Legendary NASCAR announcer Barney Hall dies

Legendary NASCAR announcer Barney Hall died Tuesday from complications following a recent medical procedure. He was 83 years old.

For generations of fans, Hall’s smooth, affable broadcast style on NASCAR’s Motor Racing Network made listeners feel as if they were sitting alongside him watching the action unfold. Recognized as one of the sport’s iconic announcers, the NASCAR Hall of Fame created the Squier-Hall Award in 2013 to honor media excellence and named the accolade after Ken Squier and Hall.

“Whether you met him or not, you felt like you knew him,” NASCAR Hall of Fame executive director Winston Kelley said in a statement. “His easy, conversational delivery made you feel like you were listening to one of your closest friends or relatives tell you a story -- the story of the very NASCAR race he was describing. He could paint a picture that would make Picasso or Rembrandt proud and tell a story that would awe Hemingway or Twain. He was not just a trusted voice to listeners and race fans, he became what many believe is the most trusted journalist in NASCAR by the sport’s competitors for decades.”

Hall was part of MRN’s broadcast team since its inception in 1970. Before that he was Bristol Motor Speedway’s first public address announcer and called his first Daytona 500 in 1960. He would then go on to call all but four Daytona 500s, NASCAR’s marquee event, before retiring following the July 2014 race at Daytona International Speedway.

Hall is survived by longtime companion Karen Carrier, “the love of his life for 35 years,” who was in Hall’s company at the time of his death.