Few people in the world of automotive journalism have done what Brock Yates managed to do over an active career that spanned a half century. He was a fearless journalist that was as outspoken as he was thorough in his opinions. At one time of another he likely angered everyone in the world of automotive manufacturing and that’s a pretty sure sign that he was doing his job right. It is impossible to pin Brock Yates down with one thing that he was best at during his career because the guy was seemingly awesome at everything.

Writing insightful, entertaining, controversial, and memorable magazine pieces? He did that for decades. Creating one of the most awesome illegal racing events of all time and then creating a movie around it and then taking it legal? He did all of that. Serving as one of the best motorsports broadcasters of his time and lending his voice and presence to events that ranged from IMSA races to swamp buggy competition? He did that, too. Writing a near library of books on topics ranging from the corporate culture at Chrysler in the 1990s to gangsters that helped to foster racing along in the great depression? Yes, that too. Riding shotgun on the floor of Lee Roy Yarborough’s stock car as he lapped a track at 200mph with nothing more than roll bar tubes to hang onto? We’re not making that stuff up. This is a guy who literally did it all and seemed to love every second of it. The best part is that while he loved it, he was not afraid to poke at the establishment, the rules, or the culture that surrounds the automobile in all of its various forms.

I’m virtually certain every BangShifter has some sort of a Brock Yates story and I am sure that virtually all of you are in the same boat as me having never actually met the guy. My introduction to Brock Yates was through American Sports Cavalcade, the TNN show that defined Sundays when I was growing up. Yates and Steve Evans would cover whatever was in front of them that particular week and I literally ate it up. It sounds bizarre and perhaps a little weird to say that those two guys that I never met had a profound impact on what my life would later become. There was passion and fun and excitement in their voices and I was enthralled.

For the last 12 years Brock Yates was suffering from the evil known as Alzheimer’s disease. The wit, the enthusiasm, and the balls out nature of his life were slowly and irreparably stolen from him by that horrid disease. What was not stolen was his lasting imprint on the world of automotive journalism and motorsports broadcasting. The magic of the internet allows us to revel in his work today, tomorrow, and hopefully forever.

Here are two great moments highlighting Brock Yates as a broadcaster –

(Note: The brilliance of the piece directly below these words is the fact that we’d bet you a million bucks the guy running this show came into Yates’ headset and told him he needed to fill a minute or two. On national television Yates probably had about 20 seconds to formulate this monologue and then he delivered it like a boss. This was not a scripted thing. This is a guy just killing it. Legend)