Episode 406 -- Steve Waid's Celebration of Life

Hello, my name is Rick Houston, and welcome to this special episode of the Scene Vault

podcast.

Jeannie, I just saw the damnedest thing I've ever seen in my life.

Sasquatch here ran after that ball and he completely obliterated three kids.

Steve walks in and he sits down and I walked over to him and he looked up at me and he

said, I'm proud of you.

My expedition would always end up in Steve's office.

That'd be my last stop and I would go in there and I'd sit down in the chair in his

office and I'd put my feet up on his desk and I'd say, tell me a story about this guy

or this race or this crew chief or this issue, whatever it was.

And about an hour later, I would get up and I'd walk out the door and I knew what I was

going to do with that story.

The day NASCAR and all of us associated in any way with NASCAR, forget its past, that's

the day we don't have any future.

Hey, this is your host, Rick Houston.

I had the honor of speaking at Steve Wade's Celebration of Life on Wednesday, July 15th

at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

That was such an umblen event.

There were about a hundred people from in and around the NASCAR community there all to

pay their respects to Steve and his memory and what better way to share that day with

our listeners than here on the podcast.

The first thing that you are going to hear is Eric Quinn who made the trip down from

upstate New York specifically to give the invocation for the event.

Next up is me and I talked for a few minutes and then my son, Adam, who sings, Have You

Ever Seen the Rain by Credence Clearwater Revival.

Jeff Hammond says a few words before a fireside chat featuring former scene and illustrated

staffers Ben White, Jeff Owens, Mark Ashton, Felter, Deb Williams and Jim Fluhardy and everything

went off without a hitch.

And I do very sincerely.

From the bottom of my heart, I'd like to very personally thank Mike Helton who got the ball

rolling by opening the door to the folks at the NASCAR Hall of Fame to make this event

happen.

Of course, Winston Kelly, but most importantly the woman behind it all who really made everything

happen, Wendy Belk.

I worked with Wendy way back during our days in the Bush series and here we were again

all these years later reconnecting due to this event and Wendy was a godsend.

She is an absolute pro at what she does and it would not have gone nearly as well without

her as what it did.

So Wendy, thank you especially for everything that you did for this.

So Steve, boss man, this one was for you.

We love you.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, you are a good God and you have a great plan, a plan that was in place

long before we got here and will continue on long after we leave this earth.

And in that plan, you put people in our path that bless us, that help us grow, that teach

us and Steve Wade was one of those people to the folks that are in this room.

We thank you that you put him in our path that he could share with us his talents and

abilities that you gave him.

We are grateful that tonight there's a group of friends here, family that can celebrate.

We ask God that you would be a part of this, that you would help us to remember well, that

you would help us to bless Margaret and the family through what we do and what we say.

Let this be a wonderful time of remembrance and God, let us glorify you in all of this

and we pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

My name is Rick Houston and I had the pleasure of working with Steve at Winston Cup scene

all those years ago and for the past eight years we have been working together very closely

on the Seam Vault podcast.

For those of you who are younger in the crowd, this is what's called a newspaper.

Once upon a time in a land far, far away and getting farther by the day, a newspaper was

the best and easiest way to inform the masses about the news of the day.

This is a newspaper called Winston Cup scene.

It began as Grand National scene and finally became NASCAR scene towards the end of its

run and once upon a time it was the way for people in and around the world of NASCAR to

get their news.

Now, the second that I was introduced to this paper, I decided then and there that I was

going to one day write for that paper and it became an all-consuming passion of mine,

if not flat out obsession.

It's the summer of 1990 and I have come up with what I know is going to be a foolproof

way of accomplishing my goal and step number one in my master plan is to meet Steve Wade.

I called called Steve Wade, told him I was going to be in the neighborhood and asked

if I could drop by the scene office and say hello.

He said, sure, come on by, be glad to see you.

Well, this was my thought process.

I was living in Nashville, Tennessee at the time where I'm from and I knew.

I knew that when Steve found out that I had driven 450 miles just to meet him, that he

was going to be so impressed that he was going to hire me on the spot.

I could already see the view from the Daytona 500 press box.

This is going to be awesome.

So here I go.

I make the trip from Nashville to Concord.

This was still in the old Griggs office.

