Krista Voda Kelley (born May 31, 1974) is an American sportscaster who covers

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

as the play-by-play announcer for the

ARCA Menards Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...

on MAVTV. She previously worked for ''

NASCAR on Fox ''NASCAR on Fox'', also known as ''Fox NASCAR'', is the branding used for broadcasts of NASCAR races produced by Fox Sports and have aired on the Fox television network in the United States since 2001. Speed, a motorsports-focused cable channel ...

'' and '' NASCAR on Speed'' from 2003 to 2014 as the host of the pre-race show for the Truck Series and beginning in 2007 as a pit reporter for the

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

. She also was a fill-in sideline reporter for Fox's NFL coverage. She then worked as the pre and post-race show host for the Cup Series for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

from 2015 to 2020.

Career

Voda was born and raised in

Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,469 as of 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt (also located in Clinton County), was named in honor of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt Cl ...

and attended the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...

. In

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, she lettered in

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

. Her surname means

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...

. Voda began as a NASCAR broadcaster in 2003 as co-anchor of ''

Totally NASCAR ''Totally NASCAR'' was a newscast about NASCAR racing that aired on Fox Sports Net. The program returned in 2010 after a 6-year absence, but in a different format from the show that was originally shown from 2001 to 2004. Original version The ...

'' on

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

. She was also co-host on ''

NASCAR Nation ''NASCAR Nation'' was a program on the Speed Channel, which aired Monday nights, discussing the lifestyle of NASCAR drivers when they are not on the track. It was cancelled after the 2005 season. The program began in 2005, effectively replacing ''T ...

'' when that show aired on Speed Channel. Before moving to FSN, she worked for various local television stations in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, including WLEX, the

affiliate in Lexington. Among her first radio jobs was working the night shift at

KROS KROS (1340 AM) is a commercial radio station serving the Clinton, Iowa area. The station primarily broadcasts a Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and tele ...

AM/FM in her hometown of Clinton, Iowa. She hosted ''The Setup'', the pre-race show for coverage of the

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

, as well as '' Trackside'' on

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...

(formerly

Speed Channel Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as aut ...

). In 2007, she was promoted to ''

'' as a pit reporter for the

, replacing

Jeanne Zelasko Jeanne Zelasko (born October 26, 1966) is an American journalist and sportscaster who worked for "The Beast" AM980 KFWB and Fox Sports West in Los Angeles County, California. Prior to taking that position Zelasko had a relatively lengthy career w ...

, who moved to Fox's baseball coverage full-time. In addition to NASCAR, she has covered

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

(including the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

), the

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

, the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

, the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

, and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. On October 29, 2014, Voda was announced to be the pre- and post-race host for

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

' NASCAR coverage, which includes hosting ''

NASCAR America ''NASCAR America'' is Peacock's biweekly NASCAR news program, broadcast Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. ET. The show made its debut on February 24, 2014, the day after the 2014 Daytona 500. History Starting in 2015, the show was host ...

'' on

NBCSN NBCSN was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated t ...

. On November 7, 2020. Voda announced on her

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page that she would not be returning to NBC to host pre and post-race programs for

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

races once the 2020 season ends in mid-November 2020. NBC eliminated her position due to COVID-19 financial problems and the network could not find another role for her. In 2021, Voda joined MAVTV as the host of their ''

Lucas Oil Lucas Oil Products, Inc. is an American manufacturer and distributor of motor oil, automotive oil, Oil additive, additives, and Lubricant#Application by fluid types, lubricants. It was founded by trucker Forrest Lucas and his wife Charlotte in ...

On the Edge'' show. In 2022, she returned to calling races as the play-by-play for MAVTV's

races, replacing Bob Dillner, who was promoted to a managerial/supervisory-type role with the network. She became the second woman to be a play-by-play in motorsports after

Jamie Little Jamie Little (born April 9, 1978) is an American pit reporter for NASCAR coverage on Fox. Little is a former pit reporter for ESPN/ABC coverage of the Indy Racing League, although she returned to her pit reporting duty for the 2007 and 2008 I ...

, who became the play-by-play for the ARCA races on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

in 2021.

Personal life

Voda lives in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and married Phillip "PK" Kelley on January 23, 2010. When it was announced that she would be the play-by-play for the ARCA Menards Series on MAVTV, the press release referred to her as Krista Kelley (her married name). Her social media accounts are still "Krista Voda". Neither Krista herself or MAVTV have yet to further specify which last name she will be using on-air during the season.

References

External links

Official website

Article on her NASCAR coverage
Living people 1974 births People from Clinton, Iowa Motorsport announcers NASCAR people College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers National Football League announcers {{NASCAR-bio-stub