Jack Arute 2009 Indy 500 Second Qual Day

Jack Arute III ( ; born September 28, 1950) is an American former sportscaster for the NFL and college sports for

Sirius XM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

. He used to be an

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 ...

pit reporter and

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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

sideline reporter 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 ...

and ABC, and covered the Izod IndyCar Series and the

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) (previously the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour and NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series from 1985 until 2005) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Mod ...

on Versus.

Biography

Arute was born in

New Britain, Connecticut New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately southwest of Hartford. According to 2020 Census, the population of the city is 74,135. Among the southernmost of the communities encompassed wi ...

, the son of Jack Arute Jr. and grandson of Jack Arute Sr., owners of a prominent construction company in the state. (

Arute Field Arute Field is a 5,500-seat multi-purpose stadium in New Britain, Connecticut, United States. It is home to the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils Football and Men's and Women's Lacrosse teams. The first incarnation of Arute Field ...

, a football stadium in

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the D ...

, is named for the family.) Arute is a graduate of the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the Unite ...

. Arute began his work with

ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Televisi ...

and ESPN in 1984, after serving as a radio commentator for the

Motor Racing Network Motor Racing Network (MRN) is a U.S. radio network that syndicates broadcasts of auto racing events, particularly NASCAR. MRN was founded in 1970 by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and broadcaster Ken Squier, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of ...

from 1972 to 1980, where he was known as "Jackie Arute" as to distinguish him from his father. He then served as Vice President of

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including ...

in 1980. In recent years, he has served as president of the family-owned Stafford Motor Speedway, a regional

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 ...

track in

Stafford Springs, Connecticut Stafford Springs is a census-designated place located in Stafford, Connecticut. The population was 4,988 at the 2010 Census. The village was a borough until November 1991, when it was disincorporated. Located near the source of the Willimantic ...

, a track that the family has owned since 1970. His brother Mark is the CEO of the track. Arute was one of the track announcers during the 1970s, establishing the circuit as a top race track in the Northeast, establishing a strong link of announcers which also included

Mike Joy Michael Joy (born November 25, 1949) is an American TV sports announcer and who currently serves as the lap-by-lap voice of Fox Sports' coverage of NASCAR. His color analyst is Clint Bowyer. Counting 2022, Joy has been part of the live broadcast ...

. Arute worked as a pit reporter on

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed ...

Indy Racing League 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 o ...

(IRL), and NASCAR telecasts on ESPN and ABC from 1984 to 1998 and 2000 to 2009. In 1999, he covered the IRL for

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 ...

and Speedvision. In some instances, namely in 2004, Arute served as a booth announcer. During the same time period at ESPN and ABC, during the off-season of auto racing, Arute served as a sideline reporter for college football and during at least one NFL playoff game. In 2009, Arute joined the Versus on-air crew for the 2009 IndyCar season, serving on both the Versus and ABC telecasts. In August 2009, ''

Indianapolis Star Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

'' reporter Curt Cavin said that Arute will be leaving ESPN at the end of 2009 in favor of Versus full-time. He was fired from Versus due to cost-cutting moves after the

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspec ...

with

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primar ...

. He was replaced by Kevin Lee, who is also a pit reporter for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Network. Currently, Arute does radio work with

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sa ...

's Channel 90 with Trading Paint with Chocolate Myers on Thursdays and Fridays. Arute lives in

Hampden, Massachusetts Hampden is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,966 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The namesake of Hampden is John Hampden, an English patriot ...

References

External links

*
ESPN profile

Official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arute, Jack 1950 births Living people American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers College football announcers College basketball announcers in the United States Major League Baseball broadcasters Motorsport announcers National Football League announcers Association football commentators Sportspeople from Connecticut Tennis commentators University of Vermont alumni