I marched myself into the reception area and told them that I was there for a meeting with

Steve Wade.

And let me tell you about this big important meeting.

He came out, he shook my hand, we made some small talk and it was not the kind of small

talk that in any way, shape, form or fashion would invite a continuance of the conversation.

And that was it.

I never made it past the reception area and I was in and out in less than 10 minutes.

He didn't actually say, don't call us, we'll call you.

He didn't need to because from that conversation, that message came through loud and clear.

And as Steve's time grew short in the hospital, I couldn't help but smile and I told Steve,

we've come a long way, boss, man, since that day.

Well, the joke was on Steve.

He only thought that he'd gotten rid of me and over the next four years, I proceeded

to bug the crap out of Steve and Deb Williams until they finally gave in and hired me in

the fall of 1994.

Although I was finally working for scene, I never really got to know Steve that well.

He was the boss.

He was the guy hanging out with Del Earnhardt and Richard Petty and Daryl Waltrip.

He knew everybody.

He was on a first name basis with everybody.

And there I was in the Bush series writing about Buckshot Jones.

It is not hard to diagram that power structure.

There was Steve and there was Deb Jeff Kenny

Ash and there was Ree Tom.

There was the receptionist.

There was the floor sweeper.

And somewhere down around here, there was Rick Houston, the Bush series editor.

I didn't care.

I might have been the low person on the ladder, but I was on the ladder and that's all I cared

about.

Here is my best story about Steve Wade from our time together at scene.

A group of us got together while we were out in California and we went to an angels game.

And I know that there are at least a couple of you here today who were at that game.

And if your account of this differs in any way, for mine, sit there and shut up.

This is my story.

When we got there, our seats were in the last section down the first base line that had

anybody in them.

And I'm talking about to our right, there were thousands upon

of empty seats.

And I saw this and I immediately announced to the group tonight is the night I'm going

to get a foul ball.

I grown up worshiping baseball players and I had never sniffed a foul ball.

Well, with all these seats to my right, it was on.

Let's just say that I was the designated driver that night.

And the later in the game it got, the more Steve was on me.

Somebody hit a little dribbler up the third base line and Steve was like fetch, boy, fetch.

Somebody hit a home run.

What are you doing?

You could have had that one.

There were balls hit into the upper decks.

Above us evidently were Dan was sitting.

I was in the lower seats and every time hoping it might ricochet, I stood up and I turned

around in hopes.

All right.

Now this is where it gets good.

Then comes the seventh inning, baby.

Carlos Delgado of the Blue Jays hit a foul ball our way.

And as soon as it left his bat, it was like I was a tractor trailer and Henry Benfield

was behind the wheel, hammers down.

I'm locked in and I'm moving.

The ball landed a couple of sections down from where out we were sitting.

And when I got to the general vicinity, I may or may not have dough for the ball, but

I did come up with it.

And when I got back to my seat, this is an important distinction.

When I got back to the seat, the whole group that I was with was laughing at me.

They weren't laughing with me.

They were laughing at me.

And I didn't care.

Caught home to tell my wife the big news.

And at one o'clock in the morning here in North Carolina, she wasn't nearly as excited

about my extraordinary tribe of near superhuman effort.

But then Steve goes, give me the phone.

Jeannie, I just saw the damnedest thing I've ever seen in my life.

Sasquatch here ran after that ball and he completely obliterated three kids after it.

Now, every time that story got told over the years, the number of kids that I took out grew

exponentially.

The last time we talked about it on the podcast, Steve claimed that I had taken out three entire

kindergarten classes and their chaperones.

Now all I can say in my defense is this.

My son, Adam, who you're going to meet here in a minute when he sings, my son, Adam, was

a bat boy for the Winston Salem Dash for several summers and I don't know what came over me.

But I had a foul ball basically landed my feet and I gave it to a kid.

But my first major league foul ball, no kid, shake it off.

You'll be all right.

Fast forward to January 2018.

Steve and I had not seen each other in close to 10 years when we met for lunch.

And out of that meeting, a few months later came the Seen Vault podcast.

I interviewed Steve for that first episode and the very next week he was named that year's

recipient of the Squire Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence.

I always told him that it was the podcast that finally put him over the hump.

