Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Sprint car racing is arguably the purest form of racing in the world.  Winged and nonwing.  

Every race, every weekend, the sport just keeps getting better and better. 

There's many attibutes toward the reason but I just wanted to bring up one.

I love the announcing so much.  Whether I'm watching the race on my phone at the shop working on my own car or listening to it while working out at the Y the morning after... the excitement our pros bring to the speaker are the best in the world.

Gibson will always be the goat, and Chet is so cool to listen too.  

Live is good for us Carolina folk with great internet service!

Brandon McLain
United Sprint Car Series Driver
2014 Season
National Rookie of the Year!
National Points - 8th
Southern Points - 3rd
Asphalt Points - 3rd
18 Races, 3 Top 5's, 14 Top 10's

A good announcer can make some of the dead time in racing programs a little more entertaining, but let's be real here.   It's the sound of sprint car engines that gets me excited, not the voice of any announcer...

Here's an announcer Haiku:

Announcer man screams...

Please say lineup before green...

Can't hear over cars.

Thats not bad.....5-7-5

Some announcers are over the top but another thing I don't care for is some of the pre race music, I like music but at the races I prefer to hear race cars.  I can listen to music on my way home.

The guy at Port Royal needs to go. Let's stop being soft pussies and cut the dude loose. No I can't do any better, that's why I keep my ass out of the booth. That's why he needs to keep his ass outta the booth. It's unanimous, nobody likes the guy,, I'm sure the staff Port also sees that he is terrible at announcing. How could they not. I really have no idea why he still has that job. Im sure he's a great guy and good human being,  but has no business doing play by play..  I'm also sure a moderator will see this and delete this comment for being too mean. Sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings. Smh.

Good then they can delete my post too. Earl sucks. Don't know him personally so it's definitely nothing personal but he's absolutely horrendous. The fact that he's still handed a mic every week is an indictment on the professionalism of those in charge at the speedway. He sucked when he was the pit reporter or whatever the hell you call it so what do they do? Give him the mic and let him talk all night. Didn't make any sense then and sure as hell doesn't now. The "he'll get better" and "give him a chance" time is over. He hasn't gotten better. If anything, he's worse. 99% of people agree. It's time to cut the chord. 

I hate yellers and screamers! I also dislike the announcers who incite people to "GET ON YOUR FEET!!!" during the parade/pace laps and then fail to tell them to sit their asses back down prior to the green flag so people like my wife, who is 5'2" tall can see the racing without futilly trying to peek around some guy who's 6'3" tall and 4' wide!

I believe all racing announcers should listen to, study and emulate the announcing work of Perris Speedways' Scott Daloisio. Scott is the best I've ever heard and I've attended many, many racing events.

I second the "get rid of the music" sentiment.

Given that we diehards can watch basically anything worth watching as far as sprint cars go, and most of us do it seems, announcers are going to be criticized even more than they used to be. I used to like Blake Anderson, but he annoys the hell out of me now given that I watch most all star races on Flo. I'm not even sure he's doing anything wrong. 
 

My current list of biggest pet peeves for announcers:

1) not taking a breath or allowing any silence to happen, always talking no matter what nonsense is coming out of your mouth

2) overselling the action on the track; I can see the guy is a half straightaway behind the leader, no he's not getting closer, this is Earls biggest problem

3) it's kind of related to #1, but I could care less that your pal back home is watching on Flo.  

Random thoughts from my mind regarding this perennial type of thread. 

1. Music? I don't give a shit. Play what you want. While I'm sometimes intrigued by some of the choices, I'm usually talking to whoever came with me, drinking some whiskey, or staring off into space thinking about any number of things. Even if I'm at home watching on Flo, I'm probably doing the same one of those three things too,

2. Overselling the action on the track? Meh. I know what they're trying to do. Its one of the those, "C'mon. I can clearly see through this, but I know what you're trying to do here. I get it." (shrugs) I couldn't care less.

3. Announcers overtalking? Yeah, that happens. It gets irritating at first, but then once you know what you're getting, I just adapt to that. Less talking, more drinking. If you're watching at home, I sometimes just lower the volume.

4. All the announcers I usually listen to seem to know their shit. The knowledge of the topic is irrevelant. I think we can all agree, if you got to where you are at a major track, or announcing for a major sanctioning body, you know what you're talking about. What some people need to realize is voice register goes a long way. If you have a high pitched, nasal voice, over time, no matter how much you know, what you say is going to eventually sound as annoying as my 2nd grade teacher trying to educate me on the virtues of long division.

Harry Kalas, Vin Scully. I would listen to those cats read the proverbial phone book because of how great their voice sounded. Well not Harry because he's dead now, but you get the picture. A great voice goes a long way.

