Yahoo Autos Rick Houston Runs to Preserve NASCAR History, One Page at a Time
In the era of video teleconferences, the NASCAR Scene vault is easy to show off.
All 1,492 issues of the NASCAR publication of record for nearly 35 years stand collected behind its longtime Busch Grand National Series editor Rick Houston every time he logs on to record an episode of the Scene Vault podcast or conduct interviews like the one taking place right now.
They serve as pillars holding up the deeds of those who made NASCAR history and for those who recorded it.
Upon its founding in 1976, Grand National Scene became the de facto source for NASCAR news, rumors, results and analysis.
The 1979 Daytona 500 had yet to launch NASCAR into the mainstream and it was difficult back then for a fan living outside of the Piedmont to find information about what transpired on a weekly basis. Scene served the print generation in the same way Jayski.com would later cater to those on the World Wide Web.
That evolution of the media industry is also what led to Scene’s closure.
First the immediacy of the internet, and then social media, lessened the need for Scene beyond nostalgia and memorabilia purposes. It was shut down by American City Business Journals in 2010, folded into its glossy sister magazine (NASCAR Illustrated) before that also closed six years later.
The World Wide Web was both a blessing and a curse for consumers.
Meanwhile, Scene holds a special place in the hearts of its readers. It’s equally beloved by its former staffers, too.
Ed. Note: My short track racing website, Short Track Scene, is named as a tribute to the publication
Houston’s Scene Vault co-host and cohort Steve Waid was with the publication throughout its entire run and even served as publisher for a period of time. The weekly newspaper employed current media icons Bob Pockrass, Jeff Gluck, Mike Hembree and Deb Williams.
It was a rotating all-star team of stock car writers -- thus its continued popularity today -- and Houston is working feverishly to digitally preserve that history forever.
"So, I actually own every issue of Scene ever printed," Houston said. "I cannot stress enough what a wonderful archive, what a wonderful research total this is. You know, it's one thing to do research for an academic purpose or a journalistic purpose, but for those of us who worked there, it is almost like a diary of what we were doing at that time."