So I interviewed him again the next week and those two episodes somehow became 10 episodes.

And those 10 became 100, then 200.

And as it turned out, we got this close to spending eight years together on the podcast,

50 episodes a year, just like we used to publish at Seen for a total of 400 shows and well over 500 hours of content.

You can hear the evolution of our relationship in our conversations on the show.

When we started out, I still had Steve on a pedestal and I was still a little bit nervous around Steve.

But a wonderful thing happened.

And Steve gradually evolved from my former boss and NASCAR Media icon into one of my best friends.

In my sidekick and my confidant, we scheduled an interview with Del Inman there in Level Cross.

I got there early to set up all the mics and the sound board.

Everything's ready to go.

I'm sitting there, Del's sitting there and Steve hasn't shown up yet.

We wait a few minutes and the door to the conference room opens up.

I will never forget this sight.

Door to the conference room opens up and there Steve being escorted in to the room by Richard Petty.

And they're laughing and talking like long lost friends.

How big a deal do you have to be to be shone around like a king by the king?

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I would call Steve after doing an interview for the podcast and telling him about the latest revelation.

I would say, Steve, you're not going to believe what Pete Wright just told me about having traction control at North Wilkesborough.

I'd call him a few weeks later.

Steve, I know I said this the last time, but I just did the best interview that we've ever had on the show.

John Dodson is an awesome storyteller.

Steve, David F might be the funniest person I've ever met.

You ain't gonna believe what Tim Brewer just said.

Now, granted, I accept the fact that that particular sentence has been said at time or two in NASCAR.

You're not going to believe what Tim Brewer just said.

But every time Steve would say, man, that's incredible.

You've outdone yourself this time, my friend.

Nobody has this stuff.

It's gold and words cannot express what that meant to me.

Now, most of you met my son, Jesse, as you came in.

And my son, Jesse, is the most gentle and unassuming human being I've ever met in my life.

He is the most laid back and humble soul on the planet.

And yes, he's my son, but I can say that and it's the gospel truth.

Layed back, that's Jesse.

Quiet, that's Jesse.

Jesse Houston has been there for one interview that I have ever done in my life.

And it was one that Steve and I did together for the podcast.

And the conversation just so happened to be with Jimmy Spencer.

And let's just say that Jimmy Spencer's revelimeter was broken that day.

To this day, I can still remember the look on Jesse's face.

Jesse was flat out thunderstruck by the sheer force of Jimmy's personality.

Jesse still talks about that interview.

But sure enough, after we finished up, Steve was like,

that's the best interview we've ever had on the podcast.

We've really got something.

Nobody else has that.

I live for those kinds of compliments from Steve.

Because after all these years, I will always be the guy trying to impress Steve

and trying to impress Deb.

So maybe hopefully one day I will be able to justify their decision to hire me.

I deeply miss doing the podcast with Steve.

It is different in ways that I can't even express.

I miss him personally, but I have been intentionally going back

into our archive of past shows and listening to old episodes.

And he's right there with us, just like he always has been.

Steve began writing for Grand National Scene in 1978 as a freelance writer.

He was with Ron Oak at the time, and so he would turn over his carbons.

Now, that's even predating me.

I don't exactly know what it means to turn over carbons,

but he would turn over his carbons.

Rob Griggs would run it, and Steve would get a few extra bucks.

He joined the paper in 1981, and he was still there in January 2010

when scene ceased publication.

In those 31 years, I actually sat down and accounted.

Steve produced approximately 2,700 bylines in scene.

That's not including the bylines that he hadn't illustrated.

That's not included the bylines that he had in race programs.

That's not including the things that he wrote for the NMPA.

In the scene alone, we're talking nearly 2 million words,

and Steve lives on in every one of them.

Adam.

Steve.

when it's over so they say it'll rain on a sunny day I know shining down like

water and I want to know have you ever seen the rain and I want to know have you ever seen the rain

coming down on a sunny day yesterday and days before the sun is cold and rain is hard I know

been that way for all my time till forever on it goes through the circle fast and slow I know

it can't stop I wonder and I want to know have you ever seen the rain and I want to know have you ever seen the rain

coming down on a sunny day and I want to know have you ever seen the rain and I want to know have you ever seen the rain

coming down on a sunny day

Jeff Hammond you were going to come up and speak for just a second Jeff Hammond you've never spoke for 35 seconds in your life.

