If you ever watched any of the ESPN Thursday Night Thunder or Saturday Night Thunder USAC telecasts, you were familiar with broadcaster, Gary Lee. The Indianapolis paper reported his passing in this past Monday's July 14 edition. R.I.P. Gary.
Racing broadcaster Gary Lee, 63, found dead at his home
Gary Lee with Jeff Gordon at IRP in 1989 (Photo: Jim Young/The News )
Longtime motor sports broadcaster Gary Lee, 63, was found dead in his Indianapolis home today, likely the result of a heart attack, friends said.
Lee, who lived on the citys Eastside, was synonymous with ESPNs early events. He teamed with former driver Larry Rice to broadcast the Thunder short-track series that featured drivers such as a young Jeff Gordon at what was then Indianapolis Raceway Park in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Larry and Gary were Thunder, said fellow broadcaster Bob Jenkins, who helped start the weekly traveling motor sports show along with Larry Nuber. They got along so well.
They were like brothers, said veteran broadcaster Howdy Bell, who met Lee as an 18-year-old broadcasting hopeful.
Born Gary Hill, Lee attended Howe High School in Indianapolis and Vincennes University. He also worked at WTTV-4.
Lee worked on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network through the 1990s and owned Whiteland Raceway Park for a time.
Here are a few excerpts from the very first ESPN Thursday Night Thunder telecast with Gary Lee at IRP in 1988. This clip opens with AJ Foyt on the dirt at IRP in 1961. Cool footage.
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 01/30/21 06:58:12AM
