Thursday, April 24, 2008

When "Thank You So Very Much" is not enough...



One question I get most of the time when someone finds out that I announce motorsports for a living is: "So how did you get started? It sounds like a great job!". That question is not easily answered but the passing of Cameron Argetsinger just a couple of days ago put more focus on it for me.

My local announcing career began in 1987 when I asked Bob & Donna Metcalfe if I could try out for them announcing drag races at New York International Raceway Park. They agreed to give me a shot and from there, things happened pretty quickly. The following year, the Spencer Brothers (Del, Walt and Merle) hired me to announce their stock car program following the untimely death of veteran announcer Arnie Pugh. In 1992, the track was sold and the next track to hire me was Lancaster Raceway Park, just outside of Buffalo NY. The Friesen family (Stan, along with sons Alex, Jamie and Joel) conducted racing there at the time and while employed by them, they helped me to attain the next stage of my racing career. Alex also promoted races in the region and I was asked by him to help him announce two dirt track shows, one at the renowned Williams Grove track and the other at Grandview, both in PA (and that experience gave me a taste of what travelling announcers have to go through). The other thing the Friesen family did was to encourage me to pursue drag racing announcing at a national level. To that end, Alex paid my way to allow me to attend the NHRA Dave McLelland announcing school, held in 1994 at Englishtown NJ. That led to me being hired by NHRA for their national event announcing team in 1997-2000.

Three other entities have to be mentioned here: the Bennett family at Holland Speedway (Ron Sr., Tim and Ron Jr.) have always shown me nothing but professionalism and respect when they hired me to announce races there and I was able to polish my skills at their facility. Another couple gave me a real shot in the arm when he hired me for their special events: Canadian drag racing promoters John & Sharon Fletcher. They brought me over for some of their biggest races and always showed me fantastic hospitality. The other is Howie Commander at Lebanon Valley Speedway and Dragway. His no-nonsense yet friendly approach to the promotion of motorsports has been an inspiration to me as well.

All of the people I have mentioned so far deserve my sincere gratitude for the various early stages of my race announcing career.  But, back to Cameron Argetsinger...



For those who don't know who Cameron Argetsinger was, he was a Youngstown Ohio attorney who had an extreme passion for motorsports following World War II. It was that passion that led him to compete in various races at the time. That passion also fueled his dedication to organizing the race through the streets of the village of Watkins Glen NY in 1948 (consequently, he moved to the area). Because of him, that event continued until tragedy struck in 1952 when spectators were killed during the running of the race. Faced with the possiblity that his love for motorsports in the Watkins Glen might end, he continued to press for a permanent facilty to safely conduct racing. He, along with others, formed the original Watkins Glen Grand Prix Corporation and he was named Executive Director. The property we now know as Watkins Glen International was purchased in the mid '50's and the first road course, 2.3 miles in length, was built. Racing soon began there but Cameron was not yet finished. He continued to tirelessly work to bring the pinnacle of the sport, Grand Prix (now known as Formula 1), to the facility. Watkins Glen became the home of the U.S. Grand Prix in 1961 and held that distinction until the end of the 1980 season.

Because of his extraordinary passion for the sport, the facility we know now as Watkins Glen International took shape following a tragic final race through the streets in Watkins Glen village in the early '50's (racing there could have very well ended following that incident).

Because of his tireless dedication, NASCAR and the IRL came back to race at WGI, the only series stop in New York State for each sanctioning body. (Other NASCAR Series have also made stops there: Modifieds, the former Busch East Series (now called the Camping World Series and making a return visit to the Glen this year), Craftsman Trucks, etc.

Other great sports cars series have also competed over the years at WGI--Trans-Am, FIA Sports Cars, Formula 5000, IMSA Camel GT, Firestone Firehawk, Grand-Am (and more). Race fans from all over this country, and indeed, the world, have Cameron Argetsinger to thank for that great facility!

For me, because of his foresight, a wide-eyed 16 year-old motorhead from Meadville PA got to witness his first professional sports car race, the 1969 SCCA Can-Am race featuring the Team McLaren "Bruce & Denny Show"--the awesome, nearly unlimited, high-wing sports cars dominated that year by Bruce McLaren & Denny Hulme--and that 16 year old began to dream about the possibilities of motorsports announcing while attending nearly every race at the Glen since. Because of Cameron Argetsinger's legacy, I was able to begin working for Watkins Glen International in 1984 and eventually realized my dream in 1995! But it wasn't over yet--my involvement with the Glen allowed me to be considered for a tryout with Daytona International Speedway in 1999--which turned into a permanent and continuing relationship to this day!

