Jan Gabriel's Obituary

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: Jan C. Gabriel, 1940-2010: Drag-strip radio ad announcer famous for 'Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!' : : Jan C. Gabriel died Sunday. : Or as he might say, "Sunday! Sunday!! SUNDAY!!" : The voice of the once ubiquitous radio commercials for "Smoking U.S. 30" drag strip, Mr. Gabriel was also the longtime announcer at the old Santa Fe Speedway and the producer of "Super Chargers," a nationally syndicated motor sports television show. : He was 69 when he died of complications from polycystic kidney disease on Jan. 10 in his Lombard home, said his friend and business partner Denise Dorman. : The commercials for the U.S. 30 drag strip in northwest Indiana were conceived by the track's owner, Ben Christ, who wanted to make sure everyone knew his business was open on Sunday. : Christ enlisted Steve Cronen of Starbeat Recording Studios in Deerfield to produce an ad that conveyed the excitement of racing while leaving no question as to the day of the event. : "It proved very difficult to do," Cronen said. He recalled that some 50 announcers auditioned and were turned down, their voices simply not vibrant enough, before Mr. Gabriel was called in. : A disc jockey who got his start doing sock hops, he had gained notice in racing circles with scintillating descriptions of the action at Santa Fe Speedway in Willow Springs. He read Christ's script once, and Cronen knew he had his man. : "It was the excitement, the way he delivered that line. No one else was able to do that," Cronen said. "That's because he really loved racing." : The script originally called for two announcers to trade intonations of "Sunday!" : But the Scully tape recorder Mr. Gabriel used for his first take was set up with a delay that allowed him to handle the line himself, Cronen said. : Christ liked it, and through the 1980s Mr. Gabriel came in every week during racing season to produce fresh commercials for both U.S. 30 and tracks around the country that Christ owned, making "Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!" a national phenomenon of sorts. : The spots ended with an echoing, "Where the great ones run!" also read by Mr. Gabriel. : A native of Wisconsin who grew up in Palos Heights and graduated from Sandburg High School, Mr. Gabriel produced commercials for Community Discount stores and worked behind the microphone at WJOB in Hammond. : Always fascinated by racing, he drove cars briefly in the 1960s and called the action at Santa Fe from 1968 to 1982. Beginning in 1982, he was for 12 years the producer and host of "Super Chargers," which, in addition to covering all forms of racing, was described by Dorman as "an oddball mash-up of celebrities and motor sports." : Viewers tuning in might see baseball great Reggie Jackson at motorcycle racing school or actor Chuck Norris with Bears legend Walter Payton participating in a speedboat race. The show also provided serious coverage of stock car and drag racing. : Through his production company, TV One Inc., Mr. Gabriel helped popularize monster truck competitions in the 1980s. : Through his many accomplishments, he never tired of being best known for "Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!" : Mr. Gabriel's first three marriages ended in divorce. : He is survived by his wife, Teresa, and a daughter, Amanda. : A service will begin at noon Sunday. For information, call Dorman at 630-845-4694.

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