A Tribute To Chris Economaki at IMRRC On Saturday

There's an event going on Saturday for ALL racing enthusiasts and racing historians. Does the name Chris Economaki ring a bell? Well check this out.

The achievements of Chris Economaki, the late dean of American motorsports, will be celebrated on Saturday at the International Motor Racing Research Center. The free talk, part of the on-going Center Conversations speaker series, will be at 1 p.m. at the Center at 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen. It is open to all.

Economaki’s 70-year career in motorsports spanned print reporting, track announcing, television commentating and as a book author. Economaki died in September 2012 at the age of 91.

“A Tribute to Chris Economaki” will be led by a panel including Corinne Economaki, Chris’ daughter and motorsports insider. Her own involvement with motorsports, “much to the dismay of my mother,” she said, began before she was born.  Her childhood included visiting racetracks all over the Eastern seaboard.

Corinne’s memories include being taught to drive in a rented Triumph Spitfire on the track at Nassau when she was 12. Her other driving lessons included driving backward around the block. She also had to change a tire, drain the radiator and change the oil, all things her father thought she should know before driving.

For more info on this event and what else The Racing Research Center has to offer go here. By the way, that's Chris on the left interviewing Roger Penske in 1964 after Roger won the race and the Nassau Trophy. That's Hap Sharp in the middle.