When a Journalist Saved a Driver's Life

[@gregorygolden1296]

I think Chris should be in Every single Motorsports Hall of Fame in this country. He was cool long before cool was. He knew everybody. Speed sport News covered everything from little 1/4 mile dirt tracks to Daytona, LeMans and countless race tracks in between. Think it started in 1934. Chris is and always will be The Man when it came to Motorsports. He is surely missed. GOD BLESS him.

[@Ultimate23Dragon]

I knew of the stories regarding Dr. Jerry Punch saving multiple drivers, but never knew Chris Economacki having a story of his own. This just adds to his legend in my opinion.

[@JamesStewart-lx5wb]

What a legend this guy was. And he comes from a famous family, the Lee family of Virginia. He's the great-great nephew of Robert E Lee and a very distant relative of Harper Lee. So he was destined to be a legend.

[@lanternsown3525]

I never knew Chris Economaki saved driver's life what an interest story.

[@FishNFoolLures]

He was not the only journalist to save the life of a NASCAR driver, Dr Jerry Punch not only saved the life of Rusty Wallace, but he also saved the lives of 2 other drivers, Don Marmor, and Bill Dennis.

[@SuperNASCARrocks]

Wow. What an incredible story.

[@Evilpengwinz78]

When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be a Don Marmor video (until I remembered there's one of those on the channel already)

[@jeffcanfixit]

Top notch info. 👍👍🏁 The sound of Chris's voice always makes me think "race time"..

[@jacekatalakis8316]

Did not know Chris Economaki covered the Great Race, now I want to find footage of that

[@racecitypatriot66]

Just want to say thanks for looking up real facts from the time period this happened instead of putting out "misinformation". Like happens too often these days.👍🇺🇸

[@chrisknowles]

I grew up hearing Chris' commentary in Nascar and Indy racing, I can still hear is unmistakable voice. I never knew this about him. It makes his legend even larger. He was a national treasure.

[@carypyke935]

Well I'll be darned I've never heard this !! And I was a long time subscriber to NSSN ...thank you for this video...anyone wanting to learn about Chris ...his autobiography " let em all run" is wonderful if you can find one.

[@evdallas123]

Ive never heard that story he was indeed a giant in bringing Nascar to the tv audience

[@BryanEberle]

Chris was the man on ABC's Wide World of Sports, all the way up until the time he referred to A sledgehammer as A Mexican speed wrench. They fired him on the spot....

[@DukeTheRebel]

I hope people noticed he said 42nd round because that’s the year where they had like 60 something races

[@henryturnerjr3857]

That would also help explain the FOUR THOUSAND! point lead. 🤣

[@craigward6647]

@@henryturnerjr3857 😂

[@michaelsellspgh]

Another great video! My uncle worked in NASCAR for 30 years and most of this stuff I never knew

[@C-WiL]

I remember seeing this in one of Greg Fielden's books. Great job with the story and video bro!

[@ianhawkins3687]

You're one of my absolute favorite youturbers. Your content is amazing. Most of which I've read/watched about before, but the detail & background info you narrate is incredible. Thank you so much for all that you do & keep up the amazing work!

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

Big up JJ, I'm not a medical historian - but I'm not sure CPR was a Thing in 1960. FWIW, Tony Stewart does a decent Chris Economacki impersonation.

[@isthatrubble]

CPR has been around for centuries, and although modern techniques were only just emerging in the 50s and 60s older methods would have been at least somewhat known to the general public. the older methods weren't as good as modern CPR but they worked often enough to be worth trying.

[@Freesavh1776]

If I'm not mistaken i believe hes the one that was interviewing kenny Rogers & the sheriff at the end of "Six Pack" . A favorite movie of mine when I was a kid. Still a favorite today.

[@davidrice3337]

Chris was a pro - One of the best -

[@briantaylor9285]

Dr. Jerry Punch: *nods respectfully*

[@wazzazone]

I remember Chris from the 1970s racing of the Bathurst 1000 Australia

[@gchampi2]

Legend! The OG pit reporter, all who followed try to live up to his standards - most fail...

