The Racing Gods couldn’t let NASCAR get more than two weeks into the 2023 offseason without handing out some sad news.
On Thursday, Nov. 16, legendary racing broadcaster Ken Squier passed away at the age of 88 due to complications from an intestinal blockage.
The NASCAR world will forever be indebted to the role that Squier played in NASCAR broadcasting.
In the days leading up to his death, fans, drivers, and media alike gave an outpouring of sympathy, mainly recollecting on fun times and stories they had about Squier.
Squier’s role in the development and production of NASCAR, transitioning it from a regional sport into a national following, cannot be understated. It was Squier who pushed NASCAR and CBS to broadcast the entirety of the 1979 Daytona 500, providing live, flag-to-flag coverage for the first time. That launched NASCAR into the spotlight, a blizzard over much of the country providing a record-setting audience.
And the finish? Just that call alone from Squier will live on as one of the best in history.
Along with his NASCAR influence, Squier’s presence in his home state of Vermont helped elevate their local racetracks. Most notably, he founded Thunder Road International SpeedBowl, due to host a Camping World SRX Series race this year before statewide flooding forced a move tosummer 2024 instead.
Decades of Squier’s dedicated commitment to the improvement and continued support of calling races culminated in his 2018 election to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. One of the sport’s most influential media members of all time, he’s also the co-namesake of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Squier-Hall Award for Media Excellence. The award is named after him and his Motor Racing Network teammate Barney Hall, who passed away in 2016.
Squier’s soothing broadcasting voice made him a joy to hear on television when fans tuned in to watch the races. Along with comfort came complexity; he was inclined to use words not commonly utilized in broadcasting vernacular (affectionately known as “Squierisms”) which…
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