Jim Foose Speedway Action Magazine
The problem with asphalt racing that’s causing a steep decline in spectator attendance and participation, along with closing tracks, is self-inflicted. In Part 6, we will be looking into how the track announcer(s) can make or break the event.
The most important staff member at any race track is the announcer, read that again. No other staff member, paid or volunteer, has more contact with the race fans, through the public address system. A good announcer can make a program, while a subpar announcer can break it.
Announcers are responsible for several elements of a race program, including conducting victory lane interviews, reading sponsor ads, delivering safety messages, performing public address duties, and calling the races. They take the visual happening on track and turn it into audio, providing the story of the race along the way. They inform the fans in attendance what is happening on the track and off the track, telling the story of the drivers behind the wheel and the cars they are racing, all adding to the entertainment value for the race fans in attendance (and those watching at home on the live stream).
The role played is pivotal to a race track or race series success, knowing the schedule, the points battle, the rivalries and the characters involved in an event allows an announcer a chance to build the storyline during the race, captivating the audience and keeping their eyes glued to the track or their screen at home. Yet, so many announcers today don’t do the homework, they fall into the trap of “winging it” which leads to mistakes or a lack of information. One announcer recently filled in for a touring series at another track and when talking about the series, which he called by the wrong name more often than not, he couldn’t tell the fans where the next race was, despite it being at his regular track the very next weekend. Instead, the announcer deflected the information to the fans, directing them to check the series’ Facebook page for upcoming dates.
One of our biggest pet peeves is dead air during an event. This seems to plague many local race track announcers, they simply run out of things to say and turn off the mic, wasting the time when an ad-read could be completed or they could entertain the crowd with a trivia question or quick story. Dead air is the silent killer, fans get bored quickly and dead air does nothing to pass the time during a clean up, the time between two races or during intermission.
Boring phrases are another one that ruins a program for us. Hearing “green, green, green” 17 times in a night is bad enough, announcers all have their styles to start races but falling back on such a boring phrase kills it for me. Blake Anderson, during his time with the All Star Circuit of Champions, used the same line to start every feature event, but it changed slightly each race as he included the track name in his call. “Here at ABC Raceway, it’s SHOWTIME” would be the call.
The last pet peeve that we’ll talk about here is the pre-race ceremonies. From the invocation to the National Anthem, this task is one that most get right, but the few who don’t really butcher the moment. From the National Anthem being interrupted by phone notifications to completely losing sound, the announcer has to get this right. Failing to do so starts the program off on a bad note and is disrespectful to our country.
Announcing is different at different tracks, some tracks utilize a one-man announcer’s booth, while others have two announcers in the booth or a booth announcer and an on track announcer, sometimes called the “Roving Reporter”. Midvale Speedway has the two announcer set-up with Chris Kail and Jason Shaw calling the races each week. The chemistry between the two takes the event to the next level. It’s almost like watching a NASCAR race on TV or listening to the MRN coverage on the radio at the track. They tell a story, taking turns introducing the starting field and then alternating calls during the race, just like the professionals do on TV or radio. Both take turns interviewing the winners during the event, while the other covers downtime with a quick rundown of the race, talking about specials at the concession stand or even talking to each other as one walks down to victory lane. Shaw’s racing experience and Kail’s professional broadcasting background blend well, and race fans find their commentary both informative and entertaining.
Midvale Speedway’s Chris Kail said it best: “Announcing is about telling a story. Whether you are listening to it on a radio and cannot see what’s in front of you, on TV where people can see and hear you but they cannot use other senses like smelling or touching, or you are on a PA and announcing to people that can see, smell and hear what you can or maybe a combination…..it’s about painting a picture for them. Make them feel like they are there. Describe what you see, what you feel, what you hear, what you smell. When you can tap into someone’s senses, they relate to you more.”
Jim Balentine, a veteran racing photographer and announcer at Michael’s Mercer (PA) Raceway Park among other tracks, shared his thoughts on the most important job for any racing announcer is “To allow the fans to learn the drivers and cars and maybe they can cheer for their local driver if they hear the hometown; I have the drivers interviews on the fan side of the fence so the fans can take photos or shake their hand and be up close and personal with them.. that goes a long way…to let the crowd know about the track and its history and tell the crowd a story about the night…you are their connection to the drivers and the track so let them be a part of it”.
Good announcers take time to prepare for the event, learning the driver’s names and how to pronounce them, their hometowns, and their families. Anyone with a microphone can read sponsors off the side of a car racing by, a good announcer has sheets or cards with each driver’s sponsor list so they can announce them when the car is on the track. Good announcers take the time to walk through the pits, observing what is going on and talking with drivers and pit crews, learning about them and their stories. A good announcer takes the opportunity to learn about special milestones for each driver, their birthday, their anniversary or their child’s birthday or big accomplishment on the high school football team, all that information can be worked into telling the story of that driver while on track or in victory lane. A good example is during a recent event at Midvale Speedway, our team was present photographing the Great Lakes Truck Tour, Chris Kail not only announced that Speedway Action Images was at the track but touched base with us before the race to gather some pertinent information to tell the story. On that particular night, I was the Race Director for the Great Lakes Truck Tour, the first time I had been in that role. Chris took note of that and mentioned it when talking about the race.