Good afternoon everybody it sure is good to see the folks who are here today Rick and I've been talking and he says you need to say something I said no I really don't.

But I want to because say thank you to those of you who worked thank you for giving us something to look forward to every week.

You made a lot of us in this room and you told us what was going on Steve.

Steve, Deb, Rick I mean you guys you had passion for what you did and that passion was equaled by how much we love the sport.

I mean we would put out you know the long hours and do whatever needed to be done to get give you something to write about and you didn't let us down and it was fun to look forward to get this this magazine and this paper to see what we had missed along the way.

I mean you think about it Paul Andrews think about it sometimes you're working too hard to even take time to look at this paper but when you did you grabbed it you want to know what else is going on right Larry Mack I mean if that's the cool thing about this was our world.

Each and every week being retold by you find folks each and every time you sit down at your typewriter your notepads whatever and you let us know what was going on and on top of that.

You help make a lot of us famous right buddy pair I mean the fans I mean they came to know who we were because of what y'all did and it's sad to think how much our sport has changed.

But as I told.

Deb and Rick when I got here you know not a lot of people here.

But it's the right people because we still care about one another.

And we're supporting the people who made our sport made our lives made our careers what it is today.

I ran over so sue me.

You know I can't help but say this the first race that I ever watched flag to flag was the 1989 Daytona 500.

If you had told me that day and that was also the first day that I'd ever picked up an issue of Grand National scene.

If you had told me that day that I would one day share a podium with Jeff Hammond the crew chief on the winning car that day I would not have believed you but here here we are.

So Jeff thank you.

Now we y'all need to pray for us on this one.

I'm not sure quite sure how this one's going to turn out but we're going to do a round table of former scene employees and illustrating employees.

So guys if you guys will come on up take a chair grab a mic.

All right so starting nearest to me is Ben White.

You were I think you started at scene and 91 somewhere in there that era and you then went to illustrated 94.

I love messing with Ben.

Everybody in the world loves messing with Ben.

I would tell Ben when he was it illustrated you know it must be tough having that once a month deadline and we had it seen a once a week deadline.

Now there is no such thing as a deadline because the new cycle is 24 seven 24 hours a day just like on the water service next to him is Jeff Owens.

He was at one time the executive editor at scene and I worked with him next to him is Mark Ashton Felter.

On the other side of ash is Deb Williams who is responsible for me being here today without her and without Steve I would not be standing here at all period.

So blame her and on the other side of Deb I don't know why it came over me but I got a photographer up here.

So I don't know what I was thinking but Jim flew hearty who is absolutely an artist with a camera.

So guys I don't even know where to begin.

I don't have any set scripted questions.

All I can say or ask is this question.

What's your best Steve Wade story that you can share in public.

Now that's an important distinction.

All right. We all got never mind.

All right. What's the best story that you can share of Steve that you can tell in public and I know you're not on top my foul ball story.

So don't even try.

You're all right. I'll start.

Okay. All right. So I met Steve I guess in 1988.

And we I was writing for the election to dispatch newspaper then and and we so we met in 88 and we I was I was dating my wife who then was Eva Weinkoff and we've been married 36 years.

So we go to Martinsville.

I guess this was we've been started dating in August of 88.

So this is the first Martinsville race of 89.

So keep in mind you I knew Steve during the 80s.

But so we get to Martinsville and he's sitting on a golf cart and even walks up.

I said hi Steve this is my girlfriend Eva Weinkoff.

Hello Eva. So great to meet you.

How are you doing?

I'm just so glad to meet you.

And and you know so we have a nice little conversation going.

I said I need to talk to you about something and she said what's that I said well now you know I really like to hire Ben to come to work for NASCAR scene NASCAR illustrated but there's some things we need to talk about.

I said well she said what's that well there's some morals charges we need to talk about.

You know there's some you know that I'm trying to work this out with the Rowan County Sheriff's Department and I've got some lieutenants that that I know and they're not they're just they're misdemeanors are not felonies.

We had only been dating a few months but and her eyes are probably the biggest the speedway at this point.

We had only been dating a few months and she's looking at me and she's looking at Steve and and he's about to roll off of this golf cart.

