NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Buddy Baker, a lifelong favorite of race fans and his peers alike, announced this past Tuesday night that he has inoperable lung cancer and is leaving his role as a co-host of the “Late Shift” on SiriusXM (Satellite) radio, effective immediately.
“Everything has a start and an ending and mine has been overwhelming,” Baker said.
“There comes a time when you talk to the doctor and say what are my chances and there’s dead silence. I went, ‘how long?’. ‘Well, we don’t own the hotel, we don’t know when we check out. It’s something that we cannot fix,’ ” Baker said.
Baker, the 1980 Daytona 500 winner, won 19 races and 38 poles in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. At 6-foot-6, he was often dubbed the “Gentle Giant” because of his friendly and approachable demeanor.
Some of Baker’s greatest accomplishments in the sport, include holding the average race speed of 177.602 miles per hour, a record that still stands today. Later in the year, he became the first driver to eclipse the 200 miles per hour mark on a closed course while testing at the 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
Amidst his Cup Series triumphs were victories in the 1970 Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in a race which he lapped the entire field. He also won back-to-back World 600s (now known as the Coca-Cola 600) at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in 1972 and 1973.
In 1998, he was named one of NASCAR’s “50 Greatest Drivers.”
After hanging up his driving duties in 1992, Baker made a successful transition to the television booth as an analyst, working for The Nashville Network (TNN) and CBS alongside NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett. His most recent career endeavor included a stint in radio.
Sirius launched its NASCAR channel on January 1, 2007 with Baker as rotating co-host of the Performance Racing Network (PRN) produced show called “The Driver’s Seat” with John Kernan as the lead host.
In 2008, Sirius took back the daily production of the midday show, which became “Tradin’ Paint” with lead host Steve Post. Baker, then moved to the “Late Shift” with then host Alex Hayden, while maintaining a Friday co-host gig on Tradin’ Paint. Tuesday night, Baker took his last calls from avid listeners with his esteemed counterpart Brad Gillie alongside.
Buddy Baker signed off for the final time in his typical selfless demeanor: “Do not shed a tear. Give a smile when you say my name. I’m not saying goodbye. Just talk to you later.”
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