Steve Evans (broadcaster)

Evans started announcing drag races at age 19 at the fabled San Gabriel and Fontana tracks in California 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. Evans worked on NHRA's syndicated TV shows for more than two decades and covered NHRA drag racing on TNN, ABC, and NBC. He was also the host of the weekly television newsmagazine NHRA Today, which aired over 500 shows between 1990 and 1998.[1] During his tenure with TNN, Evans also covered other motorsports events, such as NASCAR and World of Outlaws 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.[2]

After missing a production meeting in advance of calling the World of Outlaws race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Evans died in his sleep in a Las Vegas hotel room on November 1, 2000. He was 58.[3]