He thinks this is the funniest thing and I'm going Steve wait what are you doing because I think that you know this these months that we've been dating out the window.

You know and so she's finally realizing what he's doing but the funny part was Steve being Steve thought that was so hilarious and oh I'm just kidding I promise I'm just kidding he's fine he's a great guy and but for just a few seconds.

You know and he just had to convince that I was the worst guy in the whole wide world and you know I just so it was just that was typical Steve and then another quick story about Steve he would and Jim would.

I keep thinking about Jim on this one we'd be standing on pit road and you know how these you know like Jeff and buddy and and Paul you crutch if you know you get so.

Intense about 50 and 20 minutes before the race right and so you're just so focused so we're standing on pit road and we go through this this thing with the headset radios and he's up in the press box.

Deb and myself and says okay Deb are you on the radio yes Jeffrey on the radio yes talking to Jim are you on the radio yes.

And so we go through these things for all the photographers we gets to me and he says Ben are you on the radio I say yes Ben are you on the radio yes I can hear you then are you on the radio if you can hear me jump up and down.

I fall for this every time and Jim's like Jim looks at me and says why do you do that why do you fall for this every time I said I don't know I was so you know thinking about the races coming and all this stuff.

But you know and then there was other times we get to the to the Darlington press box which is then in turn one and and he said he said come down here with me so this is pre race.

And this is when the drivers are in the convertibles and they're coming by this is like 20 30 minutes before the race starts.

And so you know stand here with me OK so we're standing there and he decides to do the wave and to see if he can get the attention of the drivers and so Ernie Irwin comes by and Ernie does the way.

And then the next driver comes by Jeff Bodine and he does the wave and then another driver comes by we start doing the way of this way and then they'll do it because they can see us from up there we can see them from down there and our heart comes along and pardon me but he goes.

And our noise like.

You know just stupid stuff like that it doesn't really add up to anything but just memories of just being Steve and I think the thing that he wanted from us because like like Jeff haven't said is like you're you're there from seven in the morning to midnight right so the idea was let's have fun let's do this from a fun perspective.

And so that's what Steve wanted but on a serious note Eva and I will celebrate our 36 wedding anniversary in October and she went through a very very scary stage for colon cancer problem in 2000.

And everyone told me at the time that this is not good and we're not going to get through this through through my faith and through a lot of prayer she did get through it and she's doing great now.

But Steve was very very worried as all of these people right here beside me were very worried about the situation and Ray Shaw Kirk Shaw Whitney Shaw.

All told me at the time that don't worry about a paycheck you'll you'll never mess one be with her but but that was that was the the other side of Steve he was very caring very loving.

And others that are in the audience Tom Stinson and Mike for Cena and others were very kind in the way that I was treated during that time.

And so that was the other side of Steve but Steve that 99.8% of the time he was the loving kind fun loving anything we could do to make the day go better.

Because we're here we're going to be here from seven in the morning to midnight so let's have fun let's find the good funny things that we can do.

There's countless stories like that.

That I just remember that come to mind, it's just like doing the wave and in the press box and you'd be amazed at what the drivers can see.

Look in the other direction.

and you think, well, they can't see us up here.

Yeah, they can't come on and screw it out.

I mean, there's a million stories like that.

So that's what I have to offer

unless I can think of something else sitting here.

So go ahead.

Oh, yes.

Yeah, we were able to dismiss them all and no.

But he was, he was, the look on his face was like,

I'm looking for an exit and I don't want to ever see you again

and you're in trouble.

I was telling you, the Steve got so tickled about that.

And that's the kind of stuff he would do

with such a straight face.

And then he would, no, I'm kidding.

I'm kidding.

It's okay.

I'm kidding.

You know how Steve was, he would just like,

even was like looking for the door.

I'm like, I don't want to see you again.

I want to see you again.

I'm leaving.

But thankfully she stayed with me for 36 years.

But anyway.

Jeff.

Yeah, when I think about Steve,

I think the biggest thing that I think about

is what a great storyteller he was.

When I first came into the sport in the early nineties,

I was new and I really didn't know a lot.

I had covered a few races down at Darlington

and got to know Jim Hunter and Russell Branham.

