NASCAR’s Steve Byrnes Passes Away At 56

Fox Sports announcer Steve Byrnes passed away today.

If you watched the race this past weekend at Bristol, then you know who how much Steve Barnes will be missed by the NASCAR community.  NASCAR officially changed the race name to Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes.  Throughout the day, you heard commentators, drivers and fans wishing him well, holding up cards telling him to stay strong.  It was an amazing tribute!

He joined Fox in 2001 and from then on, you saw him in the booth and on pit lane interviewing drivers, crew chiefs and giving us all the race updates we needed!

His family released a statement today.  As a fan, there are so many ways to remember him, but this section may just be how he truly wants to be remembered.

"Despite all his career accolades, Steve's greatest accomplishment was his son, Bryson, who is growing into a more Godly, compassionate and respectable young man every day. Steve's passion was spending every moment possible with Bryson, especially watching him play football and basketball and helping prepare him to play for the Charlotte Christian School football team as a seventh grader in the 2015-'16 school year. The other light of his life was Karen, with whom his relationship extended well beyond that of a spouse. The two were inseparable since meeting in 1988 while she was the public relations representative for Benny Parsons in his last season as a NASCAR driver."  (Statement released by Byrnes Family Via Fox Sports)

Byrnes, 56 had been battling head and neck cancer since August of 2013.