Chris Economaki, a resident of Ridgewood, N.J., who sold copies of the first issue of National Auto Racing News at Ho-Ho-Kus Speedway and had his first story published in its pages in 1935, was hired to edit National Speed Sport News in 1950.
While the appearance of the paper changed greatly through its first 50 years, the editorial philosophy remained basically the same as race results and stories about upcoming races continued to dominate the pages.
But eventually, there were two major changes in the paper’s editorial direction, both resulting from advancements that not only changed auto racing, but literally changed the world.
The first was television.
With TV coverage of major races increasing dramatically during the 1980s, readers already knew who won many of the major races long before NSSN arrived in their mailboxes. Economaki made the decision to refocus coverage of those events to include behind-the-scenes news and notes. This was when stories containing several short news items began appearing alongside the racing coverage.
The second was the internet.
The internet redefined how news is delivered and gave race fans instant access to results from tracks across the country and around the world. As a result, the editorial philosophy underwent its most significant revision.
“Who won was no longer the primary story,” said Mike Kerchner, who joined the National Speed Sport News staff in 1991 and is currently editor-in-chief of SPEED SPORT Magazine. “The story shifted to how they won and race analysis became an important part of our coverage.”
Feature stories were eventually added to each issue, columns became a larger part of the weekly content and the Racing Nation section changed the way results from weekly races were presented.
The changes were significant, but they were not enough to overcome the forces of a rapidly changing industry.
The final issue of National Speed Sport News was published on March 23, 2011.
“This is a sad day. This issue you are holding, dated March 23, 2011, is the last of National Speed Sport News. The sluggish economy has made it too difficult to continue publication and no matter how I try to make the numbers work — and believe me I have tried — it is just not feasible to keep the business going,” Corinne Economaki wrote in a letter to readers that appeared in the final issue.
“It is impossible to measure the impact this publication has had,” columnist Dave Argabright wrote in that issue. “Collectively, you can trace the growth of motorsports directly through these pages. Four generations of racers have pored over the words and photos, gaining greater understanding and appreciation for our sport.”
However, as it turned out, the final issue of National Speed Sport News was not the end but rather a new beginning.
During the months that followed, Kerchner worked diligently to keep readers informed through daily updates on nationalspeedsportnews.com. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, efforts were underway to bring back the National Speed Sport News brand.
Finally, in March 2012, a new era dawned as Turn 3 Media, a Mooresville, N.C., company founded by former SPEED executive Joe Tripp, motorsports television personality Ralph Sheheen and publishing industry veteran Curt Moon, published the first issue of SPEED SPORT Magazine.
“The first nationally televised race broadcast I was part of more than 20 years ago, Chris Economaki was my colleague on pit road,” Sheheen wrote in the inaugural issue of the monthly magazine. “Chris set the standard for motorsports journalism on TV and with National Speed Sport News. We have assembled some of the best writers and reporters in motorsports to continue that tradition.”
Nationalspeedsportnews.com was transformed into SPEEDSPORT.com and is now a go-to destination for news and information across the full motorsports spectrum. SPEED SPORT Magazine serves as a complement to the website as it gives readers news highlights, captivating columns and personality profiles of racers and industry insiders.
In addition, SPEED SPORT Daily by General Tire is a free email newsletter that distributes the latest motorsports news and results seven days a week, and SPEED SPORT Productions provides television coverage of several premier short-track races through SPEED SPORT on MAVTV.
In 2017, Turn 3 Media acquired Sprint Car & Midget magazine, making it part of the SPEED SPORT family.
It’s certainly been a hell of a ride since auto-racing news was first published on the back page of The Bergen Herald, and you’ll read much more about the incredible journey during the months to come as SPEED SPORT celebrates its 85th anniversary.