Brock Yates

Brock Yates (October 21, 1933 – October 5, 2016) was a prominent American journalist, TV commentator, TV reporter, screenwriter, and author. He was the longtime executive editor at Car and Driver magazine—and contributed to The Washington Post, Playboy, The American Spectator, Boating, Vintage Motorsports, as well as other publications.

With a journalism career spanning six decades, Yates' work was highlighted by often irreverent and incisive industry critiques—including a 1968 analysis in Car and Driver titled The Gross Pointe Myopians, on which he expanded for his 1983 book, The Decline and Fall of the American Automotive Industry.

Yates was widely known for co-conceiving and then executing the first non-stop, cross-country Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, widely known as The Cannonball Run, in 1971—which subsequently gave rise to his screenwriting career. He co-wrote the 1980 film, Smokey and the Bandit II. For his reporting and racing participation, he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, in 2017.

Writing for Motor Trend, noted automotive writer Steven Cole Smith, said Yates was a "prolific, iconic, profane, brilliant, pioneering writer" and "called him the first superstar automotive writer."

Background Yates was the son of American author Raymond Francis Yates He graduated from Hobart College and spent time in the United States Navy. He was survived by his wife, Pamela, sons Brock Jr., and Daniel, a daughter, Claire Lilly, stepdaughter, Stacy Bradley and three grandchildren.

Career Yates was hired in 1964 as managing editor at Car and Driver magazine by the magazine's iconic editor, David E. Davis—who was noted for fostering an "atmosphere of creative turbulence." Yates later recalled, "little did [Davis] know that in fact I knew nothing about managing or editing." Four decades later (2006), he was fired by editor-in-chief Csaba Csere (as Yates himself noted) for being "too expensive."

On David E. Davis, Yates wrote:

"I hold the distinct honor of being the person David fired most in his long and storied career," Yates said. "We were tough, opinionated sons of bitches who often went head to head, but at our core we loved and respected each other." Although they always settled their spats, Yates would add fuel to the fire whenever possible. In 1994, he wrote: "Dave remains the grand old water buffalo of automotive journalism. To know him is to acknowledge his short fuse and penchant for unpredictable, snorting charges at friendly targets." Yates once called C/D’s then executive editor to report: "Dave’s on the hill behind my house, crawling on his stomach. He’s got a shotgun."

As a pit reporter for CBS, Yates covered certain NASCAR Cup Series (at the time, the Winston Cup) series races in the 1980s, including the Daytona 500. He was also one of the main commentators on the TNN motor sports TV show American Sports Cavalcade with Steve Evans where, on occasion, Paul Page, Gary Gerould, and Ralph Sheheen appeared. He was a commentator on racing and vintage cars at various points between 1995 and 2013 for the Speed Channel, a U.S. cable affiliate of Fox Sports.

Yates wrote for The Truth About Cars briefly in January and February 2008.

Cannonball Run Yates was inspired by Erwin G. "Cannonball" Baker (1882–1960), who set several coast-to-coast records, to initiate the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash.

Conceived by Yates and fellow Car and Driver editor Steve Smith, the first run was intended both as a celebration of the United States Interstate Highway System and as a protest against strict traffic laws coming into effect at the time. Another motivation was the fun involved, which showed in the tongue-in-cheek reports in Car and Driver and other auto publications worldwide. The initial cross-country run was made by Yates; his son, Brock Yates Jr.; Steve Smith; and friend Jim Williams beginning on May 3, 1971, in a 1971 Dodge Custom Sportsman van called the "Moon Trash II."

The first competitive race was won by Brock and Formula One and Le Mans winner Dan Gurney in a Sunoco blue Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona. The duo traveled from New York to Los Angeles in a then-record time of 35 hours, 54 minutes. In all, five Cannonballs were run between 1971 and 1979, although Yates never again won. The event was the inspiration for the 1976 movies Cannonball! and The Gumball Rally.

The event has continued on in the form of the Tire Rack One Lap of America Presented by Grassroots Motorsport Magazine. The event is now run by his son Brock Yates Jr. 2018 saw the 35th anniversary of the event.

Screenwriting Yates along with director and stuntman Hal Needham, wrote Smokey and the Bandit II (1980). Yates also wrote the screenplay for The Cannonball Run (1981) film with the intention of giving the lead role to Steve McQueen. However, McQueen was diagnosed with cancer early in 1980 and was unable to do the film, leading to the casting of Burt Reynolds. Yates had a brief cameo in The Cannonball Run as the race organizer who lays out the ground rules before the beginning of the race.

While Yates was not involved in them, The Cannonball Run was followed by one sequel using his characters, Cannonball Run II (1984), and a second sequel, Speed Zone (1989), which, apart from being about the race and a small cameo by Jamie Farr's character, had no other connections.