Where is Alan Reinhart? (1 Viewer)

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The best announcer in the world cannot make a crap show into a hit. But a bad announcer can sure make a great show sound like crap.

If as an announcer all you are going to do is read the information that the computer provides, then you are not an announcer, you are a reader. And there are plenty of them out there.

Up next is Randy Goodwin, he is a retired businessman with a 2018 Camaro. Randy had a green light and wins with a 6.72.......... Yawn.

Or:
Randy Goodwin gives up a 1.15 second handicap start, he crushes the tree, closes in, drops the nose, and take the stripe by 2 thousandths of a second and runs dead on 3 for the WIN! He earns a bye run to the final!!!!!!!

Which one makes you think you saw an exciting race?

I believe that every person on the starting line is a hero to someone. Whether it is Tony Schumacher at Indy or John Q Public on a Wednesday test and tune. And I may have 30 seconds to tell the story for two guys. Whoever is in the car has a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, wife, girlfriend/boyfriend or little kid watching. Even a guy driving moms minivan at a Wednesday test and tune has a friend on the fence that wishes he had a minivan to race. My job is making sure the people watching know the person in the car is important,

My biggest compliment is when a racer tells me that they listened back to the final round and I made it sound like he/she was John Force. Anyone who wins a National Event deserves to have that moment because at that moment he/she just accomplished the ultimate goal of any racer at a National Event.

If it's Stock or Super Stock The cars are in the spotlight. A classic Camaro, Mustang, Cuda etc. all tell a story. A Gremlin, Escort, or Malibu wagon all have a story. If all you want the announcer to say is: "Left lane wins." Then you will hate me, because I think the story of a four second head start and a 396 69 Camaro running down a 302 two barrel Maverick is a great story, no matter who wins. And I'm telling that story. I believe that is my job.

Alan
What you just described is the formula for wining at your chosen profession, taking things to the level with pride and drive
 
The best announcer in the world cannot make a crap show into a hit. But a bad announcer can sure make a great show sound like crap.

If as an announcer all you are going to do is read the information that the computer provides, then you are not an announcer, you are a reader. And there are plenty of them out there.

Up next is Randy Goodwin, he is a retired businessman with a 2018 Camaro. Randy had a green light and wins with a 6.72.......... Yawn.

Or:
Randy Goodwin gives up a 1.15 second handicap start, he crushes the tree, closes in, drops the nose, and take the stripe by 2 thousandths of a second and runs dead on 3 for the WIN! He earns a bye run to the final!!!!!!!

Which one makes you think you saw an exciting race?

I believe that every person on the starting line is a hero to someone. Whether it is Tony Schumacher at Indy or John Q Public on a Wednesday test and tune. And I may have 30 seconds to tell the story for two guys. Whoever is in the car has a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, wife, girlfriend/boyfriend or little kid watching. Even a guy driving moms minivan at a Wednesday test and tune has a friend on the fence that wishes he had a minivan to race. My job is making sure the people watching know the person in the car is important,

My biggest compliment is when a racer tells me that they listened back to the final round and I made it sound like he/she was John Force. Anyone who wins a National Event deserves to have that moment because at that moment he/she just accomplished the ultimate goal of any racer at a National Event.

If it's Stock or Super Stock The cars are in the spotlight. A classic Camaro, Mustang, Cuda etc. all tell a story. A Gremlin, Escort, or Malibu wagon all have a story. If all you want the announcer to say is: "Left lane wins." Then you will hate me, because I think the story of a four second head start and a 396 69 Camaro running down a 302 two barrel Maverick is a great story, no matter who wins. And I'm telling that story. I believe that is my job.

Alan

You mean like this? 👍

 
The best announcer in the world cannot make a crap show into a hit. But a bad announcer can sure make a great show sound like crap.

If as an announcer all you are going to do is read the information that the computer provides, then you are not an announcer, you are a reader. And there are plenty of them out there.
Up next is Randy Goodwin, he is a retired businessman with a 2018 Camaro. Randy had a green light and wins with a 6.72.......... Yawn.
Or:
Randy Goodwin gives up a 1.15 second handicap start, he crushes the tree, closes in, drops the nose, and take the stripe by 2 thousandths of a second and runs dead on 3 for the WIN! He earns a bye run to the final!!!!!!!
Which one makes you think you saw an exciting race?

It ain't what you say, it's how you say it.
 
When Bob Frey retired I thought I would really miss him. But I don't. Alan your style is very different than Bob's but change can be refreshing. Since I'm not a car guy, your focus on some of the nuances of car technical issues has been educational to me. Hope you're back in the booth soon.
 
Thise that complain about the announcer being drowned out by the cars and that they should stop talking need to remember that not everyone listening is sitting in the stands.

People back in the pits, people listening at home, people in the stands with ear speakers. There is more than one way to be taking in the event.
The announcers have to try to hit them all
 
Being "drowned out" by the engines works just fine for Drag Racing. When @ an event and announcer is on the air he or she will be drowned out and nothing will be lost in the exchange. Announcers do not need to fill every second with words (Brian), choose the time you speak wisely and use fewer words, people are firstly here for excitement, not talk. If NHRA feels that education and recapping is needed, have a secondary show for that. The main show should be an event, not a gabfest. Learn from MLB and NFL they do not constantly explain every rule or constantly talk about and show highlights from previous contests, there are other venues for that.
Crank up the car sound, if it hurts the announcers feelings, to bad. Or just put the announcer on the starting line, where they belong anyway. Dunn, Kepner, and Lundberg all preferred that and they are among the greatest of all time
 
The best announcer in the world cannot make a crap show into a hit. But a bad announcer can sure make a great show sound like crap.

If as an announcer all you are going to do is read the information that the computer provides, then you are not an announcer, you are a reader. And there are plenty of them out there.

