I’m a racing guy. I didn’t go to school for journalism or writing, I went to school to learn how to produce radio and television to work in race broadcasting. With that, I ask that you grade me on the curve as I write this article.
Like many of the drivers in ARCA I was once a driver with aspirations of racing for a living. However, I didn’t have millions of dollars or huge sponsorship. I drove for my fathers midget team. Working in a car dealership, I knew my career wouldn’t go any higher than racing with the Northeastern Midget Association but I wanted to make racing my living in some facet. In 1999 I put driving on hold to focus on college and an eventual TV career. Fast forward to today and that career in television kinda worked pretty well.
It has been an honor being the pit reporter for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series since 2008. It has always been a fun bragging right to tell people before guys like Chase Elliot, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson or Austin Dillon ever talked to network talent after their first NASCAR win, they talked to me. In 2015, to my (and many other fans) pleasant surprise NBC Sports added the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races to their broadcast schedule. Being a Northeast open-wheel and Modified guy, this was a perfect fit. When you get the opportunities to report on national television at the same tracks you grew up attending as a kid it makes the career feel like its come full circle.
Last year one of the biggest opportunities in my years of broadcasting came when the folks from MAVTV asked if I’d be interested in reporting my first live oval-track race from Salem Speedway in September. I had grown up watching the USAC midget and sprint races on ESPN’s Thursday Night Thunder and after watching races on TV from Salem, Winchester and Lucas Oil Raceway, words could not express how exciting it was to report this event. This was it…this was LIVE TV!
Our K&N and Modified races are tape delayed shows meaning the talent gets a second chance to re-do a mistake. Live television is working without a net. You mess up, everyone knows it. The crew from MAVTV and ARCA couldn’t have been more welcoming. There were some familiar faces on the broadcast crew I had worked with in the past which made introductions feel seamless. They reiterated to treat it like any pervious racing weekend and enjoy yourself. Bob Dillner and Jim Tretow were fantastic to work with. Jim is a walking encyclopedia of ARCA knowledge and Bob has a keen investigative sense of racing from years of pounding the pavement of pit road. The folks from ARCA made me feel right at home too, PR rep Charlie Krall answered any question no matter how big or small and there were a lot of teams who knew who I was from the K&N races. It was a very comfortable feeling with familiar faces all around. On a funny little side note, when we finally went on-air, the boys in the broadcast truck started taking bets if I was going to flub my opening comments or not…I didn’t so I hope I made someone a little cash in the truck that day. Which brings me to ask, where’s my cut?
That first race was an eventful one. It was the race where second place point contender Zane Smith and Michael Self took each other out, resulting in both teams having wrecked cars and a heated discussion all live on MAVTV’s airwaves… and yours truly in the middle of it. At the end of the night Chandler Smith sat in victory lane and TV crew were shaking hands, telling each other good job.
This year I’m proud and honored to announce I’ll be returning as part of the broadcast team for four events beginning with MAVTV’s Live ARCA coverage next week at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. I have been fortunate enough to report two Snowball Derby’s and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East’s first visit to the panhandle oval in 2013. Pensacola is an awesome track. It’s worn out but fast, high banked and sweeping. Tire conservation is going to be huge. The part I’m most looking forward to is watching who the wheelmen are once we get a long run and the rubber goes away. Daytona is a different animal in and of itself, Pensacola is where the real season is going to begin. Those point contenders for the championship are going to show up in a big way and they’re going to root and gouge for a great start to the season points-wise. We are in for a very exciting second race of the ARCA season and I thank the folks from ARCA and MAVTV for letting me be a part of it. Bring on 2019!
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