Announcers saying MPH

Mike Bassin · 06-09-2010, 05:13 PM

Don't know where to start with this one. Unk and Mike Beard have this right. My announcing started way back before scoreboards and timing systems gave you nothing but e.t. and mph. Now there is plenty of info to work with starting with your own knowledge of the class, the drivers and the cars plus what is on the announcers screen, incrementals, reaction times, margin of victory, last qualifying run e.t.etc. Though the fans can see the scoreboard numbers, many are in the pits and can't see them so you need to paint a picture of the run. There is so much stuff there it should never be boring for the occasional or hard core fans or racers and crewmembers. You want to stay out of a rut and switch around how you tell the story of all the runs during the day. The one thing I think is most important to do when you have the mike in your hand is to describe how close so many of these runs are. Many are .01 margin of victory or less and often both drivers have very good packages, I like to give credit to the winner but also let everyone know the loser drove well also. When someone is late, I'm not going to announce how late it was, everyone can see it, brake lights on near the finish etc. About the miles per hour thing, usually I call it like this, Bill dialed 6.70 and ran 6.71 at 101 with an .017 light and takes the win, Jim was dead on the dial, he went 5.90 at 115 with an .030, another close drag race. Always want to be as complimentary as possible with racers, I've done enough racing to know how hard it is to win. Rambling on here a bit, we don't have scoreborads at our track yet.... maybe soon.... you do have to work harder when annoucing without them! And yes I agree with most everyone else here. Lewis Bloom is a real pro, worked with many times, Bob Frey and Alan Rhinehart are excellent as well.

06-09-2010, 05:13 PM	#23
Mike Bassin Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: East Berlin PA Posts: 134 Likes: 0 Liked 120 Times in 19 Posts	Re: Announcers saying MPH Don't know where to start with this one. Unk and Mike Beard have this right. My announcing started way back before scoreboards and timing systems gave you nothing but e.t. and mph. Now there is plenty of info to work with starting with your own knowledge of the class, the drivers and the cars plus what is on the announcers screen, incrementals, reaction times, margin of victory, last qualifying run e.t.etc. Though the fans can see the scoreboard numbers, many are in the pits and can't see them so you need to paint a picture of the run. There is so much stuff there it should never be boring for the occasional or hard core fans or racers and crewmembers. You want to stay out of a rut and switch around how you tell the story of all the runs during the day. The one thing I think is most important to do when you have the mike in your hand is to describe how close so many of these runs are. Many are .01 margin of victory or less and often both drivers have very good packages, I like to give credit to the winner but also let everyone know the loser drove well also. When someone is late, I'm not going to announce how late it was, everyone can see it, brake lights on near the finish etc. About the miles per hour thing, usually I call it like this, Bill dialed 6.70 and ran 6.71 at 101 with an .017 light and takes the win, Jim was dead on the dial, he went 5.90 at 115 with an .030, another close drag race. Always want to be as complimentary as possible with racers, I've done enough racing to know how hard it is to win. Rambling on here a bit, we don't have scoreborads at our track yet.... maybe soon.... you do have to work harder when annoucing without them! And yes I agree with most everyone else here. Lewis Bloom is a real pro, worked with many times, Bob Frey and Alan Rhinehart are excellent as well.