Steve Byrnes Went the Distance

Steve Byrnes' courageous battle with cancer ended on Tuesday (Google Images) 

This past Sunday's race at Bristol Motor Speedway was renamed the Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand up to Cancer. The race had several rain delays, took nearly eight hours and ended late Sunday night. But it was filled with beautiful tributes and memories of Byrnes, arguably the most respected reporter in the NASCAR garage who's battle with head and neck cancer over the last year has been well documented. The race was won by an emotional Matt Kenseth, who emerged from his car in victory lane and proclaimed with a grin that he was Byrnes' favorite driver.

Several drivers had Byrnes' name over the windows on their cars, every team ran a decal with Byrnes' initials and Bristol's jet black outside wall featured one bright blue section with #ByrnesStrong painted in big white letters. It was almost fitting that this blue strip be placed against a black wall in a race dedicated to a man who, for so many years had been a bright spot in the NASCAR garage.

Unfortunately, that bright spot dimmed on April 21st as Steve Byrnes' courageous battle with cancer came to an end. He was only 56. It was fitting that the last race Byrnes saw was dedicated to him and so many others who battle this horrible disease. During the pace laps, as Mike Joy so eloquently put it, "every man on every crew" stood along pit wall with signs reading "I stand up for Steve." Fans in the stands did the same. Joy's voice began to crack and, in this poignant moment, it was clear what Byrnes meant to everyone from the garage, to the broadcast booth, to the grandstands. FOX also put together a touching pre-race intro that paid tribute to their ailing colleague and fans chanted his name during a segment dedicated to him on the NASCAR Race Day pre-race show.

The end came so much sooner than anyone had expected. We had all hoped that Byrnes would pull through, don that yellow headset and return to pit road. I know I did. But cancer doesn't discriminate and it was not to be. Life can be brutally unfair at times.




Fans and crew members held up these signs at Bristol on Sunday.
We all stood with Steve through his fight (Google Images)

Byrnes had a long career not only in NASCAR but all sports. After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1981, he covered sports teams like the Washington Redskins, the Baltimore Orioles, the Washington Bullets, the University of Maryland, and Georgetown. He got his break in stock car racing when Sunbelt Video hired him to host Inside Winston Cup with Ned Jarrett in 1985. Byrnes also began pit reporter duties for World Sports Enterprises and later worked for networks like TBS, TNN, and CBS.


But fans most likely know Byrnes best for his work with NASCAR on FOX. He began as a pit reporter with the network during their flagship broadcast of the 2001 Daytona 500 and since then he has been a mainstay with the network, hosting practice and qualifying sessions and pre and post race shows in the Hollywood Hotel. A major highlight of Byrnes' career came in 2006 when FOX tabbed him to be the play-by-play announcer during a Carolina Panthers game. Through all of his success and all he accomplished in his life, Byrnes was a professional and, while he had fun doing what he job, he took it very seriously and had a meticulous attention to detail.

But while he loved his job, his Terrapins, his Redskins and his Nationals, it was his son Bryson that was clearly the center of his universe. Whenever Byrnes mentioned him during a television broadcast, his smile got a little bigger and his eyes lit up. He loved his son and his wife, Karen and was worried about taking care of them until the end.

Even in his final days, Byrnes handled everything with class and dignity. He enjoyed what he did and knew so much about the sports he covered. That is what made him such a well-respected personality among the drivers and crewmen he interviewed. A classic example of this, one that I think we'll always remember is this interview with Tony Stewart after Smoke's scuffle with Joey Logano at Fontana. Nobody but Byrnesie could have gotten a thank you from a driver after a tirade like that. Especially one with Stewart's disdain for anyone who covers auto racing.

But that's the kind of man Steve Byrnes was. He took his job seriously, he commanded respect, and he treated everyone he met with that same level of respect. You can watch quite a few members of the NASCAR community sharing their favorite memories of their friend and colleague here and you can also watch the touching tribute to Byrnes narrated by Ken Squire here.

Steve and Bryson Byrnes at the race track (Google Images)

If you have the time, both of these clips came from a special episode of Race Hub that paid tribute to Byrnes and aired on  FOX Sports 1 the night of his passing. You can watch this touching and well-done episode here. It's definitely worth watching and does an excellent job of celebrating the life of one of the best reporters our sport has ever seen.


