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GURSS: Have Mic, Will Travel
Written by: Jade Gurss   
06/30/2009
Mooresville, NC
 
It was certainly a surprise to see Joey Logano grab a victory in the rain-shortened Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but it was also a surprise to tune in to Sunday's telecast of the race to find Ralph Sheheen in the anchor position in place of Bill Weber.
Faster. Louder. The weekly column on SPEEDtv.com by Jade Gurss. (Harold Hinson Photo) ยป More Photos
“It was exciting, but also nerve-wracking,” said Sheheen Monday afternoon about his first time anchoring a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. “I got the call Saturday night, so I had no time to worry about it. The challenge is to just hop in there and go. Luckily, the TNT folks have a great team – from Wally (Dallenbach) and Kyle (Petty) in the booth to the woman who brought me the jacket I wore. It arrived about 10 minutes before we went on the air.”

The native of Sacramento is very familiar to SPEED viewers and racing fans from his work in nearly every form of motorsports since he first appeared on a live ESPN broadcast of an IMSA Camel GT race in 1988. This year alone, he has gone from a long list of motorcycle series (including AMA Supercross and Superbikes) to NASCAR and even public-address announcing at the Indianapolis 500. His versatility and a wide array of motorsports coverage meant he was uniquely suited as the choice to step into the TNT booth on late notice.

“It was so last minute, I didn’t have the time to research as I would have liked,” Sheheen explained. “As a pit reporter, you might concentrate on the 10 teams that you are covering, but if you’re in the booth, the research is much different. You’re suddenly worried about all 43 cars and a lot more.”

His love for the sport comes from his formative years growing up in central California.

“My family was really into all kinds of racing,” he said. “As a kid, I attended everything from sprint cars on dirt to Indy cars and stock cars, drag racing and all kinds of motorcycle racing. Whatever the form of the sport, we were there, and I think the knowledge I gained from that meant I was knowledgeable about a lot of things so I could easily cover swamp buggies to Formula One.”

Sheheen’s biggest break was joining the CBS-TV crew for the 1997 Daytona 500.

“That’s a major league step into one of the crown jewels of racing,” Sheheen said. “It was one of the biggest gigs in our industry. I grew up listening to Ken Squier for so many years, and suddenly I’m a colleague, hearing him in my headset.”

The future for Sheheen looks like much of the same.

“You go where the network
needs you to go,” he says. “SPEED needed someone to be the voice of their motorcycle coverage, and I was able to help because I love motorcycle racing. I love the diversity of my schedule. It’s fun to make new friends, and I have friends in every garage area at all of the levels. Working on so many things means I’ve done play-by-play, pit reporting and even in-studio host so far this year. Doing only one thing would drive me crazy.”

Stay tuned for much more Sheheen in the months to come. He will continue his motorcycle work, anchor coverage of the World of Outlaws’ Knoxville Nationals in addition to off-shore powerboats and co-hosting “The SPEED Report.” As if that’s not enough, there might even be a few more opportunities that will fit into his busy schedule as the most versatile motorsports announcer in the business.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Jade Gurss is the owner of fingerprint, inc., a sports publicity company. He has written two New York Times Best Sellers, including what is believed to be the biggest-selling motorsports book in American publishing history (Driver #8 with Dale Earnhardt Jr.). His two decades of publicity and marketing experience involves nearly every category of motorsports, including nine innovative seasons as NASCAR publicist for the Budweiser brand and Earnhardt Jr. His blog can be seen at: http://fingerprint.typepad.com

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