WATERBURY (AP) — Ken Squier, a longtime NASCAR announcer and broadcaster, has died. He was 88.

Squier died Wednesday night in Waterbury, Vermont, according to the management of the local WDEV radio, which he owned.

“Though he never sat behind the wheel of a stock car, Ken Squier contributed to the growth of NASCAR as much as any competitor,” Jim France, chairman and CEO of NASCAR, said in a statement. He called him a superb storyteller whose voice is the soundtrack to many of NASCAR’s great moments.

“His calls on TV and radio brought fans closer to the sport, and for that he was a fan favorite. Ken knew no strangers, and he will be missed by all.”

Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he is forever grateful for Squier’s “major role” is growing stock car racing.

“Ken Squier was there when Nascar was introduced to the rest of the world in 1979 for the Daytona 500. I’m convinced that race would have not had its lasting impact had Ken not been our lead narrator,” Earnhardt posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “We still ride the wave of that momentum created on that day.”

Squier opened Thunder Road speedway in his home state of Vermont in Barre in 1960. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a stock car racer, called Squier “a true Vermont legend and dear friend to me and so many others.”

Much will be made of “the NASCAR Hall of Famer’s extraordinary contributions to racing — from his time in the booth at CBS, where he coined the phrase ‘The Great American Race’, to his founding of the ‘Nation’s Site of Excitement’ at Thunder Road,” the governor posted on social media. “His impacts on the sport are too numerous to count, and he deserves every one of those recognitions and many more. But for me, what I will remember most was his friendship and deep devotion to his community, which was the entire state.”

NASCAR named its annual award for media excellence after Squier and broadcaster Barney Hall. Race fans felt like they knew Squier, whether they met him or not, said Winston Kelley, executive director of NASCAR Hall of Fame.

“While perhaps best known for his memorable last lap and postrace descriptions of the 1979 Daytona 500, he had the incomparable ability to so effectively articulate the human side of all NASCAR competitors,” Kelley said in a statement. “Among his signature phrases, used at just the right time, was ‘common men doing uncommon things’ which helped audiences and we mere mortals understand the unique skills, risks and gravity of manhandling a 3,400 pound racecar at speeds in excess of 200 mph with 39 other snarling competitors entrenched around one another.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — All five of Matthew Perry’s “Friends” co-stars are sharing more remembrances of the star in their first personal social media posts since the actor’s death last month.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer each posted heartfelt notes about Perry, who died Oct. 28, on Instagram. The posts on Tuesday and Wednesday were accompanied by photos from the “Friends” set.

“In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again,” Aniston posted Wednesday, sharing a text message where Perry sent her photo of a script reading session where Perry made her laugh.

“Oh boy this one has cut deep… Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before,” Aniston’s post read.

Kudrow became the fifth “Friends” star to pay personal tribute to Perry amid the wave of mourning.

“Thank you for making me laugh so hard at something you said, that my muscles ached, and tears poured down my face EVERY DAY,” she said in an Instagram post. “Thank you for the best 10 years a person gets to have.”

The stars issued a joint statement a few days after Perry’s death, saying they were “all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family.”

Schwimmer posted a photo of him and Perry dressed up as “Miami Vice” characters, calling it “one of my favorite moments with you.”

“Now it makes me smile and grieve at the same time,” Schwimmer’s post said.

LeBlanc posted Tuesday: “It was an honor to share the stage with you and to call you my friend. I will always smile when I think of you and I’ll never forget you. Never.” His post included one candid shot of the cast all hugging on set.

Perry was found dead last month at his Los Angeles home. After an initial investigation, the Los Angeles County coroner deferred giving a cause of death, which may take weeks to determine.

Cox shared a video clip of a “Friends” scene where her and Perry’s characters are in bed, trying not to have their relationship discovered. It’s an iconic moment of the show, and Cox shared a bit of backstory about filming.

“In this scene, before we started rolling, he whispered a funny line for me to say,” Cox posted. “He often did things like that. He was funny and he was kind.”

“I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day,” she wrote.

Most of the posts references how sweet, funny and thoughtful Perry was.

LeBlanc ended his note with a bit of comedy, writing: “Spread your wings and fly brother you’re finally free. Much love. And I guess you’re keeping the 20 bucks you owe me.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional hearing devolved into an angry confrontation between a senator and a witness on Tuesday after Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma challenged Sean O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to “stand your butt up” and settle longstanding differences right there in the room.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the chairman of the Senate panel that was holding the hearing, yelled at Mullin to sit down after he challenged O’Brien to a fight. Mullin had stood up from his seat at the dais and appeared to start taking his ring off.

“This is the time, this is the place,” Mullin told O’Brien after reading a series of critical tweets O’Brien had sent about him in the past. “If you want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here.”

The two men never came face to face in the hearing room. But they hurled insults at each other for around six minutes as Sanders repeatedly banged his gavel and tried to cut them off. Sanders, a longtime union ally, pleaded with them to focus on the economic issues that were the focus of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing, which Sanders was holding to review how unions help working families.

“You are a United States senator!” Sanders yelled at Mullin at one point.

Mullin, a frequent critic of union leadership, has sparred before with the union head. Earlier this year, O’Brien posted repeatedly about Mullin on X, formerly known as Twitter, calling him a “moron” and “full of s—” after Mullin criticized O’Brien at a hearing for what Mullin said were intimidation tactics.

In another social media post, which Mullin read aloud at Tuesday’s hearing, O’Brien appeared to challenge Mullin to a fight. “You know where to find me. Anyplace, Anytime cowboy,” O’Brien had posted.

The exchange escalated from there, with Mullin telling O’Brien that “this is the place” and asking if he wanted to do it right now.

“I’d love to do it right now,” O’Brien said.

Mullin replied: “Well, stand your butt up then.”

“You stand your butt up,” O’Brien shot back.

When Mullin got up from his chair, appearing ready for a fight, Sanders yelled at him to sit down, banged his gavel several times and told both of them to stop talking.

“This is a hearing, and God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress, let’s not make it worse,” Sanders said.

As Mullin persisted, O’Brien retorted: “You challenged me to a cage match, acting like a twelve year old schoolyard bully.”

The two traded angry insults for several more minutes — each called the other a “thug” — with Mullin at one point suggesting they fight for charity at an event next spring, repeating an offer he made earlier this year on social media.

O’Brien declined, instead suggesting they meet for coffee and work out their differences. Mullin accepted, but the two kept shouting at each other until the next senator, Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, started her questioning by talking over them.

After the hearing, Sanders called the exchange “absurd.”

“We were there to be talking about, and did talk about, the crisis facing working families in this country, the growing gap between the very rich and everybody else and the role that unions are playing in improving the standard of living of the American people,” Sanders said. “We’re not there to talk about cage fighting.”

Asked later about the skirmish, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell demurred. “It’s very difficult to control the behavior of everybody who is in the building,” McConnell said. “I don’t view that as my responsibility.”

Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said that references were made to the back-and-forth in a GOP conference meeting after the hearing. But he said that no one should take it too seriously.

“It’s a dynamic place,” Cramer said of the Senate. “We don’t wear the white wigs anymore.”