I never had the privilege of meeting Steve Byrnes. Like most fans, I was only familiar with his television work with FOX over the past fifteen seasons. But as fans, we are introduced to different pit reporters and different broadcasters all the time when networks change or when people retire. But with all the different faces across FOX, ESPN, and NBC, there was always something about Steve Byrnes; something that made him different.
Whether he was hosting Trackside or covering pit stops during a race, Byrnes always had the same bright, infectious smile that made him a fan favorite. It was plain to see that he loved what he did and he enjoyed every minute of it. He wasn't just a suit with a microphone asking questions to the driver who won the race. He was a genuine, compassionate human being that cared about the teams and drivers he interviewed. He was a friend to everyone in the garage, he offered a fair and unbiased view in his reports and he was loved by fans and drivers alike. There will never be another Steve Byrnes. Ever.

Over this last year, Byrnes took on a new role. He became a hero. Not only to his son Bryson but to others inside and outside NASCAR who were fighting cancer alongside him. Byrnes fought valiantly and courageously right up until the end. He was up front with everyone about his battle and often updated us through his Twitter account. In the selfies he posted, it was clear he'd lost weight and his hair was thinning. But the same bright, warm smile and kind eyes that had always been present during his television work were still there. Even with all he was going through, Byrnes was clearly positive and upbeat and believed he could beat his disease.

Dale Earnhardt Jr sent a nice tweet following Byrnes' passing. He said, "My hope is Steve was able to see how much he was loved & appreciated by so many. Rest easy friend. Prayers to his family. #ByrnesStrong."

Steve Byrrnes was a fighter, right up to the end
(Google Images)

I believe Junior's wish was realized because, as Byrnes watched Sunday's race from his hospital bed, Bryson by his side, he tweeted his thanks and picked Carl Edwards to win the race. Following the event, Byrnes tweeted, "Thanks to all for a remarkable day, my teammates @NASCARONFOX. Miss you all. Thanks for your love."

Two days later, just a week after his 56th birthday, Steve Byrnes left us. His final tweet simply read, "I went the distance." A profound statement that, honestly, leaves me speechless. With everything Byrnes had been through, with all he had accomplished in his life, he truly went the distance. Those four words say so much about a man who worked so hard during his career to make sure everything he did was perfect, who fought so hard to beat cancer and get back to the job that he loved and who was never seen without a smile on his face, enjoying life to the fullest.

Byrnes said that his cancer made him to appreciate every moment more and to live each day like it's a birthday. That's something he tried to impart to the rest of us and I know I'm going to try harder to live by Steve's example. If we can take one thing away from all of this sadness, it's that Steve Byrnes taught us to appreciative every moment we have with our loved ones and to be courageous in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. We should all hope to be half as brave as he was in his fight.

In the coming days, please keep Steve and his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. Both Bryson and Karen Byrnes have been just as brave as Steve through this entire ordeal and we should all be thankful that they shared Steve with us. He touched and inspired so many people.

The best thing about NASCAR is that it's like a big family. When one of us is hurting, we all go through the experience with them. I can only speak for myself, but while I never met Steve Byrnes, I have never been so heartbroken over losing someone I have never met. Because after seeing him on FOX for the last decade and a half, it feels as though I've lost a friend; a familiar face I had grown accustomed to seeing that I assumed would always be there and someone I aspire to be like, both as a journalist and as a person.

Godspeed Steve Byrnes. You truly did go the distance and you will be sorely missed. Rest in peace, my friend.

Johnson Bests Harvick in Texas-Style Shootuot

Jimmie Johnson (C) is "happy, happy, happy" in Texas victory lane,
posing with track president, Eddie Gossage (L) and  Duck Dynasty star
and owner of Duck Commander, Willie Robertson (R) (Google Images)

After an uncharacteristically bad finish at Martinsville two weeks ago, Jimmie Johnson was looking to turn things around at Texas Motor Speedway. Apparently the Easter break made a huge difference because after finishing 35th at Martinsville, 36 laps off the pace with steering problems, Johnson led nine times for 128 laps and cruised to victory in the Duck Commander 500.

