Veteran NASCAR announcer Barney Hall has died. The North Carolina native helped shape auto racing broadcasting over the past half-century as NASCAR grew into a national sport.
If you’ve ever listened to a NASCAR race on the radio, you’ve heard Barney Hall’s voice.
A lifelong resident of Elkin, North Carolina, he called races for more than 50 years before reducing his work schedule in 2014 at MRN.
Winston Kelly is executive director of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. “He has been known as the voice of NASCAR for millions of fans for years and years and years. He’s that recognizable voice that … Most people didn’t know his face, but if they’re riding down the road or ton the lake, they hear that voice. They know NASCAR racing is coming on … “
Kelly said Hall mentored him at MRN, and dozens of other radio and TV broadcasters over the past 55 years - teaching lessons of humility, like this one:
“It’s not about you, it’s about the competitors … People tune in to hear about what the competitors are doing, whether it’s the drivers or the crews. They don’t tune in to hear who’s on the broadcast.”
He began his career in broadcasting the 1950s at stations in North Carolina. He called his first Daytona 500 in 1960.
Barney Hall was 83.
RELATED LINKS
Listen to a montage of Barney Hall, with commentary from his colleagues, on MRN.com. It was posted when Hall stepped down from race announcing in 2014.
Jan. 26, 2016, MRN.com, "Barney Hall: 1932-2016."
Jan. 26. 2016, NASCAR Hall of Fame statement on Barney Hall's death.
