Steve Evans (January 13, 1942 – November 1, 2000) was an American

motorsports Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the po ...

broadcaster with a career that spanned four decades.

Early life and career

Evans started announcing drag races at age 19 at the fabled San Gabriel and Fontana tracks in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and later managed all three of Southern California's famed tracks, which included Lions Dragstrip, Orange County Int'l Raceway, and Irwindale Raceway. He began announcing national events in 1966 and a year later he went to work full time as editor of National DRAGSTER, and later as public relations director for

NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsport sanction ...

. Evans worked on NHRA's syndicated TV shows for more than two decades and covered NHRA drag racing on TNN, ABC, and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. He was also the host of the weekly television newsmagazine NHRA Today, which aired over 500 shows between 1990 and 1998. During his tenure with TNN, Evans also covered other motorsports events, such as

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

and

World of Outlaws World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, originally known as the World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American national touring dirt track racing series. It is owned and operated by World Racing Group, and was rebranded when the World of O ...

sprint car racing. Evans also is remembered for an endless variety of unforgettable and award-winning radio commercials hawking weekly events at the tracks that he managed. In 1987, Evans released Be There, a cassette compilation of his greatest hits, along with other memorable drag racing radio commercials. He later re-released the collection in CD format.

Death

After missing a production meeting in advance of calling the World of Outlaws race at

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway (track complex formerly known as Las Vegas Speedway Park from 1993 to 1996, Las Vegas Speedway in 1992, Las Vegas International Speedway from 1990 to 1992, as the Las Vegas International Speedrome from 1972 to 1990) is a ...

, Evans died in his sleep in a

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

hotel room on November 1, 2000. He was 58.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Steve 1942 births 2000 deaths Motorsport announcers People from Mission Viejo, California