Jan C. Gabriel

Jan C. Gabriel (1940 – January 10, 2010) was a Chicago-area motorsport announcer who is best known for popularizing the motorsport phrase "Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!"

Early life Gabriel was born in 1940 in Wisconsin and grew up in Palos Heights, Illinois. He graduated from Sandburg High School. Gabriel produced commercials for Community Discount stores and worked behind the microphone at WJOB in Hammond as a disc jockey.

In the 1950s, Gabriel had billed himself as "Chicago's youngest teenage DJ" when he started at record hops. It wasn't until 1968 that he combined his love of announcing and racing into a stint at Santa Fe Speedway in Hinsdale, IL.

Still connected to motorsports, he helped to transfer Team Demolition Derby, a Santa Fe Speedway standby, to Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL. In 2003, Gabriel invited drivers from Canada, Australia and New Zealand to compete in the Team Demo Association World Championship. In the first Championship, the USA team won.

Gabriel received The World of Wheels "Lifetime Achievement Award" in 2008.

In November of 2024, he posthumously received the Satellite Award at the International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame in Butler Indiana.

Death Gabriel died on Sunday, January 10, 2010, from polycystic kidney disease and complications from peripheral artery disease. Funeral services were held on Sunday, January 17 at his home in Lombard, Illinois. He is survived by his wife, Teresa (who is now the president of Team Demolition Derby), and a daughter, Amanda.