Deane Mercier
Deane Mercier, 62, of Norwalk, (“The Cowboy”) passed away Monday of a heart attack. Deane was a true veteran of motorsports, from writing for Area Auto Racing News years ago to most recently writing for Long Island Motorsports. Most of you would recognize his deep voice as the host announcer at Jack Arute’s Stafford Motor Speedway welcoming you each week to the speedway. On any given night, at the Stafford Motor Speedway, you would hear him enjoying a hearty laugh while working with Matt Buckler and Ben Dodge, Jr. in the booth.
When ever Deane had a free moment at the speedway, he could be seen outside the press box just watching the races. He truly was one of the nice guys of the sport. Deane was an asset to the local racing community and he will be deeply missed. At Speedway EXPO 2008, I had a chance to chat with Deane about “NEAR” and racings good old days.
“The Cowboy” was instantly recognizable by his big black cowboy hat. I had the privilege of getting to know him at Stafford Speedway. He told me a story about meeting Richard Petty, who commented on what a nice hat he was wearing. One night at the speedway, a season or so ago, Deane was singing along with Toby Keith’s “Should’ve been a Cowboy”.
Deane was a cowboy through and through and as he takes his last ride into the sunset, a void will be left at this weekend’s Fall Final.
God Bless You Deane Mercier