It came as a bit of shock, the latest issue dated 3/23/11 is the last print version of National Speed Sport News. After 77 years the paper created by Chris Economaki and now run by his daughter Corinne will no longer grace my mailbox one a week like it has for almost the past 30 years. The website will still be there, updated daily, but it's just not the same. Thank you Chris and Corinne for all the wonderful years and education in all things racing that I'd never learned with you guidance.
I am a big fan and long time reader. Speed Sport is the must read of the racing world. We lost Chris's writing on his 90th birthday and now this.
I started reading Speed Sport News in the 70s when I got involved with Central Pennsylvania sprint car racing. One of my first racing heroes, and world go-kart champion Bobby Allen introduced me. He was an Outlaw sprint car racer before the World of Outlaws was formed. Bobby Allen, Kenney Weld, Jan Opperman, Doug Woofgang, and a very young Steve Kinser ‘s car owner cousin Carl Kinser would all do what Bobby showed me. When Speed Sport News arrived they would determine where they were going to race next week based on the purses offered by the advertisements in Speed Sport. When I started reading Speed Sport News I began to realize how important it was to me. This was my connection to racing. Loosing Speed Sport is personal; I feel I have lost a friend. Speed Sport wasn’t just about knowing who won the sprint car race at Irvindale. Speed Sport helped form my opinions on all the issues of the day. If you were are or are a racer you read Speed Sport. Well written, informative, opinion leader Speed Sport brought all of racing into my house once a week. I will really miss that paper.