But just because Johnson dominated the race, that didn't mean the rest of the field didn't put up a fight. Last year's champion Kevin Harvick has been on a roll all season. The No.4 team already has two wins and, until the race at Auto Club Speedway, they had a streak of eight consecutive top two finishes. Clearly Harvick and his team are going to be tough to beat in their fight for a second straight title. They were also tough to beat at Texas on Sunday, leading nine times for a total of 96 laps, second most in the night.

Just like at Fontana, Kurt Busch started on the pole flanked by his teammate Harvick. The Stewart-Haas Racing duo traded the lead back and forth for the first 100 laps until Johnson grabbed the top spot on lap 109. Harvick was able to run with Johnson, but Busch faded as the track cooled and Tony Gibson had trouble keeping up with adjustments as the track cooled and the sun went down. Most of the other teams had this same problem and had to resort to strategy to try and stay in front of the No. 48 car.

Midway through the event, Jamie McMurray and crew chief Matt McCall decided to put two right side tires on the No. 1 car while every other car took four tires. FOX commentators Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip, in their infinite wisdom, proceeded to question the move. Neither believed that McMurray would be able to hold his own up front on two tires and that he would get passed by the rest of the field. However, he was able to maintain a spot in the top ten and show that, while Johnson and Harvick might not be beaten on speed, it might be possible later in the race to beat them with a pit call like that.


Jimmie Johnson (48), Kevin Harvick (4) and Joey Logano (22) were the three
best cars all night long (Google Images)

Pit strategy also provided an interesting element to a race that saw several debris cautions and the HScott Motorsports cars of Justin Allgaier and Michael Annett get wrecked. It also meant that we could stop talking about how Michael Waltrip spilled a taco on Denny Hamlin's car. Just when you thought you'd seen NASCAR's resident buffoon do just about everything, he spills a few shreds of lettuce on the No. 11 car and it turns into a running joke that never should've broken into a brisk walk to begin with.

But on the last pit stop of the night, the story switched from spilled Mexican food and a dominant Lowe's Chevrolet to a battle for the win that had fans on their feet cheering for someone to take down that same Lowe's Chevy.

Remember how Jamie McMurray took two tires on a pit stop earlier in the race? Well late in the race with the win on the line, he and his team decided to try and make that gamble work for them again. Once again McMurray held his own and actually led six laps. It looked like there could be a surprise winner at Texas and that the No. 1 team might be No. 1 for the first time in 2015. But with 15 to go, coming off turn four, Harvick slid up the track trying to pass McMurray and enabled Johnson to slide under both of them and take the top spot back. Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr, a new contender in third place, would race hard for second. They would get within a few car lengths of the No. 48, but neither would be able to get to him and pass him. Harvick drove so hard trying to win he got into the wall off turn two with three laps to go.

It's not the entire last 15 laps, but you can click here to watch some key highlights from this Texas shootout.

The other story on the night was Joey Logano's team working on their No. 22 car to try and get more competitive as the night went on. They were up front most of the night, but as the race wound down, they were really the third best car on the track. But while he wasn't on the same level as the No. 48 car, Logano did provide the best piece of driving we'd seen all night. He threw a block on Harvick in the closing laps, Harvick bumped him and Logano shot up the track towards the turn one wall. But somehow, he managed to save it and show that, while he might be a spoiled rich kid from Connecticut, but he still has talent behind the wheel of a race car. Logano would come back to finish a very strong fourth on the night.


Kevin Harvick came close, but couldn't take down the No. 48 Chevy
 (Google Images)

A few other notes bright spots in the race results were McMurray coming home a solid sixth after a two tire gamble that took the Missouri native from zero to hero. Martin Truex Jr also continued his streak of top ten finishes. He's had one in every race this year and grabbed the ninth spot Saturday night. Carl Edwards has really underperformed in his first few races in  a Joe Gibbs Toyota. But he ran in the top ten for most of the race, even cracking the top three for a time. But he came home a respectable tenth in the Duck Commander 500.

This Sunday, the Sprint Cup Series will visit the track that is the polar opposite of Texas Motor Speedway. The tour will be stopping at "The World's Fastest Half Mile" race track; Bristol Motor Speedway. You can catch all the beating, banging, and classic shot track racing action from Thunder Valley on Sunday on FOX at 1 pm/et.