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CUP: Byrnes Offers Behind Scenes Glimpse Into Life On Pit Road
NASCAR on FOX reporter and NASCAR Race Hub host Steve Byrnes explains just what he does when the cameras aren’t rolling...
Steve Byrnes on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)
BYRNES OFFERS BEHIND-THE-SCENES GLIMPSE INTO CHAOTIC LIFE ON PIT ROAD
NASCAR on FOX and SPEED viewers are well acquainted with Steve Byrnes from his 25-plus years as a NASCAR broadcaster. But do they really understand his role in bringing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series into their living rooms each week? Byrnes, who serves as a pit reporter for NASCAR on FOX’s Cup Series races and hosts NASCAR Race Hub on SPEED, as well as the network’s coverage of Cup Series practice and qualifying sessions each weekend, explains just what he does when the cameras aren’t rolling in the Q&A below:
SPEED: How do you get your pit road assignments each week?
Byrnes: “We split up the 43 spots on pit road, so we’re usually responsible for 12 or 13 cars on average per race. We get our assignments the day before the race from our pit producer, Pam Miller, and we go to work tracking down our 12 or so crew chiefs, car chiefs, crew members, PR reps and drivers. We want to know how good or bad their cars are, how confident they are for the race, any concerns they might have about their cars and how they expect the race to play out. As pit reporters, we want to know the same things the viewers at home want to know.”
SPEED: Who comprises your “entourage” on pit road each week?
Byrnes: “We have a camera operator, someone holding the monitor so I can see what’s being broadcast on FOX, my pit spotter and a battery runner. My battery runner constantly monitors the batteries in the camera, the transmitter and the monitor. We are a very tightly-knit team with an incredible camaraderie. Each of those guys is very important to me.”
SPEED: How much do you rely on your pit spotter to help you during the race?
Byrnes: “I’ve worked with my spotter, Walter Cox, since the beginning of NASCAR on FOX in 2001, and I would be lost without him. Sure, I can follow the race and the top storylines, but no one person effectively can stay on top of everything going on with 12 or 13 teams by themselves. Walter and I constantly communicate during the race because I frequently switch my scanner frequencies and location on pit road from one team to another. As soon as I do that, I give him a hand signal. We communicate a lot through hand signals and written notes. Typically, I’m listening to the best-running drivers in my group and he listens to most of the rest. We have a lot of ground to cover, so I’ll hold up two fingers for him, meaning I’m going to the No. 2 car’s pit. He’ll do the same to indicate where he is headed. When we’ve got several cars pitting at one time, we divide and conquer.”
SPEED: Who is in your ear during the race and how difficult is it to juggle all those voices?
Byrnes: “I listen to the broadcast, our pit producer and the teams’ frequencies. Our race producer, Barry Landis, occasionally talks to us, but our primary contact is the pit producer. Learning to manage all the people talking in my ear was difficult and it still is today. We have to know what to concentrate on and when. Particularly challenging is when I’m giving an update on a team live on-air, while at the same time, the pit or race producer is in my ear giving me directions as to whom I’ll throw to when I’ve completed my update. I hear, ‘Go back to Mike Joy’ or ‘Go back to the Hollywood Hotel’ while I’m finishing up. So, I’m listening to ‘traffic’ while reporting, which is an acquired skill.”
SPEED: Explain the process of how you relay information about your cars to the TV booth or production truck:
Byrnes: “If I hear Matt Kenseth, for example, talking about something his car is doing, I try to sell my new story to Pam Miller, our pit producer.. I say, ‘Hey, I know what is wrong with Matt and can add to what DW just said about his car.’ She then tries to sell that to Barry, our race producer, and Barry either gives the go-ahead or he doesn’t. We pit reporters are constantly pitching our teams to the producers.”
SPEED: You only get one chance to ask the right question of the drivers post-race, so how do you approach formulating those questions?
Byrnes: “Choosing the right question is tough because we only get one shot and we have to make it count. I always ask myself, ‘What does the person at home want to know?’ I think he or she wants to hear about key moments in the race for that driver or any adversity the driver and team had to overcome to win or finish well.”
SPEED: What do you consider the worst or most unpleasant part of your job on pit road?
Byrnes: “The hardest part of my job is grabbing the guys coming out of the care center or who just watched their weekend go down the drain. I understand and respect the effort of every guy who works on these cars, engines, aerodynamics and the entire package, so I feel so badly for them when they fall out of the race. That is hard for me. I know they to try to put on a brave face for the camera, while deep down inside they and their team are devastated.”
SPEED: Do you have a “blooper” or funny on-air moment you can share?
Byrnes: “I was calling a pit stop once and was moving from one pit to the next. I called the first stop and then slid into the other pit for the next one, and as I slid over, the crew guy shot the sign board back and it hit me square in the solar plexus. It knocked the wind out of me while I was on the air and I literally could not talk. I couldn’t respond to tell the booth or the TV truck why I wasn’t speaking. I think the booth got a kick out of the fact I was speechless.”
