Ralph Sheheen (born August 23, 1964) is an American sports announcer. He was 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 NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

NBCSN NBCSN (also known as NBC Sports Network) 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 Lif ...

, 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 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus before expanding into additional live events, including Disney on ...

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 ...

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 Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...

. Sheheen's work at Speed Channel included anchoring '' SpeedNews'', and being the lap-by-lap announcer for the

World of Outlaws World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, originally known as the World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American national touring dirt track racing series. It is owned and operated by World Racing Group, and was rebranded when the World of O ...

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 ...

. 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 Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

race for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. 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 ...

, FSN, TNN (now

Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are located a ...

), and

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

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

ASA Asa may refer to: People and fictional characters * Asa (given name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters so named * Asa people, an ethnic group based in Tanzania * Aṣa, Nigerian-French singer, songwriter, and reco ...

. 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 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 motorsport sanction ...

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'', 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 most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and fro ...

races, most notably the

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

. 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, Apennine mountains in Italy, between 1981 and 2006. It was nam ...

, the

Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix (, ) 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 its centenary in 2013. The race had modest beginnings ...

, the

Canadian Grand Prix The Canadian Grand Prix () 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 sports car event, before alterna ...

, and the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix () 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 Rhineland-Palatinate, Hockenheimring in B ...

. 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 an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

, 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 Nicholas Mark Grist (born 1 November 1961) is a British former rally co-driver from Wales, 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' ...

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

NASCAR on TNT ''NASCAR on TNT'' Sports is the branding for NASCAR races broadcast on TNT and formerly TBS both by TNT Sports. Initially on TBS from 1983 to 2000, then later moving to TNT to serve as the cable partner for NBC Sports' coverage of NASCAR from ...

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

Bill Weber William Weber (May 8, 1957 – December 13, 2024) was an American 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 ra ...

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 ...

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, Golden State International Raceway and Infineon Technologies, Infineon Raceway) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, Cal ...

in the early 1980s. For his contributions to covering sprint car races, Sheheen was inducted into the

National Sprint Car Hall of Fame The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a hall of fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members. The museum is located in Knoxville, Iowa, the h ...

in 2023.

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 a ...

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