[@kainhall]

5:42 AH HAHAHA!! as an Eagle scout who took a LOT!! of first aid / Trauma courses...... that is hilarious to me lol . especially because a kid in my Trauma class would answer "tourniquet around the neck" for EVERYTHING "what do you do for a headache?" .....this kid, with out fail, would say......"tourniquet around the neck" . stubbed toe? tourniquet around the neck . . at first.... no one thought it was funny but after the 10th time.... it actually did start to become funny..... at first 1 person laughed, which got 1 more laughing, which got 2 more laughing, ETC ETC ETC . after about 80% of the class was laughing (even me.... who, at the beginning, said some passive aggressive stuff at the kid.... something like "stop trolling ya dip tip" (and i actually said tip LOL... like the nerd i am....... as i was like 15 and it was during annual "boy scout camp", which was fun AF and i didnt want to get kicked out lol) . finally the teacher was like "is that your answer for everything? HOW IS THAT GOING TO HELP A STUBBED TOE!???!?!??!?!??" kid answered.... "well... he wont feel the hurt toe when he is dead" WHOLE CLASS just bust out laughing.... to the point other classes 100 yards away were all looking at us . even the teacher cracked a smile... before she went back into "full grown ass adult, in charge of a bunch of punk ass boy scouts" mode LOL she wasn't mean.... just said something witty. i forget exactly what was said.... but probably something like "ok, do you have any aches or pains? we can test it on you!" which got another round of laughs.... and embarrassed the kid enough that he turned BRIGHT RED . teach goes "does anyone know why his face is turning red?" "increased heart rate!" "higher blood pressure! capillary action!!" ETC ETC one kid.... "embarrassment!!" 3rd round of yuck yucks lol . . god that was a fun class (i wish my 11th and 12 grade teachers were that way..... in 2 years i went from a 3.8 GPA to 2.9 or 2.5..somewhere in that range..... A to A- average.... to a solid C+ or B-... i didnt care, just wanted to graduate.... and Cs get degrees baby LOL) . anyway.... we learned a LOT... because the little jokes and being able to talk freely kept everyone interested and the surprise test at the end was REALLY COOL!!! . they simulated a tornado..... had "professional" "actors" lay on the ground with a fake wooden spike in his lung one guy laid their with a "broken neck".... idk how he didnt cramp up . . we found that like 90% of us kids all focused on the worse/most graphically injured person (stake in the chest dude) finally the instructor was like "hey!!! their are more people to save! TRIAGE!!!" i was like "ya... this dude is going to die, we cant save him.....the hospital probably got hit, and the roads are blocked.... leave him alone to die in peace, 1 person stay and hold pressure" . we then found like 7 more people "hiding" behind trees/fake rubble i ended up holding a dudes head while he had seizures (fake ones, but still... damn good actor)..... gotta keep the head in a position to keep the tongue in the right spot and IIRC... we thought he had a broken neck also.... so we didnt want the seizures to cause more injury . . . TLDR instead of doing an escape room..... do a simulated disaster you are the "first responder", and now have to give "first aid"

[@williame.w.e.simpsonjr]

I see where the article stated he was in a Chevy , not a Tbird

[@Freesavh1776]

They may talk 💩 & fight on & off the track. But in the end they were still family. They would all do that for each other.

[@HazelCotton]

FYI. "National Speed SPORT News",, "sport" singular, stead plural.

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

0:19 what's on the front end of those cars? Almost looks chain link fence gates.

[@racingndriver7113]

Any video on the crash?

[@kainhall]

1:57 what is up with the little "triangle" in front of the grill?? . is it to help hold the hood down??

[@gchampi2]

The Bungee cord? Yup. Air could build up under the hood, and a bumpy track could trigger the hood mechanism. You'd have to be pretty unlucky to get the hood to flip up, but it did occasionally happen. A bungee cord to hold the hood down was an allowed mod, just in case.

[@NASCARFAN93100]

Chris Economaki & Dr Jerry Punch are The Real Heroes of NASCAR