Steve Byrnes named 2016 recipient of Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence

By foxsports
Published

The NASCAR Hall of Fame has named longtime FOX NASCAR analyst Steve Byrnes the recipient of the 2016 Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence. Byrnes, who passed away on April 21, was a staple on NASCAR weekends and on NASCAR Race Hub on FOX Sports 1.

Byrnes will be honored during NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony festivities on Jan. 22, 2016 and featured in an exhibit in the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

"For three decades, Steve's hard work and humanity brought NASCAR fans closer to their favorite drivers," said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France. "His passion for the stories and people he covered was always reflected in his work. Steve was respected for his professionalism and adored for his easy demeanor."

Steve enjoyed a successful and highly respected television broadcasting career for 30 years. He joined the FOX Sports family in 2001, hosting and reporting for multiple NASCAR programs and serving as a pit road reporter for NASCAR on FOX's broadcast of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races from 2001-2014.

Most recently, he was the play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports 1 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and was co-host of NASCAR Race Hub for the network.

Prior to joining FOX, Steve also hosted Darrell Waltrip's Racers on TNN, worked as a pit road reporter for CBS, WTBS and TNN, and hosted a variety of NASCAR programs for The History Channel and TNN, for which he moved to Charlotte in 1985 and remained in the area ever since.

His first on-air job was at WCIV-TV in Charleston, S.C., in 1982, after commencing his television career as weekend sports producer at WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., immediately following graduation from college. Steve also called play-by-play for a Carolina Panthers/Minnesota Vikings NFL game on FOX and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races for DirecTV Hot Pass.

Previous Squier-Hall Award recipients include Ken Squier and Barney Hall, for whom the award was named, Chris Economaki and Tom Higgins. 

Other nominees for the 2016 award included Russ Catlin, Norma "Dusty" Brandel, Shav Glick, Bob Jenkins, Bob Moore, T. Taylor Warren and Benny Phillips.