Kail had the following advice to anyone who is looking to become an announcer. “You have to be passionate about what you are doing. And that’s not just about racing, it’s about any sport or any job, for that matter. Even if you don’t know a ton about the sport you are announcing, be passionate. Be willing to learn. Do some research, talk to people. Announcing is not just showing up on a Saturday at the track at 6:00 when the green flag drops and when the checkered flag drops, you put it away until next week. Get to know the athletes, in this case, the drivers. Have things to talk about, other than just what’s in front of you. If you know driver “x” changed a transmission and rear gear after practice, then tell people that. If you know a driver is a police officer for his day job, tell people that. It’s important to get to know the people you are showcasing. Because that’s what we are doing….you are telling their story!!”
Balentine says he prepares “for 2 or 3 nights get the points, win list and other facts updated… If a new division comes in research, the division and talk about it, and its sponsors (some have said I talk about their series better than their announcer does), their points and wins, and history. The internet and MyRacePass have made it so much easier to be able to do that. Make sure you have the correct anthems and if there’s a country being represented, make sure you have that country’s anthem as well, and if there is a series announcer, working with them by filling in the local drivers and their achievements so that the crowd notices how tough the locals can be”.
Balentine shared 19 Google Sheets he uses for announcing at Michael’s Mercer Raceway Park, included in those sheets were points, all-time wins and more stats from several racing series, and the weekly racing classes at Mercer and surrounding tracks. To say he knows more about the drivers than their own pit crews is an understatement.
Brian Liskai, the voice of Attica Raceway Park, Fremont Speedway and Waynesfield Raceway Park says “Prep work begins the night/day after a race for the next event. It involves checking websites and social media posts daily for news and information. I keep stats on an Excel sheet for every event I announce at.” Liskai also fills in as a secondary announcer when the national touring series visits any of those three tracks, often interjecting useful information about a driver’s local success or the way the track has changed throughout a race. For Liskai, his style leans more toward the informative side, as he tells us “I try to be as informative as I can. I try to leave the “entertainment” portion to the product on the track… In other words, I feel a good announcer isn’t trying to ‘be the show’.”
Lisaki keeps his style informative, choosing to educate the fans about the races, “I try to explain in simple terms what the race cars are and how they are adjusted and worked on. An announcer can’t assume fans are knowledgeable” he explains. Hat’s not to say he is boring or not entertaining by any means, his call of the final lap of the Inaugural Sprint Car World Championship at Mansfield in 2018, where Tim Shaffer and Aaron Reutzel exchanged slide jobs at either end of the track, will forever be remembered.
Robbie Devore, the voice of Mansfield Speedway which is set to reopen for racing in 2026 tells us that his balance of informative and entertaining falls more towards the entertaining side; “Being informative I would say is on the back burner for me I don’t give a s*** kind of I don’t care how informative I’m being in certain situations. My job is to capture your attention I know how to do that so I would say I would lean I would lean much more towards entertaining than informative.”
For Devore, his duties as track announcer at Mansfield Speedway have yet to begin, so he is starring in the video series about the rebirth of Mansfield Speedway along with a lot of manual labor. He feels being hands on with the rebuilding of the facility will build his notebook when he heads to the announcer’s booth in 2026. “I’m rebuilding a racetrack, I’m Reviving an old NASCAR track that has so much work to be done and in doing that process yeah maybe I am losing a little bit of practice repetitions on the announcing part in the actual speaking and doing of it however I am gaining so much knowledge so much Insight so much energy from you know putting myself through some of the shittiest work to be honest with you it sucks, it’s hard, it hurts but I’m learning what it takes to make this all possible so it’s not just me looking at cars on a track going in a circle. I know how much dirt it took to fill in turn number three because I’ve had to pack it down, then I know how scary it is installing those lights on that high ladder that people are enjoying, I know how good it feels to have people using the bathrooms and taking the brochures and buying the t-shirts and people who buy pit passes now I understand what goes into that and now going into taking all that knowledge and putting it out into the universe by announcing”
At the end of the day, it’s probably best to be both informative and entertaining. There are cases for both sides, and several announcers lean one way or the other. The greats find a middle ground and go with it. Next time you are at the track, take a listen to your track announcer(s). Are they informing you and others around you of what is happening on the other side of the fence? Are they entertaining you? And are they leaving you in silence during a program?
As we prepare for the seventh part of this series, we’ll take a look at how traveling series add and subtract cars from the local tracks.
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