Stephen Hamilton Waid, October 6, 1948 – June 15, 2026
Steve Waid, one of the most accomplished print journalists to ever step foot in a NASCAR media center, died Monday,…
The NASCAR media community came together at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday to celebrate the life of Steve Waid, one of the most respected and influential journalists in stock-car racing history.
Waid, who passed away on June 15, 2026, at the age of 77 following a lengthy battle with cancer, left behind a legacy spanning more than four decades of NASCAR coverage.
The photograph shared by Rick Houston on The Scene Vault Podcast’s X account perfectly captured the significance of the occasion. Gathered beneath a large backdrop image of Waid and the NASCAR Hall of Fame logo were many of the other legendary NASCAR journalists who either worked alongside him or were influenced by his career.
The front row featured Ben White, Jeff Owens, Deb Williams, Mark Ashenfelter, and Jim Fluharty, while Rick Houston, Mike Fresina, Scott Greig, Mike Hembree, Tom Jensen, N.B. Arnold, Phil Cavali, Art Weinstein, Tom Stinson, Bob Pockrass, and Bryan Hallman stood behind them.
Reflecting on the service, Houston wrote that it had been an honor to speak during Waid’s celebration of life at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and expressed how meaningful it was to see so many former NASCAR Scene and NASCAR Illustrated staff members reunited once again.
Houston also announced that the next episode of The Scene Vault Podcast would feature the complete audio from the memorial service in a special upcoming episode, allowing fans to hear firsthand the stories that defined Waid’s career.
FOX Sports reporter Bob Pockrass, who was also present at the gathering, reshared the post and reflected on the evening.
While acknowledging that everyone had gathered for heartbreaking reasons, Pockrass said it was uplifting to hear so many memories of Steve Waid and the profound influence he had on so many across the NASCAR industry, particularly the journalists who had worked alongside him at Scene and Illustrated. He concluded his tribute with a heartfelt message: “RIP, Steve.”
After spending a decade covering NASCAR for the Roanoke Times & World News, Waid took a gamble by joining the well-known publication Grand National Scene in the early 1980s. Over the following three decades, NASCAR Scene evolved into the sport’s most authoritative weekly publication, eventually reaching well over 100,000 subscribers.
Long before digital media and social platforms delivered instant updates, Scene served as the primary source of NASCAR news for devoted fans across the country, and Waid’s reporting became one of its defining features.
Besides writing race stories, Waid served as president of the National Motorsports Press Association for 12 years and earned the organization’s prestigious George Cunningham Writer of the Year Award in 1989, the same year he received the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence.
Recognition for his contributions continued well into retirement. Waid was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame in 2014, and in 2019, he became the eighth recipient of the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence.
The honor, presented after he had been informed of his selection by NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton the previous year, acknowledged his decades of reporting and the lasting impact he had in preserving NASCAR’s history through thoughtful and accurate storytelling.
Steve Waid, one of the most accomplished print journalists to ever step foot in a NASCAR media center, died Monday,…
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