Walt Stannard

Walt Stannard was the first pitlane commentator for live ESPN telecasts of Formula 1 races in 1987. He began his career in professional auto racing in 1976 as the Public Relations Director of Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California.[1] and retired from racing in 1998. During the intervening years, he was the executive director of the West Zakspeed Formula 1 Team; he managed the Z1 Corvette team entry in the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race for Doug Rippie Motorsports; he managed, as an executive of Campbell & Co., Ford Motorsport PR activities for NHRA, IMSA, and NASCAR teams as well as for drivers such as Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, Tom Gloy, Klaus Ludwig and Bobby Rahal; and he worked as a journalist writing for magazines and newspapers including Competition Press & Autoweek, On Track, Race Car Engineering, and The Wheel. He got his start in racing at Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) amateur events and won an SCCA championship driving a Morris Mini Cooper S in 1969, and was a championship runner-up with a Porsche 911 in 1975. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in History. He has lived in England and Germany, where he was involved in the start-up of NFL Europe, as well as in California and Michigan.