Up next is Randy Goodwin, he is a retired businessman with a 2018 Camaro. Randy had a green light and wins with a 6.72.......... Yawn.

Or:
Randy Goodwin gives up a 1.15 second handicap start, he crushes the tree, closes in, drops the nose, and take the stripe by 2 thousandths of a second and runs dead on 3 for the WIN! He earns a bye run to the final!!!!!!!

Which one makes you think you saw an exciting race?

I believe that every person on the starting line is a hero to someone. Whether it is Tony Schumacher at Indy or John Q Public on a Wednesday test and tune. And I may have 30 seconds to tell the story for two guys. Whoever is in the car has a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, wife, girlfriend/boyfriend or little kid watching. Even a guy driving moms minivan at a Wednesday test and tune has a friend on the fence that wishes he had a minivan to race. My job is making sure the people watching know the person in the car is important,

My biggest compliment is when a racer tells me that they listened back to the final round and I made it sound like he/she was John Force. Anyone who wins a National Event deserves to have that moment because at that moment he/she just accomplished the ultimate goal of any racer at a National Event.

If it's Stock or Super Stock The cars are in the spotlight. A classic Camaro, Mustang, Cuda etc. all tell a story. A Gremlin, Escort, or Malibu wagon all have a story. If all you want the announcer to say is: "Left lane wins." Then you will hate me, because I think the story of a four second head start and a 396 69 Camaro running down a 302 two barrel Maverick is a great story, no matter who wins. And I'm telling that story. I believe that is my job.

Alan
You’ll never make everybody happy Alan. They can ask for a month “where’s Alan?”, but then bash for too much announcer, too much music. This or that. It’s wild to me. But that’s the world we live in now. Always have something to complain about.

A lot of us appreciate you and what the rest of the team provides. Keep up the great work and enjoy the rest of the season.
 
RG, you go to the races because of the announcer and not the cars?
No, but it's not just about going to the races from a business standpoint. We are in the content creation era, and if a company that relies on discretionary spending is going to survive, that means good content on a screen. So I don't go to the races for the announcer, but that may be why i subscribe to nhratv. that my be why i go to the NHRA YouTube page. In the world where you have every lap on 3 different streamers' lives or people uploading recorded footage, what's the one thing to prompt a person to spend money on NHRATV to see stuff they can find for free with some effort? The announcing. With no Alan, people have no point to pay for it. Thats just one example of RG's point.
 
Spectators go to the races for the great experience. For a great experience you of course need the racers but also a announcer who has deep knowledge of what's happening but can also express that in a way the spectator can understand and be totally entertained.
The last races without Alan did not provide that kind of experience. I hope the talking heads that run NHRA get their heads out of their as..s and understand that. Alan adds what is needed to help make it the best experience possible and hopefully the money paying spectator, whether at the race or watching on TV, will continue to want to see more races. If NHRA doesn't understand this and continues the way the last races have been announced it will lose some of the viewers and that's not sustainable in the long run.
NHRA needs to do everything they can to get people in the gate or watching on NHRATV or they are going to lose more and more over time.
PUT ALAN BACK IN THE TOWER ANNOUNCING!
 
I've always felt like a good announcer is more important to a viewer who is not at the venue but watching on TV or (more importantly) listening on the radio. Here in Phoenix we were very lucky to have two of the best to ever do it for two of our teams, Al McCoy who was the radio play by play voice of the Suns for 51 years and Greg Schulte who was the play by play voice for the Dbacks from day one until this past season. It was a comfort listening to both those men call games, you could practically see the game with how well they called it.

At the track I can not hear the PA as much but absolutely enjoy listening to Alan on the PA when watching on NHRA.tv His knowledge from being not only around the sport for most of his life but being a fan is so invaluable to a broadcast. Having that familiar voice who is also incredibly knowledgeable is important whether its racing, stick and ball or any form of competition.
 
I maybe wrong or not tuned in but i think alan sounds a lot like Frey.
 
Comparing any stick and ball sport's announcers to drag racing's announcers is not a good example.
Drag racing is a visceral sport that plays out on all five senses, especially the hearing.
It's one thing to describe, sometimes to excess, a football or baseball play. You can talk all you want and it's still possible to see the play unfold, without detracting from the action on the screen.
For drag racing, first and foremost, I want to hear the engines.
I would imagine a big percentage of those watching racing on television have a decent sound system. While no home stereo system can fully duplicate the sound of a blown fuel Hemi, some can get pretty loud.
For me, there's nothing worse than having my system cranked up, only to have somebody start talking in the middle of a burnout or a run. I can't hit the mute button fast enough.
 
Comparing any stick and ball sport's announcers to drag racing's announcers is not a good example.
Drag racing is a visceral sport that plays out on all five senses, especially the hearing.
It's one thing to describe, sometimes to excess, a football or baseball play. You can talk all you want and it's still possible to see the play unfold, without detracting from the action on the screen.
For drag racing, first and foremost, I want to hear the engines.
I would imagine a big percentage of those watching racing on television have a decent sound system. While no home stereo system can fully duplicate the sound of a blown fuel Hemi, some can get pretty loud.
For me, there's nothing worse than having my system cranked up, only to have somebody start talking in the middle of a burnout or a run. I can't hit the mute button fast enough.
well alan always stops talking during a burn out so you shouldn't have a problem with him as he says pause for the burn out
 
The world is still upside down. Yes he’s very good at top end also but who wants their job from 20 years ago back?
 
Would you people rather have an announcer constantly refer to the strip as the START FINISH LINE ?
It has been done.
 
I saw him at the end of the Fri Q show on TV. He was at the turn off area where they do the interviews. Just a glimpse.
 
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