Ralph Sheheen (born August 23, 1964) is an American sports announcer. He is one of the lead broadcasters of

NASCAR Xfinity 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 ...

on NBCSN, and was the lead commentator of

Feld Entertainment Feld Entertainment Inc. is an American live show production company which owns a number of traveling shows. The company began with the now-defunct Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus then expanded into additional live events, including Dis ...

AMA Supercross Championship The AMA Supercross Championship (commercially known as Monster Energy AMA Supercross) is an American motorcycle racing series. Founded by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1974, the AMA Supercross Championship races are held from J ...

from 2006 until 2020. He also is the co-owner of the ''

Speed Sport ''Speed Sport'', formerly the ''National Speed Sport News ''(NSSN) is an American magazine and Web site covering national, local, and regional auto racing topics. Yahoo! News called it "one of the most famous motorsports publications in the country ...

'' franchise through his stake in Turn 3 Media, LLC, which publishes the aforementioned magazine, the Web site, and both radio and television shows. Sheheen was born in Utica, New York. Sheheen's work at Speed Channel included anchoring '' SpeedNews'', and being the lap-by-lap announcer for the

World of Outlaws The World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American motorsports sanctioning body. The body sanctions two major national touring series. It is best known for sanctioning the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late ...

Knoxville Nationals The NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals is an annual sprint car event held at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. An Associated Press writer called winning the event "sprint car racing’s premiere title". It is nicknamed "The Granddaddy of Th ...

. His broadcasting career began in 1988, when he did an

IMSA 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 ...

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

race for

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%). Th ...

. Sheheen's career has grown since. He has worked for

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

, FSN, TNN (now

Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was ...

), and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. While at TNN, his first job in 1992 was as a pit reporter for their coverage of the

ASA ASA as an abbreviation or initialism may refer to: Biology and medicine * Accessible surface area of a biomolecule, accessible to a solvent * Acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin * Advanced surface ablation, refractive eye surgery * Anterior spinal ar ...

. He eventually moved up to the lead lap-by-lap announcer for TNN's ASA coverage around 1995. He became the lead announcer of TNN's coverage of the

NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsp ...

Drag Racing Series and shared hosting duties with Steve Evans on TNN's coverage of the World of Outlaws. He also occasionally anchored their now-defunct racing news show, ''

NASCAR RaceDay ''NASCAR RaceDay'' (also known as ''NASCAR RaceDay fueled by Sunoco'') is an American pre-race television show on Fox Sports 1 that precedes all NASCAR Cup Series race broadcasts. Part of the '' Fox NASCAR'' series, the show previously aired o ...

'', and at CBS, he was a pit reporter for their coverage of

Winston 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 ...

races, most notably the Daytona 500. In 2005, Sheheen did lap-by-lap for Dorna-produced CBS's broadcasts of the

San Marino Grand Prix The San Marino Grand Prix () was a Formula One championship race which was run at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, near the Apennine mountains in Italy, between 1981 and 2006. It was named after nearby S ...

, the

Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...

, the

Canadian Grand Prix The Canadian Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix du Canada) is an annual motor racing event held since 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, as a spor ...

, and the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in Rh ...

. Until 2005, Sheheen was the host/

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

of Speed's coverage of the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

, and of the network's magazine show, '' WRC Rally Magazine''. Sheheen has since been replaced. Speed's on-site WRC reporter, former co-champion

Nicky Grist Nicky Grist (born 1 November 1961) is a Welsh former rally co-driver, born in Ebbw Vale. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1993 to 2002. He won 21 rallies with more than one driver. Grist's first WRC win was i ...

, has seen an increase in his role. Since 2007, Sheheen has been a pit reporter for Speed-produced ''

NASCAR on TNT ''NASCAR on TNT'' was the tagname for any NASCAR series race that had been broadcast on TNT by Turner Sports between 2001 and 2014. The network continued Turner's longstanding relationship with NASCAR that dated back to its initial association with ...

''. At the 2009 New Hampshire race, he filled in for

Bill Weber William Weber (born May 8, 1957) is a former television sports commentator best known for his work on TNT and NBC NASCAR broadcasts. Weber was also the lead announcer for Champ Car World Series events and other auto racing series on NBC. He is ...

as the lead announcer. On July 1, 2009, it was announced by TNT and NASCAR that Sheheen will fill in for Weber at the

Coke Zero 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series c ...

and the LifeLock.com 400, the final two races of TNT's 2009 schedule. From 2007 to 2008, Sheheen has also been the announcer for AMA Motocross Championship on the SPEED Channel, until he was replaced with the current announcer Jason Weigandt beginning in the 2009 Season. One of Sheheen's early positions was as a trackside race announcer at northern California's American Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM) road course races at

Sonoma Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway from 1967 to 1980 and 1982 to 2002, Golden State International Raceway in 1981 and Infineon Raceway from 2002 to 2012) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southe ...

in the early 1980s.

References

Biography at

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 ...

.com, Retrieved March 3, 2007 *, Retrieved March 3, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheheen 1964 births Living people Sportspeople from Utica, New York Motorsport announcers