Steve Evans
Steve Evans grew up involved in the sport of performance vehicles, particularly drag racing. Steve grew up near the dry lakes of Muroc where there was a lot of racing activity, but he really became interested in the sport at the ripe old age of 12 when he went to work at his father’s concession stand at the old San Gabriel Dragstrip. While he began driving at 13 and spent most of his working hours dreaming of becoming a winning competitor in the sport, things didn’t seem to go his way in this arena. After graduating from high school in 1958, Steve and some friends put together a DeSoto powered, injected fuel dragster nicknamed “The Goblin” that was fun but not competitive. Not willing to walkway from the sport, Steve gave up racing and turned his efforts to operating racetracks. His first effort came when he purchased Santa Maria Dragway, where he not only made sure the track function smoothly but he also took on the job as the announcer.
In 1961 at age 19, Steve began to branch out by honing his announcing talent at San Gabriel Raceway and Fontana Dragstrip. By 1966 Steve had moved up the announcer’s ladder and began entertaining spectators at some of NHRA’s national events. Shortly after he began announcing for NHRA, he took on the printed world for them as well by becoming the editor of National Dragster. This was a position he would hold several times over the years as he began to divide his time between announcing, national dragster, and managing a variety of racetracks up and down the West Coast. Steve managed the controls of racetracks like Fremont, Sacramento, Long Beach, Irwindale, and Orange county. Steve really enjoyed being involved in all aspects of the sport, and it showed. Steve took on the chores of PR Director for the NHRA for a time and while in that position he made his first national appearance as the co-host at the US Nationals for ABC’s Wide World of Sports with Keith Jackson.
In the 1970s, Steve took over management of Lions Dragstrip, and by putting in countless hours and using all of his talents, he soon turned it into a profitable race facility. He was also one of the very first promoters to expand the drag racing facility to include a dirt track for the moto-cross races. When the politicians closed Lions down, Steve teamed with another promoter Bill Donner, and leased Irwindale Raceway where they soon made the term “show business” a part of drag racing. The dynamic pair also took over Orange County and made it “the place to race”. Steve came up with the “fox Hunt” promotion were all girls got in free. He had the fans running back and forth from a heat race at the motocross track to the next round of funny cars on the dragstrip. Steve also booked many of the funny car shows into other tracks such as Puyallup and Orange county; and made sure the teams were treated fairly. During most of this time Steve had another side venture going. He owned every tent and sign that traveled on the NHRA tour.
Steve soon ran out of time to do everything and began concentrating on announcing. As much as he really enjoyed the job on the PA, TV soon took most of his time. Working with Diamond P Sports, TNN, and other major coverage teams, Steve helped bring drag racing into the homes of millions of fans. While drag racing was the number one love, Steve announced for car shows, sprint car races, and other aspects of the automotive world. And who can forget his famous commercials SUNDAY, SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!!