And they sort of encouraged me to apply for this job

in North Carolina at a newspaper

and go cover the sport full time.

And I did it, but I was nervous,

didn't know what I was doing and had a lot to learn.

And like most reporters and writers that came into the sport,

one of the first things you always did

is you picked up Winston Cup scene

and you could learn a lot through that.

And also learn real quickly that there were two people

that I needed to get to know.

And that was Steve and Tom Higgins.

And they were always together.

They would come into the press box all the time

on Sunday morning with the same tone and the same words.

Howdy boys.

They'd say that every, you know, early on,

I all rise and all this stuff, they had a lot of fun.

But, you know, early on, I got to know Steve a little bit

and we chatted and I learned a little bit.

And then I started going out to dinner with him a little bit,

him and Tom.

Me and Tom Stinson ran around a lot together

and sort of helped each other out.

And we were both relatively new to the sport

and we were just learning our way.

And one of the things that we enjoyed more than anything

was going to dinner with Steve and Tom.

And you would hear all these incredible stories

about the old days, about this driver and this crew chief

and this race and tons of stories that can't be repeated.

Just a lot of fun stuff.

And you learned a lot about the sport that way.

And I remember one night we were sitting in a restaurant

in Corning, New York.

We were up there for the race in Watkins Glen

and Tom and I were at dinner with Higgins and Wade

and I think we were there three or four hours

with him just telling stories.

And they had had a street festival.

I think it was a Thursday night

and they'd had a street festival.

Some drivers were signing autographs

and there were a lot of fans around

and we're sitting by a window in this restaurant.

And a lot of drivers were coming by.

I remember Sterling came by and I think Kyle Petty

and a few others and they would see Higgins and Wade

and here they would come.

They would come into the restaurant and pull up a chair

and sit down and tell a story and say hello.

And it was that way with Steve everywhere you went.

He knew everybody and he had a story about everybody

and he was great at telling it.

And years later, I came to work at NASCAR scene

and got to know Steve a little bit better.

And when I was working on a story

and I needed some background information

before I went to the track and started interviewing people,

I would talk to different people in the office.

I'd talk to Deb and Tom Jensen and I would wonder

around the building and talk to other people.

We had a business journal and a sports business journal

and I would wonder over there and talk to them

because they covered the sport too

but from a little bit different perspective.

So there was a little bit you could pick up from everybody

that kind of helped you develop a plan.

And my expedition would always end up in Steve's office.

That'd be my last stop and I would go in there

and I'd sit down in the chair in his office

and I'd put my feet up on his desk and I'd say,

tell me a story about this guy or this race

or this crew chief or this issue, whatever it was.

And about an hour later, I would get up

and I'd walk out the door

and I knew what I was gonna do with that story.

I knew who I needed to go talk to.

I knew which way the story needed to go.

And I got that from talking to Steve.

I mean, he truly knew everybody,

knew the history of the sport

and he was a great storyteller.

I think everybody that knew him knew that,

that he could tell a tale like nobody else

and make it entertaining and informative and funny

and he was always just a joy to talk to

and that's what I will remember the most about Steve

is he was a great storyteller.

I didn't get to spend as many years working closely with him

because I just joined scene in 99

but I read him for probably 20 years before I ever met him

because a friend of my dad's co-worker

was a weekender for Jimmy Means back in the days.

So he'd get seen at the tracks

and then had a subscription and would give him to my dad.

So I was probably not even a teenager

and I was starting to read scene every week.

Then I was working at a paper in Pennsylvania

and got to cover Dover and Pocono

and got to meet Deb and knew Tom from Pennsylvania.

So then when they called me for an interview,

Jeff picked me up at the airport

and then Tom was out of town that day.

I think he was in Hawaii working on helping out

the business journal out there at the time in December of 98.

So the first person I met was Steve

and it was like, holy crap, okay.

So I talked with him and eventually got the job

and started off mainly covering the truck series

but the days I got to know Steve best were Wednesdays

when we were in the office and would go to open,

a bunch of us would go to open kitchen

or tavern on the tracks.

And that's when I got to hear most of his stories

since by then, I mean, with his TV show,

the Fox ship morning show on Sundays,

he wasn't at the track as much on the weekends

or I was off at truck races.

