Richard "Rick" DeBruhl (born June 22, 1955) is an American auto racing and automobile auction commentator. He is currently the TV voice of the Barrett Jackson collector car auctions on the

A&E Networks A&E Networks (stylized as A+E NETWORKS) is an American multinational broadcasting company that is a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its General Entertainment Content division. The company o ...

. DeBruhl previously worked in radio before becoming a television personality and journalist for the NBC affiliate in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. His motorsports work began on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

in 1988 and lasted for nearly thirty years.

Biography

DeBruhl grew up in

Canoga Park, California Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and the ...

and graduated from

California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...

at San Luis Obispo with a degree in journalism. He later received a Master's in Journalism from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

. He began his career at KATY Radio in San Luis Obispo, CA, then moved into television at

KCOY-TV KCOY-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Santa Maria, California, United States, serving the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California as an affiliate of the digital multicast network Dabl. It is owned by VistaWest M ...

in Santa Maria, CA. He is married with two sons.

Career

Rick DeBruhl currently covers the Barrett Jackson collector car auctions for the A&E Networks (The History Channel and FYI,). He previously worked as a pit reporter for ESPN most recently covering the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

airing on ABC. He also worked as an American local television sportscaster, reporter and anchor, working with the NBC affiliate

KPNX KPNX (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Mesa, Arizona, United States, serving the Phoenix area as an affiliate of NBC. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., and maintains studios at the Republic Media building on Van Buren Street i ...

-TV from 1978 to 2009. DeBruhl began his work with ESPN in 1988, after writing freelance articles for the Detroit-based publication Autoweek. Beginning in 1988 DeBruhl worked on coverage of various forms of racing including

International Motor Sports Association The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...

(IMSA),

Trans-Am Series The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includ ...

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...

, off road,

Superbike racing Superbike racing is a category of motorcycle racing that employs highly modified production motorcycles, as opposed to MotoGP in which purpose-built motorcycles are used. The Superbike World Championship is the official world championship series, t ...

and

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 ...

. He also previously hosted the Thursday Night Thunder anthology series. In 2002, he moved to

Speed (TV 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 ...

as the play-by-play voice for

and began covering the

Barrett-Jackson Barrett-Jackson is an American collector car auction company headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was founded by Scottsdale business partners Tom Barrett and Russ Jackson. They initially launched a car show, Fiesta de los Autos Elegantes, in 19 ...

Collector Car Auctions. DeBruhl returned to ESPN in 2009 as a pit reporter for their

Verizon IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

coverage as well as selected

American LeMans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

events. He would later also serve as a substitute pit reporter for the network's NASCAR coverage at the standalone

NASCAR Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

races such as

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. DeBruhl would work for ESPN until 2018, when the network experienced financial problems and lost their television rights for IndyCar and the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

to NBC.

Awards

DeBruhl has won numerous awards for reporting including three

Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards The Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards are a division of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The Rocky Mountain Southwest chapter was founded in 1959, and is responsible for granting the Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards, awarding scholarships ...

. He also received awards from the Arizona Press Club, Arizona Associated Press, the Arizona chapter of the American Women in Radio and Television (Reporter of the Year award in 1999), and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

(Diversity award in 2006). DeBruhl was also inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Science's Silver Circle in 2001.

Books

DeBruhl has written two books, ''Communicating at the Right Speed: 52 Ways to Fix Your Professional Communication Troubles'' and ''The Insider's Guide to Media Training: 99 Tips to Survive Your Interview in the Digital Age'' (with Kevin Riggs).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeBruhl, Rick 1955 births Living people ESPN announcers Motorsport announcers