NASCAR on FOX and SPEED viewers are well acquainted with Steve Byrnes from his 25-plus years as a NASCAR broadcaster. But do they really understand his role in bringing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series into their living rooms each week? Byrnes, who serves as a pit reporter for NASCAR on FOX’s Cup Series races and hosts NASCAR Race Hub on SPEED, as well as the network’s coverage of Cup Series practice and qualifying sessions each weekend, explains just what he does when the cameras aren’t rolling in the Q&A below:
SPEED: How do you get your pit road assignments each week?
Byrnes: “We split up the 43 spots on pit road, so we’re usually responsible for 12 or 13 cars on average per race. We get our assignments the day before the race from our pit producer, Pam Miller, and we go to work tracking down our 12 or so crew chiefs, car chiefs, crew members, PR reps and drivers. We want to know how good or bad their cars are, how confident they are for the race, any concerns they might have about their cars and how they expect the race to play out. As pit reporters, we want to know the same things the viewers at home want to know.”
SPEED: Who comprises your “entourage” on pit road each week?
Byrnes: “We have a camera operator, someone holding the monitor so I can see what’s being broadcast on FOX, my pit spotter and a battery runner. My battery runner constantly monitors the batteries in the camera, the transmitter and the monitor. We are a very tightly-knit team with an incredible camaraderie. Each of those guys is very important to me.”
SPEED: How much do you rely on your pit spotter to help you during the race?
Byrnes: “I’ve worked with my spotter, Walter Cox, since the beginning of NASCAR on FOX in 2001, and I would be lost without him. Sure, I can follow the race and the top storylines, but no one person effectively can stay on top of everything going on with 12 or 13 teams by themselves. Walter and I constantly communicate during the race because I frequently switch my scanner frequencies and location on pit road from one team to another. As soon as I do that, I give him a hand signal. We communicate a lot through hand signals and written notes. Typically, I’m listening to the best-running drivers in my group and he listens to most of the rest. We have a lot of ground to cover, so I’ll hold up two fingers for him, meaning I’m going to the No. 2 car’s pit. He’ll do the same to indicate where he is headed. When we’ve got several cars pitting at one time, we divide and conquer.”
SPEED: Who is in your ear during the race and how difficult is it to juggle all those voices?
Byrnes: “I listen to the broadcast, our pit producer and the teams’ frequencies. Our race producer, Barry Landis, occasionally talks to us, but our primary contact is the pit producer. Learning to manage all the people talking in my ear was difficult and it still is today. We have to know what to concentrate on and when. Particularly challenging is when I’m giving an update on a team live on-air, while at the same time, the pit or race producer is in my ear giving me directions as to whom I’ll throw to when I’ve completed my update. I hear, ‘Go back to Mike Joy’ or ‘Go back to the Hollywood Hotel’ while I’m finishing up. So, I’m listening to ‘traffic’ while reporting, which is an acquired skill.”
SPEED: Explain the process of how you relay information about your cars to the TV booth or production truck:
Byrnes: “If I hear Matt Kenseth, for example, talking about something his car is doing, I try to sell my new story to Pam Miller, our pit producer.. I say, ‘Hey, I know what is wrong with Matt and can add to what DW just said about his car.’ She then tries to sell that to Barry, our race producer, and Barry either gives the go-ahead or he doesn’t. We pit reporters are constantly pitching our teams to the producers.”
SPEED: You only get one chance to ask the right question of the drivers post-race, so how do you approach formulating those questions?
Byrnes: “Choosing the right question is tough because we only get one shot and we have to make it count. I always ask myself, ‘What does the person at home want to know?’ I think he or she wants to hear about key moments in the race for that driver or any adversity the driver and team had to overcome to win or finish well.”
SPEED: What do you consider the worst or most unpleasant part of your job on pit road?
Byrnes: “The hardest part of my job is grabbing the guys coming out of the care center or who just watched their weekend go down the drain. I understand and respect the effort of every guy who works on these cars, engines, aerodynamics and the entire package, so I feel so badly for them when they fall out of the race. That is hard for me. I know they to try to put on a brave face for the camera, while deep down inside they and their team are devastated.”
SPEED: Do you have a “blooper” or funny on-air moment you can share?
Byrnes: “I was calling a pit stop once and was moving from one pit to the next. I called the first stop and then slid into the other pit for the next one, and as I slid over, the crew guy shot the sign board back and it hit me square in the solar plexus. It knocked the wind out of me while I was on the air and I literally could not talk. I couldn’t respond to tell the booth or the TV truck why I wasn’t speaking. I think the booth got a kick out of the fact I was speechless.”
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