Shannon Spake (born July 23, 1976) is an NFL reporter and NASCAR host for Fox Sports. Previously, she worked 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%). The ...

where she contributed to ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

'' to give pre and post-game reports, and also worked as a sideline reporter for SEC on ESPN basketball games as well as college football games. Spake also worked for the newly created SEC Network which is owned by ESPN. Before coming to ESPN, Spake worked 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 ...

, where she co-hosted ''

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 ...

'' in its second version (June through November

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

) and was a reporter in its first (February through June 2005). She also co-hosted ''Back Seat Drivers'', a talk show, with online columnist

Marty Smith Marty Smith (November 26, 1956 – April 27, 2020) was an American professional motocross racer. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1974 to 1981, most prominently as a member of the Honda factory racing team with whom he won t ...

. Her previous on-air jobs included those at WCCB in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, and Carolina Sports and Entertainment Television. From 2007 to 2014. Spake was a

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 ...

pit reporter for the network and contributed to both '' NASCAR Countdown'' and '' NASCAR Now''. For the 2008 season, Spake was a full-time pit reporter for Nationwide and Sprint Cup races aired on ESPN. She would continue this role until ESPN lost the broadcast rights to

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 ...

beginning with the 2015 season. On August 13, 2013, Spake agreed to a multi-year contract extension with ESPN. Before becoming an on-air reporter, she worked for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

, CBS (on '' The Early Show'' with Bryant Gumbel), and

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

as a production assistant. Spake grew up in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. She is a graduate of Piper High School and

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Florida, Dania Beach, Davie, Florida, Davie, Fort Lauderd ...

. In 1999 she served as an intern for the Miami-based radio talk show host Neil Rogers. It was announced on July 6, 2016 that Fox has hired Spake and will serve as a sideline reporter on their college football and basketball broadcasts, as a pit road reporter for NASCAR events and a contributor to NASCAR Race Hub, and as a sideline reporter for select NFL broadcasts. On February 13, 2017 Spake was named the new co-host of NASCAR Race Hub, working alongside Adam Alexander. Spake also hosts

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 on ...

on Saturdays and Sundays In 2017 Spake was the voice of Shannon Spokes in the Pixar film '' Cars 3''.

Personal life

Spake married Jerry McSorley on April 14, 2008 at the

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

Priory in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

.Shannon + Jerry Cover Carolina Bride
/ref> Spake gave birth to twins, Brady and Liam, on January 1, 2010. Despite having corrective

Scoliosis Scoliosis is a condition in which a person's spine has a sideways curve. The curve is usually "S"- or "C"-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others, it increases over time. Mild scoliosis does not t ...

surgery at age 12, she is active in the endurance sports community having competed in two full marathons and five 70.3 Ironman events as well as many shorter distance

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

s. She is currently training for the World Championship in Kona.

References

External links

Shannon Spake's ESPN BioYahoo Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spake, Shannon College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Women sports announcers Motorsport announcers Florida Atlantic University alumni 1976 births Living people Piper High School (Florida) alumni