I am not exaggerating when I say that I owe my very professional announcing career primarily to Cameron Argetsinger and his unique vision.   Thankfully, a few years back, the opportunity came about at Watkins Glen International to shake his hand and express my gratitude to him personally.

Thank you so very much--and Godspeed, Cameron!

Mike Paz, Motorsports Announcer

Posted by raceannouncer at 09:26:47 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: 2007 + NASCAR = CHANGE




+ 2007 =


"Change is inevitable", as the old saying goes. For anyone even remotely interested in NASCAR, 2007 was a notable year. At almost every level, changes were instituted and felt throughout the series. Whether the changes were good or bad is subject material for another blog and, certainly, history will be the final judge. For now, let's outline the changes in no particular order (and make no mistake about it, several of these changes were VERY fundamental ones...)

  • NASCAR leadership: this actually began before 2007: Brian France put in charge of the sport his grandfather had founded and his father grew it into the NASCAR we all know and love. Brian's influence was felt gradually as the sport entered last year but with the passing of his father, Bill France, Jr. last year, the change was complete. Any change at the top trickles down below and several of the changes, good or bad, that the sport saw in the last year or so will be Brian's legacy.

 

  • The "COT" (Car of Tomorrow): NASCAR racing machinery had been built pretty much the same way for nearly 3 decades before the sanctioning body began looking into designing a new car. The design changes called for the car to be built and rules applied "from the ground up" (allowing officials to more closely regulate the way the cars are built, thereby cutting back on potential "rules bending" or outright cheating; incorporating safety changes improving driver protection; potential cost-cutting for owners (as the same basic structure of the car is used for all tracks, eliminating specially designed and more expensive separate "short track", "road course", "intermediate" and "superspeedway" cars; aerodynamics changed to a higher roof profile along with a front air-dam "splitter" and more adjustable rear wing (rather than the traditional "blade spoiler) to allow "tuning" the car to specific tracks and reducing the dreaded "aero push" on the front of the cars; and finally, the ability to better distinguish "makes" of cars, even though the new rules border on "spec". The car was phased in gradually in 2007, as NASCAR mandated its use on short tracks and road courses last year along with one "super-speedway" race--Talladega in the fall. For 2008, the "COT" completely replaces the "old" car at every track on the schedule.

 

  • Team ownership: With the upward rising costs of racing, team owners have had to change the basic way they run their teams. Very few sponsors today can afford to be the "exclusive" sponsor of a particular team so owners have had to adapt. Some brought on multiple sponsors to bear the brunt of the costs. More profound, however, are the new "mergers" with non-racing entities: Roush Racing, selling the team to the Fenway organization (the same group who owns MLB's Boston Red Sox), Ray Evernham partnering up with the Gillette family, etc. New blood and new money with the potential for fresh, "out-of-the-box" thinking are the immediate benefits of these new organizations. On the down side of the ledger, however, are the teams that have been squeezed out as the expenses have skyrocketed. Even though it was not official until this week, Morgan-McClure Racing, a long-standing team, had folded due to lack of adequate funding after finding it almost impossible last year to make races. Yates Racing has no sponsors for the new year and single-car teams have all but disappeared, with Robby Gordon racing and BAM Racing notable exceptions.
  • Influx of non-traditional drivers: Juan Pablo Montoya (Formula 1 ace) became the "mold" of the new NASCAR driver when he was named to the #42 Chip Ganassi Texaco Havoline Dodge for 2007. His success in stock-car racing certainly was not guaranteed but his talent to drive a race car could never be questioned. Despite a huge learning curve to adapt and causing a "ruffling" of a few of some other driver's "feathers" at times this year, he won his first NASCAR race at Infineon and, taken together with his other great finishes during the year, helped him acheive "Rookie of the Year" in NASCAR in 2007. The floodgates are now open: Dario Franchitti ('07 Indy 500 winner), is now Montoya's teammate at Chip Ganassi in the #40, Jacques Villeneuve (Formula 1 & CART experience) is learning the "A-B-C's" of stock-car racing and Patrick Carpentier (IRL & Grand Am) is also a new NASCAR Cup driver. No longer do the "stars of tomorrow" necessarily come from local stock car tracks. If anything, the competition to reach NASCAR as a driver has become much more difficult. (Veteran racing fans can remember back to a time when NO driver from INDY cars, much less Formula 1, would DARE step into one of those "taxicabs" to race it. In those days, NASCAR, as a legitimate racing series, did not exist in the narrow minds of some.)

