Give me the calm approach of Chet Christner (Usac) or Jeff Ahlum any day.  After watching three nights of Charlotte and watching the Danny Serrano Memorial on Flo, I've really heard enough. Johnny Gibson (WOO) is a great announcer and has a unique style which is fine, but than add the Late Model announcer and the Big Block announcer and hours and hours of over the top announcing and I had to mute it. The new Bridgeport guy is good, but over the top too much. Not every single thing is that exciting, but when something exciting does happen, you've already used up your excitement, kind of like crying wolf.

Watching so much Flo and DirtVision now has me in tune to the announcers, where at the track you never really hear them. I know it helps the show, but too much does not. 

Any thoughts

Some will disagree but that's what I like about Bruce Ellis at the Grove. Informative but not overbearing.

IMHO 

Being a "Flo" guy  (thanks Kevin) these days, I've had been able to catch some of the racing from Stafford Speedway.  I really like the style of one of their announcers.  I think his name is Ben Dodge.  He doesn't get excited over every pass or move on the track.  I feel he "ramps it up" when the action calls for it.  Now, on the other hand, I can't stand head NBC cup and Xfinity announcer Rick Allen.  Maybe its me, but he seems to be "jumping out of his seat" at the first drop o gthe green flag!  By the end of the race I've tuned him out.  I will say I've enjoyed some of the announcing of the All-Star, High Limit, and WOO sprint car shows as the constant "slide jobs" call for continous excitable announcing.  Scott Ely

Having watched Flo for an entire season and seeing races at so many different tracks I too have been thinking about the announcers at some of these venues so I am glad to see Kevin tossing this out for discussion. 

First and foremost, those of us that were born and raised at the races in the northeast are spoiled. Not only did we have a full field of 45-50 cars each week (3 heats and a consi), it was a two division show (not 9 like in the south). And we had one of the best announcers in the business calling the action, Bill Singer. No yelling at us. No repeating the same jargon over and over each week. He had his signature lines ("They go in hard...."  "Angling out of the corner...") but he was as much a part of the show as the Flemington flips and the winner that night. 

It wasn't until I moved away from Jersey that I realized how special it really all was. As a kid (OK, and still today) I always wanted to be like Bill Singer and call the races. 

So when I watch Flo I listen to see if there is another Bill Singer out there. I watched Bridgeport this weekend. The new guy is good; Jeff I feel is honestly invested in the sport announcing at Grandview, Delaware and the STSS races. He is even keel and knows the drivers (I heard him reference East Windsor Saturday night). I can do without the music at Bridgeport; not sure what that is all about. 

Chet is great with the USAC sprints and midgets. Doesn't yell and pays attention the entire race; not just the front two cars.  

I can't comment on the WoO announcers since I am not a subscriber. I like the Lucas Oil announcers although they repeat "are you kidding me?" way too much and seem too hung up with who is leading lap #2 in a 50 lap race. How many lead changes there are doesn't interest me. 

I will give a tip of the cap to the All Star Sprint announcer. He knows his stuff. I'll give him the music because sprint car drivers are a different breed. I like the nicknames (the law firm of Parker Price Miller) and his yelling at the start "It's Showtime!" is fine because many nights the sprints were showtime. 

I have run into more than one announcer that can ruin the show. If I am at the races I plug in my Raceceiver and if I am home watching Flo I mute them. I don't think promoters realize the effect they have on the show but I do understand that many of them are not professionals and are just guys like me who love racing. 

Only they got the chance to call the races.

- David 

They all should take a lesson from Bill Singer and maybe stop screaming over nothing ! Hands down , the best ever !!

Can we not leave Warren Ruffner out of the discussion? Nothing better than watching him walk around the infield scoring tower at Penn National while calling the race.

My favorite was Gary London at Nazareth. Knew and loved racing and the funniest guy I ever heard announcing, I never laughed so much at a race track. Other guys who I won't mention made me want to put cotton in my ears.

Warren Ruffner at Reading, he had a nick name for everybody.  And I think his name was Ray Martin at Orange County in the 70's.

Don't know where he is announcing today, but Dave Hare that used to announce at Williams Grove for the saturday series was very good.

I've always enjoyed the way Wayne Harper calls the show at Lincoln. As great as he is behind the mic, he's even better as the emcee at events like the Lincoln Speedway and York County Racing Club banquets (if you get him alone he might even tell you an off color joke or two). 

As far as Flo, I love when Chet Christner and Pat Sullivan combine to call a USAC show. Pat is a walking encyclopedia of racing history and Chet's arguably the most colorful announcer out there. 

To answer redfred, Dave Hare announces at Baps (Susky).

As Wayne Harper says, the 410 sprints are at Lincoln and all is right in the world.

If the announcer is in the pits an hour before hot laps talking to drivers then you know he's good. If the announcer shows up and goes to the tower and turns on the local classic Rock station and hangs out up there before hot laps you know he's a hack.

I may have told this story before, but we were at a race a couple years back and our Race Director had to bring a sheet of paper with our drivers names, car numbers and home towns written down for the track announcer because he was too lazy to come down to our pit area and talk to our drivers beforehand All night long all you get is name and car number. Reason #473 why short tracking in the SE is dreadful

Thanks for the input!  Kevin, that is a great point seeing the announcer in the pits.  I also like when the announcer is in the bar after the races or at social events concerning the race track.

I see people talk about the announcers from the old days, I would add Earnie Saxton to that group. 

Since I don't subscribe to Flow currently. Barry Angst did a great job at Bridgeport last season, he currently is the announcer at Big Diamond.  Wall announcers deserve a spot in there also. Earl and Gary do a great job.

Nick is alright and does a decent job but he gets too loud at times. Since NES has done the Facebook live segments there's a disconnect there. This past Season they did not realize one of the leaders dropped out a few laps earlier! Multiple times of absolute silence during restarts. When Jim Murdoch is at NES helping out, the product is a lot better. 

You are so right. I turn the sound off a lot of the time. They bet the hell of of somethings. 

The best I ever heard was at Batesville Speedway in Arkansas back in the nineties. I don't remember her name but she was a young woman. She had a great voice and the perfect amount of enthusiasm. She was very knowledgeable too. It was extremely refreshing. Batesville is a very nice facility too.