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He often said he had the best job in racing and the best seat in the house and maybe that’s true, but the folks on the other end of the airwaves probably disagreed on the latter point.
Wherever one might be while listening to Barney Hall “call” a race was the best seat and that might be sitting at home or riding down the highway.
Regardless of where the action was getting ready to unfold, all one had to hear was “And the pace car’s about to ease off onto pit road” to know that you were in the capable, comfortable hands of Barney Hall.
The legendary announcer for Motor Racing Network passed away Tuesday. He was 83.
PHOTOS: Barney Hall through the years
“Give a call,” and “up on the wheel” were just two of the many signature, go-to phrases coined by Hall, uttered with the ease and confidence bred from a career that spanned more than five decades.
He informed listeners as to what was taking place on the track, but also entertained with stories that only a true insider would know. And Hall knew plenty. He didn’t just have the ear of the listener, but that of the industry as well, due in large part to the respect he showed to others and the respect he had for his craft.
Industry leaders confided in him. Drivers and owners sought his advice. His influence greatly overshadowed his slight frame, yet he would never admit as much. He was just a little ol’ radio announcer from Elkin, North Carolina, doing his best to inform and entertain.
He was on the air for some of NASCAR’s biggest events, but was always hard-pressed to pick a favorite. Prior to his 2007 induction into the National Motorsports Hall of Fame, Hall recalled Dale Earnhardt’s final victory, a stirring, come-from-behind win at Talladega, “but I also remember some of Richard (Petty’s) finishes at Daytona,” he said at the time.
“It was personally satisfying to me when David Pearson won the Daytona 500 and Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500. Because I knew both of them extremely well and I knew how much it meant to them despite the fact that they downplayed it, said ‘if we never get a career win at Daytona it ain’t no big deal,’ because it was a big deal. I know how much it meant to them.”
What he didn’t know was just what a big deal he was, and how much he meant to everyone else.
“Barney will be forever the original voice of NASCAR,” Petty, a seven-time premier series champion, said in a statement issued Wednesday. “He may not have been there at the first race, but he was at a lot of them and is a pioneer of the sport. He helped grow the sport nationally. He made it come to life, gave it excitement and made everyone feel like they were right there at the track, even if you weren’t.”
Hall called his last race two years ago, the annual summer stop at Daytona International Speedway, but continued to contribute to MRN productions.
His presence at the track was sorely missed, but in the last year or so, I’ve noticed something that seems to sum up how folks felt about him and what he meant to them. It’s on those occasions when strolling through the garage one can hear the track P.A. announcer drop in a snippet of some long-ago race.
Fans pause. And listen. And smile. As Barney’s familiar voice calls the action and the leaders charge toward the finish line once more.
So grieve at his passing, but smile when you think of all the pleasure Barney Hall brought to so many for so long.