 

  • Sponsor changes: When the series became the "NEXTEL Cup Series" just a few years ago, many wondered how long the transition would take from the old "Winston Cup Series". The previous title sponsor of Cup racing had been involved in the sport for over 30 years, with longtime fans, while not necessarily smokers, had huge respect and admiration for the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Newly-named sponsor NEXTEL realized it had to be mindful and respectful of that relationship, while forging new ground for itself when it took over just 4 years ago. Then, Sprint bought out NEXTEL in 2007 and a new name for the series was announced for '08: "NASCAR Sprint Cup Series". To some veterans of traditional sprint car racing on both dirt and asphalt, this was as much confusing as it was amusing. NASCAR fans barely had time to get used to the "NEXTEL Cup Series"; now they have another new one to get used to.

 


  • TV broadcasts ups-and downs: For many decades, NASCAR had no network TV presence. Sure, ABC's "Wide World of Sports" would replay races a couple weeks after they happened back in the '60s and'70's. Then, in 1979, CBS broadcast the Daytona 500 live and NASCAR TV coverage took its first "giant leap" forward. But it wasn't until the '80s when ESPN covered almost all of the NASCAR Cup races live did the sport begin to really flourish. Together with the in-car camera that CBS announcer Ken Squier brought over from Australia in late '82, TV coverage of racing became exciting for people at home. ESPN's original NASCAR broadcasts took the sport to a new level of popularity but something was still missing: a TV deal that included national network coverage in a mix with cable partners. NASCAR brokered a deal over 5 years ago with FOX and NBC, along with TNT, then changed the deal again in '07, replacing NBC with ABC/ESPN to go along with FOX. Knowing when and where a race broadcast is happening has always been a concern for race fans and with the five year broadcast deals, NASCAR took steps to try to bring some stability to its race broadcasts. Yet, despite all its good intentions, NASCAR TV ratings took a plunge in '07. The effects of the downward trend has yet to be felt and NASCAR officials say they're not too worried about it (yet!). If the trend continues in '08, most will point to the 2007 ratings slip as the beginning of the downward spiral of the sport.
  • Points system: NASCAR completely changed the way points were earned with the introduction of the "Chase for the NEXTEL Cup" in '04. It stayed pretty much the same until 2007 when the number of drivers eligible for the Chase after 26 races was upped from 10 to 12. This change was as much about some of its stars, most notably Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart among others, not making it into some of the past "Chases" as it was anything else. Also tweaked: rewarding winners in the "regular" season bonus points for those wins as the Chase began with 10 races to go. Then, Jimmy Johnson and his team went on a streak which took a lot of the drama out of the championship last year. Entering the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jeff Gordon was the only driver that had a chance to beat Jimmie Johnson for the title. Johnson went on to succesfully defend his '06 championship, proving that NO points system can make things exciting when a team goes on a roll and wins often.

There were also several smaller changes as well but the ones listed above are notable and far-reaching. For a lot of people, change is hard to accept---CHANGES (plural!) are even harder!


Mike Paz, Motorsports Announcer

Posted by raceannouncer at 17:22:35 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

ANNOUNCING AT DAYTONA--AN HONOR AND A PRIVILEGE!!!




THE RACE FANS HAVE SPOKEN--ONCE AGAIN, I HAVE THE HONOR AND PRIVILEGE OF ANNOUNCING AT DAYTONA FOR PRE-SEASON THUNDER AND SPEEDWEEKS!!!




Here again in 2008, I have the honor and privilege of working as the PA Track Announcer for Daytona International Speedway. My first Daytona race as Track PA was the '99 Pepsi 400 but it wasn't until the 2001 season that I got invited to the Pre-Season Thunder test sessions as well as Speedweeks.

On www.raceny.com as well as this space, I will once again be sharing pictures and commentary about the goings-on down at "The World Center Of Racing". I hope you'll check back here often in the next 2 months!

 


Send me an email with any questions or comments you might have about the start of the 2008 racing season at Daytona International Speedway.

Remember, it's the 50th running of "The Great American Race", the Daytona 500! Plus, it will be the debut race of the COT at the track and it should be another history-making event! The start of the 2008 season is just around the corner!


Mike Paz, Motorsports Announcer

Posted by raceannouncer at 19:33:45 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Happy New Year 2008 from Mike Paz!!!

