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NASCAR to honor Steve Byrnes with Squier-Hall Award

Coca-Cola 600

Coca-Cola 600

Getty Images for NASCAR

Steve Byrnes has been selected as the recipient of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence. The award was announced Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Byrnes, who passed away April 21 after a battle with cancer, will be honored Jan. 22, 2016, during the NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and featured in an exhibit in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Byrnes spent 30 years in broadcasting. He joined Fox Sports in 2001, hosting and reporting for multiple NASCAR programs and serving as a pit road reporter for NASCAR Sprint Cup races from 2001-14. He previously worked as a pit reporter for CBS, WTBS and TNN.

The award is named for legendary broadcasters Ken Squier and Barney Hall. They were the initial recipients. Other previous winners were Chris Economaki and Tom Higgins, the longtime reporter from The Charlotte Observer. Higgins was selected last year.

The other seven nominees for the 2016 award were:

Norma “Dusty” Brandel, the first woman to report from inside the NASCAR garage.

Russ Catlin, one of the best-known early racing writers and historians, served as editor of Speed Age Magazine.

Shav Glick, covered motorsports for the Los Angeles Times for 37 years, bringing NASCAR coverage to the West Coast.

Bob Jenkins, served as the lead NASCAR lap-by-lap anchor at ESPN from 1982-2000.

Bob Moore, spent more than 20 years as a NASCAR beat writer including stints with the Daytona Beach News-Journal and The Charlotte Observer.

Benny Phillips, spent 48 years covering NASCAR for the High Point (N.C.) Enterprise, 27 years for Stock Car Racing and 12 years on TBS.

T. Taylor Warren, best known for his three-wide photo of the 1959 Daytona 500 finish, he covered every Daytona 500 until his death in 2008.

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