Former motorsports broadcaster Bill Weber passes away at age 67

Bill Weber, the former motorsports broadcaster known for his statistical know-how and iconic voice throughout NASCAR’s viewership and attendance peak in the 2000s, has died. He was 67.

The National Motorsports Press Association informed members of Weber’s death Monday. Weber passed away Dec. 13, according to the NMPA.

Bill Weber was born on May 8, 1957, in Middletown, New Jersey. After graduating from Butler University in 1979, Weber held a variety of jobs in sports media before joining ESPN’s NASCAR coverage in 1994.

Seven years later, NBC/TNT brought Weber on-board as the pre-race host and a pit reporter for their portion of the season.

Anyone who watched NASCAR in the 2000s, in particular, will remember Weber as a wordsmith who characterized the key players in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series in a manner that finely painted a vibrant picture of how ordinary men were about to do extraordinary things. Weber brought viewers from the broadcast starting up to the field of 43 starting their engines – with delicately-woven statistics that could blow the mind of even the most astute statistician – and plenty of little, recurring sayings:

• “We looked up so you didn’t have to. The countdown is at zero, it’s time to go racing.”
• “Happy to have you along for the ride, let’s go trackside!”

Weber instilled a passion for NASCAR statistics in fans. His prominence grew in late December 2004 when NASCAR on NBC/TNT named Weber as the permanent lap-by-lap announcer.

The 2005 season saw record ratings and viewership for NASCAR, punctuated by Tony Stewart’s first Brickyard 400 win and his second NASCAR Cup Series championship. The 2006 Daytona 500 was the most-watched race in series history and saw Jimmie Johnson in victory lane – kicking off a season that saw him win his first Brickyard 400 and his first Cup Series championship.

Weber lent his voice to all of those moments – and more. He tossed the faux NBC broadcast to commercial during “the long one” in the 2006 film, “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” He also lent his voice to EA Sports’ NASCAR video games, such as “NASCAR 2006: Total Team Control” in 2005.

Outside of the iconic moments at NASCAR’s peak, Weber was quick to remind fans of the sanctioning body’s relatively-new method of relying on scoring loops to tell the finishing order of a race, rather than racing back to the caution. It added suspense to races like the 2006 Talladega fall race, when Brian Vickers accidentally bumped Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the way for his first NASCAR Cup Series win.

In 2007, NASCAR on TNT tabbed Weber to be the lead announcer for their six-race summer series. That year, Weber called Juan Pablo Montoya to his first Cup win his foray from Formula 1 and was the voice of one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history.

In 2009, Weber’s time in the TNT booth came to an abrupt end due to a reported confrontation. After being let go, he reportedly worked as an illusionist and a fan reportedly bumped into him in 2018. The time away from the public eye added a level of intrigue for what he was doing – and an appreciation for what he did.

Tributes poured out for Weber following the announcement of his death Monday, including from prominent broadcasters such as Mike Joy, Mike Massaro and John Kernan.

Weber was 67 years old. He is survived by his wife, Teresa. Details on a memorial service are forthcoming.