Motor Racing Network

Motor Racing Network

Type	Division of International Speedway Corporation
Industry	Radio Network
Founded	1970
Headquarters	Daytona Beach, Florida
Key people	Bill France, Sr., founder David Hyatt, president
Products	NASCAR racing and radio programming
Employees	70
Website	www.mrnradio.com

The Motor Racing Network (MRN) is the principal radio broadcasting operation of NASCAR, promoting themselves as "The Voice of NASCAR." It broadcasts not only coverage of most major NASCAR races at the top three levels of NASCAR at tracks owned by International Speedway Corporation as well as Dover International Speedway and Pocono Raceway: the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the Nationwide Series at those tracks, and the entire Camping World Truck Series and the FIA Formula One World Championship races under the Grand Prix name. The exceptions to these are NSCS and NNS races held at tracks controlled by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which operates their own radio network called the Performance Racing Network, and the Brickyard 400, which is broadcast by Indianapolis Motor Speedway's own radio network in conjunction with PRN and some F1 races which is broadcast by ESPN Radio under the ESPN Radio SpeedWorld Name.

In development of the Camping World Truck Series in 1995, NASCAR signed a unified radio contract and unified television contract where NASCAR, not the tracks, controlled all broadcast rights. A similar move was made for television (but not radio) in the other two national series in 2001. As such, all CWTS races are broadcast on MRN, regardless of track ownership. The Sprint Showdown qualifying race and NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race are also broadcast on MRN, despite being held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, an SMI-owned track.

MRN was founded in 1970 by William H.G. “Big Bill” France, the founder of NASCAR and the world famous Daytona International Speedway. Its first broadcast was the 1970 Daytona 500. It was the sole radio outlet for NASCAR until PRN's founding in 1988. Many stations affiliate with both MRN and PRN in order to broadcast a full NASCAR schedule.

Ned Jarrett during his days as an MRN pit reporter

The most prominent broadcaster associated with MRN is probably Eli Gold, who is identified by many racing fans as personally being the "voice of NASCAR"; however, Gold's participation is somewhat limited by his association with broadcasts of University of Alabama football, NFL football, the Arena Football League (on TNN) and NHL hockey.

Broadcasts of Sprint Cup races receive MRN's highest ratings and hence the greatest station clearance (number of stations using the broadcasts). Audiences for the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series are considerably smaller, and so are the number of affiliated stations. Many MRN stations broadcast all three series, with the lower series being preempted in many instances by other events.

Along with race broadcasts, MRN offers other race related programs. Many different reports, talk shows, and commentary are broadcast over the network, as well as via Sirius XM Radio's NASCAR channel.

MRN also produced syndicated condensed television broadcasts of some Winston Cup races in 1979 and 1980.

Announcers

Current

• Mike Bagley (turn & booth announcer, usually co-anchor for West Coast races, because Barney Hall doesn't travel to the West Coast races; 1992–present)
• Kurt Becker
• Woody Cain
• Eli Gold (host of NASCAR Live; occasionally does turn announcing at Daytona and Talladega and also works the main booth when Barney Hall is unavailable; Gold is former lead announcer on The Nashville Network (now known as Spike TV))
• Barney Hall (lead anchor "The Voice of NASCAR")
• Amy East (formerly with ESPN)
• Alex Hayden (pit reporter for most of the races)
• Dan Hubbard (turn announcer, primarily at West Coast races but occasionally also Talladega)
• Glenn Jarrett formerly with TNN/Spike.
• Eddie Irvine (F1 pit reporter since 2004: he was also a guest pit reporter for the 52nd Grand Prix of Monaco in 1994.)
• Winston Kelley (pit reporter; also serves as the executive director of the NASCAR Hall Of Fame).
• Buddy Long
• Dave Moody (turn announcer, 1997–present; became lead turn announcer in 2001; occasionally works the main booth)
• Joe Moore (turn announcer, 1987–2000; lead anchor, 2001–present)
• Jim Phillips (former pit reporter, now host of NASCAR USA)
• Steve Post (pit reporter)
• Kyle Rickey (Turn Announcer, 2002–present)
• Preston Root
• Jeff Striegle (turn announcer, 2003–present); also does commentating in the broadcast booth.
• Jason Toy (pit reporter), also does turn announcing.
• Danielle Frye (spot reporting for NASCAR USA/fill-in pit reporter)
• Tony Rizzuti
• Brian Nelson does reports from garages at various races
• Pete Pistone

Former

MRN's Ned Jarrett interviewing Bill Elliott after a victory

• Fred Armstrong
• Rick Benjamin - Now with Speed.
• Allen Bestwick - Was turn announcer 1988-95, became lead announer 1996-2000. Now host for ESPN/ABC's coverage of NASCAR; previously race announcer then pit reporter for TNT and NBC Sports as well as ESPN/ABC.
• Russell Branham - garage reporter for Daytona races, now a director at HB&M Sports in Charlotte, NC.
• Dick Brooks
• Dave Despain - Was turn announcer in the 1970s, worked on ESPN and CBS racecasts in the 1980s-90s, now with Speed
• Mark Garrow - Now co-anchor of Performance Racing Network.
• Ned Jarrett - Also former color anaylist for CBS Sports's and ESPN's NASCAR coverage.
• Mike Joy - Now lead voice for Fox Sports' NASCAR coverage.
• Mike Massaro - Now a host of ESPN 2's NASCAR Now; former pit reporter on ESPN/ABC's coverage and reporter on SportsCenter.
• Dr. Jerry Punch - Former lead announcer for ESPN/ABC's NASCAR coverage; currently pit reporter for the networks.
• Marty Snider - Now a pit reporter for TNT's coverage of NASCAR.
• Dave Sutherland - turn announcer in 1980s, now primary announcer at Monadnock Speedway.
• Ken Squier - Longtime voice of CBS Sports' Daytona 500 coverage.
• Hermie Sadler - pit reporter for the 2000 spring Richmond race.

European NASCAR Cable TV Announcers

Ted Westerfors - NASCAR Expert (Stockholm/Sweden) Live announcer for VIASAT MOTOR/MTG, our "Voice of NASCAR" for Sweden and Norway.

Other programming produced by the Motor Racing Network

• Coors Light Pole Updates (short reports broadcast during Sprint Cup Qualifying; full event broadcast available on a handful of affiliates, Sirius Satellite Radio and through NASCAR.com's "Track Pass" subscription service.)
• NASCAR Today (twice daily three-minute reports, one around noon and one late afternoon/early evening)
• NASCAR USA (Sunday morning country music program) Hosted by Rob Tanner.
• NASCAR Performance Live (call-in talk show featuring pit reporters and crew chiefs)
• NASCAR Live (Tuesday evening call-in talk show) hosted by Eli Gold.
• Ned Jarrett's "World of Racing" (two-minute weekday morning commentary by two-time NASCAR Champion and former MRN pit reporter Ned Jarrett)
• Monday Morning Race Refresher (two-minute update from the weekend's race aired during the Monday morning drive)
• The Race Report (a weekly one-hour show discussing what NASCAR drivers do to prepare for races and projections for the next race. They also produce two updates for weekday broadcasts updating the condition of injured drivers, what new regulations may be occurring, reviews of the previous weeks races, and what stars do during the week)

External links

• Official Website