Topic: A Salute to Ken Squier, The Greatest

[Ken (OP)]

A Salute to Ken Squier, The Greatest

[Ken (OP)]

Ken Squier, NASCAR Hall of Fame broadcaster, dies at 88

Squier was the lead announcer for the Daytona 500 on CBS from 1979 to 1997

Ken Squier, one of the most influential broadcasters in the history of NASCAR and a man who played a central role in making stock car racing a television sport, died Wednesday evening at his home in Vermont following a long period of failing health. He was 88.

Cutting his teeth as a broadcaster at the short tracks of New England -- namely the Thunder Road International SpeedBowl in Vermont, which he owned until 2017 -- Squier would become the co-founder of Motor Racing Network alongside NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. in 1970, bringing NASCAR Cup Series races to the radio and providing a platform for the formative years of the sport's broadcasting. As MRN grew throughout the decade, the next step was to bring NASCAR from condensed segments (with some live portions) on television programs such as ABC's Wide World of Sports to live, start-to-finish broadcasts.

In 1978, Squier was among a group of NASCAR figures who sought to convince CBS television executives about the possibility of broadcasting the sport's biggest race, the Daytona 500, live from start to finish for the first time in its history. Initially, the idea of a complete live telecast was unappealing to the network: While NASCAR racing had been shown in parts on CBS Sports Spectacular before, concerns about the viability of a live, four-hour program -- something that had never truly been tried for auto racing before -- presented a major hangup. But eventually, Squier was able to successfully lobby CBS Sports vice president of business affairs Neal Pilson, and in May 1978 the network would announce the signing of a five-year contract to broadcast the Daytona 500.

[Skhilled]

R.I.P.