Chris Economaki was one of the good guys

I'm really going to miss Chris Economaki, who died this morning around midnight, 91 years young.

Elsewhere on this site, you'll find writer Leo Levine's excellent tribute to Chris. In it, he pays compliments to Chris such as “he left a hole in the motorsports firmament that can never be filled.

“His weekly [National Speed Sport News column] was required reading for any serious racing journalist in this country.

“He knew how to evaluate motorsports as a reflection of the social conditions of a particular era. It was a rare talent that would normally require someone with a doctorate in sociology. Chris didn't have a college degree, but he was more erudite and more knowledgeable about the world around him than most people who have letters after their name.

“What was important is how he lived, and that was spectacular. He was one of a kind: brash, funny, marvelously articulate. A great story teller, even in his 80s he could still outwork the younger competition.”

All of that is true. He was one of the most connected guys in the racing industry and just as important, one of the nicest. And one of the funniest.

There's not much I can add to Levine's superb homage, but I do have two stories I'll always remember.

Sometime in the early '90s, when I was Autoweek's motorsports editor, I went to Hockenheim for the German Touring Car finale. Landing in Munich, Germany, Economaki was one of the first guys I saw at the airport. He was with his pal and fellow longtime racing writer Bill Oursler. We decided to share a car to the hotel, Oursler driving, Economaki riding shotgun, me in the back.

Thirty five seconds into the drive, Economaki bellowed, “Billy, do you know where the hell we're going?

“Where'd you learn to drive?!

“Oh fer cryin' out loud, pull over and let me drive.”

It went on like that for the whole trip, Economaki busting Oursler's chops every chance he got, all of us telling stories, swapping lies. I've seldom laughed as hard since.

Another, this one about Economaki's legendary NSSN column: In the early '90s, I left my Autoweek motorsports editor job to try my hand at daily newspapering. Economaki wrote in his column that I'd left and that he hoped someday I'd be back.

When I returned to Autoweek in 1998, back to the same job I'd left, Economaki wrote a small blurb in a column again, saying he was glad I'd returned, and that Autoweek was the place for me.

He was right. Autoweek has been my home ever since.

What an honor it was for me to be mentioned in that legendary column. And twice no less!

Over the years, we had a lot of great conversations in track pressrooms around the world. He was always kind to me, a true gentleman. Even when I was the snot-nosed new kid on the block, he always took a minute for me.

I'll never forget him.

By Wes Raynal