But I mean, it was just like all the stories

that I'd read over the years just came to life

and that was just sort of a wow moment.

And I hadn't been to a race in years

so it was great this, was it this winter, the podcast?

Yes, sir.

It's Rick called and asked if I'd be a guest on the podcast

and it was the first I talked to Steve in years

and I'm really glad I had that chance

to get caught up with him.

Deb.

Get comfortable.

Well, Steve and I worked together for 18 years,

all the 18 years I was at scene

and then the years that he was president

of the National Motorsports Press Association,

I was the secretary treasurer.

So I would say that over all those years,

we probably got more like brother and sister,

particularly if we got mad at each other

or if we wanted to share a funny story.

And to go to Darlington where you were telling

your stories Ben, those of you who will remember

when country time lemonade was in the sport

and there was always a country time lemonade container

in the media center, one of those ones

that are constantly recirculating

and you go up and get a cup

and get the country time out.

Well, you know how miserably hot and muggy

it can be at Darlington.

And this was when the media center

was the Wrangler building, the track right there

as you come off the pit road.

And it may be.

Maybe you could fit 12 media people in there scrunched up.

So everybody's out in the garage

and they're talking to drivers,

they're talking to crew chiefs, they're getting their stories.

And while everybody's in that hot Darlington Southern 500

garage, Steve pours a bottle of vodka

in the country time lemonade machine.

Surely not.

So everybody comes in and they're hot, they're getting,

you know, and they're trying to write their stories

and they're drinking country time lemonade like crazy.

And I went over to one reporter and I said,

you might want to slow down a little bit on that.

Steve put a bottle of vodka in there.

He said, I knew it tasted better for some reason.

And then at Darlington, it was the first year

I was editor of scene and the transformer behind

what was the original press box and then the current,

then the became the current press box

that RJ Reynolds built.

That transformer was always blowing.

And I had gone to the car to get the bundle of scenes

for the press box and I'm in the elevator

coming back up to the press box and the transformer blows.

And I'm stuck in the elevator between floors one and two.

So I knew I couldn't ring the bell

cause nobody's gonna pay attention to it.

They're gonna think kids are playing with the elevator.

I called, I got the phone, I called the office

to tell them I was stuck in the elevator

and some temporary person for race week picked up the phone

and said, oh yeah, we know we're working on it, click.

I thought, I gotta let somebody know

I'm stuck in this elevator.

So I called the scene office in Charlotte

and they're laughing so hard.

I'm saying, please call Steve Wade in the press box

and tell him I'm stuck in the elevator.

So I knew they had gotten through to Steve

when the next thing I hear is, well, Deb,

here's another fine mess you've gotten yourself into.

But when I heard Adam sing,

Steve loved the Moody Blues.

And it was one time they were in Greensboro.

So he gathered everybody in the scene office

and we went to Greensboro to hear the Moody Blues.

The first race we went to cover in Las Vegas,

who's in Las Vegas but the Moody Blues.

He got tickets for everybody in the scene staff

that was out there for the Las Vegas race.

I went to see the Moody Blues in Vegas.

But I will close and say I learned

two very important things from Steve.

And those who have worked with me know

that I can speak very sharp and very curt.

Really?

And I don't mean to hurt anybody's feelings,

but I know I have and I apologize.

But I would think, how is it that Steve

can correct me for an article, something I've done wrong.

And I don't get offended by it.

I know he has my best interest at heart.

And I realized it was because he would always compliment

something I had done before he told me what I had done wrong.

And as a result, that opened me up to being more receptive

to the constructive criticism that I was receiving

because he had told me what I was doing right first

before he told me what I was doing wrong.

And the other thing was with maybe in the secretary

treasure of the NNPA for 14 years

and the time that Steve was president,

you know, it was real easy for us to work together

because he'd just come out of his office

and come into mine and say, what's the treasury look like?

Do we have the money to do this?

Do we have the money to do that?

And he wanted to make sure that the NNPA awards

had very distinctive trophies

because when somebody walked in to somebody's trophy room,

he wanted that person to look at that trophy case

and now, oh yeah, that's the NNPA award right there

for there was the Richard Petty driver of the year award,

the Myers Brothers award and all the awards

that the NNPA gives.

