Top Five NASCAR TV Pit Reporters of All-Time

Brock Yates

One of the most respected automotive journalists of his time, Brock Yates may be well known in racing circles for his work in NASCAR, but there’s much more than that to his story. As a screenwriter, author, and reporter, Yates is responsible for helping to fuel America’s hunger for speed and American muscle.

Serving as a pit reporter for select NASCAR races covered by CBS Sports prior to 2000, Yates brought a level of expertise and professionalism not seen since Ned Jarrett’s time on pit road. He brought deep knowledge about cars and everything automotive, having served as executive editor of Car and Driver magazine and host of American Sports Cavalcade on TNN. Following his NASCAR work, Yates would shift to Fox Sports owned Speed Channel to help cover collector car auctions.

However, perhaps the biggest contribution Yates made to racing and autos was his screenwriting work. Little known to many is that Brock was the lead screenwriter for two classic American car movies – Smokey and the Bandit II  and Cannonball Run. These films combined grossed over $100 million in theaters, with two sequels then following Cannonball Run, though not retaining most of the original characters.

Sadly, Brock Yates passed away on October 5, 2016 at age 82 from Alzheimer’s Disease. His memory and contributions live on not only through his films, but his work to advance the public understanding of cars and the growth of automotive culture.