5. People watching at home on Flo? Again, I don't know why this bothers people. I'm usually talking, drinking, or tuning it out. Besides, some of the names are fun. "I just wanna say hi to my buddy Jasper Honeycutt whos watching at home from his recliner from Murfreesboro, TN. Boy, I tell ya, ol Honeycutt and I walked into the Jerry's Tavern down there one night...." Holy jumping shitballs, a guy named Jasper Honeycutt? That's kind of interesting, right? Right? No?

6. Saphead, I don't know you, I've never met you, but I like the cut of your jib. Excellent haiku. You never fail to entertain me on here.

7. Regarding Port Royal? I'll sit this one out. I did like Earl's "Jesus Fucking Christ...." line last night when they were having mic issues though. 

8. Finally and probably most importantly, I've never announced at a track one day in my life, so take my opinion like you would a dirty diaper and throw it in the trash can because it doesn't mean a goddamn thing. We have this same type of thread every year. Why? I don't know. But damn, when it comes to social media, dirt track fans are about the most miserable motherfuckers on the planet. Always, always, always aggravated at something. But hey, variety is the spice of life, and the fact my opinions and demeanor are different from yours makes the world go 'round.

Enjoy your weekend! Maybe I'll see some of you at Port.

Well, that positive topic went down the tube in a hurry..........................................................................

I will agree, some are tough to listen to.  But, it's tough to keep everyone happy and they do better than I could ever do.  

Music?  No music?  Some like, some don't.  If no music, there would be someone on here complaining because there is too much silence.

Asking everyone to stand up during the parade lap?  Your 5'2" wife isn't going to be able to see anyways because everyone is going to stand during the parade lap whether the announcer tells them to or not.

Someone was complaining that they can't hear the announcer when the cars go by..............................................if you can't hear him, why does does his talking annoy you..............you can't hear him.   

I guess I just go to the races and enjoy the races.  Bad announcer----good announcer--------don't really care.  Give me a good show, good weather, and access to beverages, and the rest (like the cleanliness of the restrooms) means nothing to me.    It's a night out enjoying the free world!

My 2 cents...

My favorites:

1. Chet Christner

2. Tony LaPorta (USAC Flo)

3. Dustin Jarrett

Least favorites:

1. Johnny Gibson

2, Blake Anderson (a talking commercial)

3. Wayne Harper

4. Ventura Raceway announcer

     Sorry, I don't mean to intrude on a perfectly good hissing match, but it reminded me of one of those questions for the ages.

     Years back I bought a VCR tape that was entitled something like "1988 recap of the PA Posse sprint car racing". I believe the narrator was Wayne Harper. In one segment he was talking about how one treack had a yearly race for big block modifieds. He said "once a year, XYZ Speedway invites the big block mods to come squat on the chimney!" 

What the heck does it mean to squat on the chimney?

-The tape was so old that one of the URC(?) stars was Mares Stellfox(sp?)

Back on topic- Husets Speedway has an excellent announcer in Shawn Neistad. Listen to the last WoO broadcast from there and see for yourself.

Big fan of Chet and Johnny. I can tell they love sprint car racing as much as I do. Mad respect for anyone that does the job. Can't be easy. 

Shout out to my local announcer at Skagit, Kaleb Hart. He does a fine job. 

A positive original post sidetracked but negative First Response and followed by all others. Does anybody have a list of things they enjoy about announcers?

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

Big fan of Brian Liskai at Attica ,Fremont and sometimes Waynesfield.Always gives car counts right after welcoming you to the track.A big plus for me.

Idk about everyone else but Knoxville announcing is solid all around. Tony B leads the way but I'm getting pretty used to Kris K as a secondary announcer with Mike Roberts on the infield. Outside of Knoxville Chet is my favorite. Personally at the track announcing isn't all that important for me other than order of events, line ups, and run downs. Not gonna like every announcer and man do they get criticized. Let's be happy we're racing.... look at St Francis MO for an example of fans and drivers complaining until the owners just give it up. Easy to lose passion.

Stop being such a pansy. The guy sucks. Period. He has a terrible voice and stumbles over his sentences all night long. Those are facts. Why cover up the truth just to be nice? That's what's pussies do. And it's why this world is turning into shit right in front of our eyes. 

I'm with you on Tony B at Knoxville.   I also really liked Calvin Jones, who was Devils Bowl's announcer back in the day.   I think he was Lanny Edwards' son-in-law if I remember right.   They brought him back briefly a couple of years ago.   At the Nationals, I've also like Wade Aunger (spelling?) and his pit announcing.  Pretty humorous during some of the down time.  

Exactly! In fact the "goat" to me, has a voice like nails on a chalk board. I like when tracks play some background music over the speakers during down time.

A