But in working with him that way

and seeing how he did things

helped me tremendously when I had the honor

of serving as the NNPA president.

Okay, but anyway, yeah, so I learned a lot for him.

We first involved like brother and sister a lot of the times

but I also learned a great deal from him

and yes, Jeff, you are very correct.

He's a fabulous storyteller.

I mean, between him and Tom Higgins,

you couldn't get any better stories.

Is it working now?

Okay, when I first come to work for seeing an illustrator

which will be in same day as Ben January 2nd in 1991,

one of our first events coming up was the NNPA banquet

and Steve Wade and Joe Whitlock were the MCs for the event

and I just remember their chemistry, their jokes.

It was a night at the improv.

I mean, those guys could put on a show

like I had never seen before.

So much fun to be around.

I mean, he was an entertainer, he was a manager,

he was a people person

and obviously helped me tremendously,

just being a kid from West Virginia gave me a start

to do some pretty amazing things

but I also remember in the early 90s,

we were in New York covering the banquet

and we were at some off location somewhere in its outside

and this bright yellow 57 Chevy limo pulls up

and it just sits there and we're like,

what redneck in the world would be riding

in a 57 Chevy bright limo?

And of course, Tom Higgins and Steve Wade

open up the doors and jump out.

But working for Robert Griggs, our original publisher,

I didn't meet him until my first day at work

and he walks up to me and first thing he says is,

who the hell are you?

But what I admired about Steve is his ability

to be the moderator, Rob was very eccentric,

very obnoxious, very loud, a genius.

I mean, great leader and all that behind it

but he needed someone to soften the waters

and one perfect example of that one day was,

we were in the meeting in the conference room

and Ben was sitting next to Rob

and Rob is just going off about something

and just laying into everybody and laying into Ben

and he gets so upset, he picks up his glasses,

puts them on, storms out the door.

Well, unfortunately they were Ben's glasses

and they were Rob.

I think Ben got fired three times that day

for no fair reason.

But Steve would come back through,

he'd put all the fires out

and boy, what a team effort between those two guys.

Really an awesome experience

and I'm very thankful for everything

that he's led my life to be.

And someone asked me, he said,

are you got fired three times that day?

Are you leaving?

I said, no, he'll be back to apologize and he did.

I'm sorry, but I want to add one more thing real quick.

Steve, I've had the honor of writing 14 books

about NASCAR and the first one was called Circle of Triumph

and I would walk through the garage with Bobby Allison

and Steve would walk up, how's that book of yours?

Circle of Jerks, how's that book?

And Bobby would never laugh out loud.

He would just have this big grin on his face

and always do the finger thing.

He just, you know, yes, yes, the book is going really good.

You know, that's Bobby Allison,

but he would always call it Circle of Jerks.

How's Circle of Jerks selling this week?

You know, he would always come up with something.

You never know what Steve was going to say.

He was just a joyful, someone to hang out with.

Like all of us have said, there's a million stories

that he loved making everyone around him happy

and that's what I remember most really.

And a great storyteller, like you're talking about.

I want to see one more thing.

Rick, you were talking about how much it meant to you

for Steve to compliment you and say, you know,

what he said about the podcast.

And the last time I got to see Steve,

he had come to our NMPA Hall of Fame

the first year I was president.

And that was when we were inducting Tim Brewer

and Lynn St. James and Parnelli Jones and all.

And Steve walks in and he sits down

and I walked over to him and he looked up at me

and he said, I'm proud of you.

Well, listen guys, I would love to keep going,

but I want to be respectful of the time

that we have here at the Hall of Fame, Winston.

Thank you so much for your help in putting this together.

But especially Wendy Bell, she, I told her today,

I don't, how in the world do you plan things for a living?

Because I've had a part in putting this together

and it's like chasing rabbits.

It's like chasing chickens, you know,

trying to get everything in line.

But Wendy, you have been a godsend

and I want to thank you very, very much.

And I want to thank Margaret and Celeste.

My condolences are with you.

So if I guess we're done,

there are gonna be light refreshments out in the foyer.

And just, I appreciate you guys being here.

And a lot of faces from the paper.

I see a lot of faces who read the paper

and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart

you guys being here.

Thank you.

Ford Expedition

Buick Grand National

Jeep Wrangler

57 Chevy limo

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