Posted by raceannouncer at 20:51:42 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Thursday, December 20, 2007

What If They Gave A Funeral...And Nobody Cried???





Its demise was met with cheers, rather than any kind of sadness. Demolition of the media center at Watkins Glen International, first built between the 1970 and 1971 season, began "officially" on Wednesday, December 19, 2007. When I arrived just after 2 pm on Wednesday, preliminary work had aleady been done. In recent years, the outdated structure had become a huge target of (especially) the NASCAR press corps, who bemoaned its age, lack of amenities and looks. There was no question that it needed to be replaced as time had passed it by. It had become for WGI track president, Craig Rust, a constant source of embarassment and, quite frankly, an eyesore. So it is no wonder that he took great delight in wielding a backhoe bucket into the building as a ceremonial "first swing".



Afterwards, media and staff members that had gathered for the occasion were invited to take their own swings into the building with sledge hammers--and nearly everyone did, including myself. Here, WGI Director of Communications Eiron Smith "winds up"...




One-by-one, others took their shots--WGI Media Relations Coordinator, Ryan Lake...




WGI Media Center Coordinator Mike Green...




Longtime announcer Al Robinson...



WGI track historian Bill Green...




And, "Corning Leader" motorsports editor, Chris Gill, among other members of the media, took shots...




For me personally, there was a tiny bit of mixed emotions. Sure, I know the building had outlived its usefulness and it had to go. But this track is special to me--I witnessed my first professional road race here in 1969, (the Can-Am series stop) and have been attending at least one race at WGI since then. When the track became insolvent in 1982 & 1983, I missed it terribly...so much so, that I travelled all the way up to Mosport Park Ontario, just to get my racing "fix". When it was first announced that WGI would be back starting in 1984, I wasted no time in volunteering for the media center--THIS media center. Plus, the third floor "crow's nest" announcer's booth (far right topmost window in this picture) was the home of my first "professional" start as a motorsports announcer in the mid '90's.

Then, I started to think about the truly great racing legends who have visited the old WGI Media Center over the years. So many, in fact, that its almost unfair to try to name them all. (And not just NASCAR; remember, WGI was the "home" of the USGP Formula 1 race from the '60's to the early '80's). Here's just a few that have raced here and walked into that building--Foyt (A.J., Larry, A.J. Foyt IV), Andretti (Mario, his F1 title in 1978 was huge for the Glen that year, along with Michael, John, Jeff & Marco), Donohue (Mark & son David), Gurney (Dan and son Alex), Rahal (Bobby & son Graham), Scheckter (Jody and son Tomas), Bell (Derek & son Justin), Fittipaldi (Emerson & Christian), Unser (Bobby, Al Sr. and Al Jr.), Mears (Rick & Casey), Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, Phil Hill, Bruce McLaren, Denis Hulme, Hurley Haywood, Peter Gregg, Davy Jones, Elmira native, the late Bob Snodgrass...I could go on and on. Same thing with the most well-known names in NASCAR--Petty (Lee, Richard, Kyle & Adam), Earnhardt (Dale Sr. & Jr.), The Bodines from nearby Chemung NY (Geoff, Todd, Brett, Eric & Barry), Waterloo's Mike McLaughlin, Allison (Bobby, Davey & Clifford), Labonte (Terry & Bobby), Parsons (Benny & Phil), Wallace (Rusty, Mike, Kenny & Steven), Busch (Kurt & Kyle), Waltrip (Darrell & Michael), Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Robby Gordon, Ernie Irvan, Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd, Jimmy Spencer, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards--again, the list seems endless. Even NE modified drivers like Reggie Ruggiero, Ted & Mike Christopher, Tim Connolly, the Blewetts, the Pasteryaks, Jerry Marquis, Mike Stefanik, Jamie Tomaino, Eddie Flemke--all raced at the Glen at one time or more in their stellar careers. And nearly all of them visited the first floor of the media center as it was the "social center" of WGI along with its normal duties as the workplace of the media. If you were a part of the racing community and you wanted to meet someone, chances are pretty good you met them on the first floor of the WGI media center.

Progress, it has been said by some, is like a signpost on a long journey. It tells us where we are going while reminding us where we've been. This old building could tell some pretty fantastic stories if it could talk. Now, a new building immediately behind the current location will add to the collection of stories, both true and untrue. The old WGI media center is history...and for most, that's a good thing...

Mike Paz, Motorsports Announcer
Posted by raceannouncer at 08:42:12 | Permanent Link | Comments (2) |