinois.
For several years I continued to subscribe. Then Like so many others I slipped away. As many of us old-timers, who still cherish the feel, smell and explosiveness of hard-copy journalism, fade away, the younger among us are "wired" onto electronic news. Daily and weekly newspapers are shrinking and many are disappearing, the same goes for magazines. I can easily remember when you could get great racing stories and pictures in Motor Trend, Road & Track and Car & Driver. Not so today.
The world changes and many old friends are swept away. Sad.
updated by @bernie-biernacki: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM