ESPN MediaZone

Motorsports Announcer

Marty Reid

Marty Reid has been a commentator for a wide variety of ESPN auto racing telecasts since 1982. His first telecast was the network’s inaugural NHRA event and in some busy years he has worked more than 110 events. He now serves as lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN’s coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series as well as the IndyCar Series.

Reid became the anchor for ESPN’s coverage of the IndyCar Series in 2006 after anchoring ESPN2’s coverage of NHRA drag racing for several years. In his more than 25 years with ESPN, Reid also has worked NASCAR Truck Series, Champ Car, Formula One, USAC, motorcycle, off-road and sports car racing events for the network.

Reid knew from a young age that he wanted to be a sports play-by-play announcer. At the age of 15, he would sit in the top row of the arena in Hershey, Pa., near his home in the Harrisburg area, and do “broadcasts” of Hershey Bears minor league hockey games into his tape recorder. He would take the tapes home and listen to them over and over to perfect his craft. His experience led to his high school guidance counselor pointing him to Marietta (Ohio) College’s broadcasting department, where he immediately became play-by-play announcer for nearly all of the sports broadcasts for the school and went on to earn a degree. He later did Ohio State basketball games on radio.

From 1975-88, Reid served as a news and sports anchor at WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio. While there, he won several awards for his sports coverage, including two UPI awards for best sports story, an AP award for best sports coverage and one regional Emmy. He anchored Ohio State ice hockey coverage as well as telecasts of the Columbus Clippers minor league baseball team from 1975-82.

In 1988, he formed his own company, Marty Reid Enterprises, in Indianapolis, to produce racing programming for ESPN and other networks. He also founded CORR, a sanctioning body for off-road racing, in 1997. He sold both companies in 2005.

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