Daytona 500: Iconic Race Is Sonic Centerpiece of Fox Sports' Speedweeks Sound from track, road courses is produced by sparse, spread-out audio crew By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Thursday, February 11, 2021 - 1:08 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Daytona 500 and Speedweeks events will look a little different, the iconic race's website advises. Its sound, however, will be as big and as loud as ever.
2021 NASCAR Speedweeks started Feb. 9 with the Busch Clash invitational on the Daytona road course, followed on successive days by the Daytona 500 qualifying runs, the Bluegreen Vacations Duel that determines main-race starting positions, the NextEra Energy 250 Camping World Trucks match, and the Lucas Oil 200 Driven By General Tire race, all leading up to the main event - the Daytona 500 - on Valentine's Day.
The audio crew will have been onsite long before that - or, more precisely, onsites. Like many sports events over the past year, the big race will have many of its crew members working remotely. At Daytona International Speedway will be Fox Sports A1 Kevin McCloskey, aboard Game Creek Cleatus remote-production truck, and submixer Chip Weaver, in the stadium. Supporting them will be Andy Roston, working race car and truck comms from New York; Radio Editor Jeff Bratta, working from home in Georgia; and Radio Mixer Zach Bayer, at home in Richmond, VA, on a Calrec Brio console. The tape operator is in Pittsburgh, and video editing is done at Fox Sports studios in Charlotte, NC. Doug Wilson, in charge of comms, is at the Speedway.
The technical diaspora is significantly larger than last year's, the first time a sizable REMI effort produced this race event. That included real-time commentary by experts Larry McReynolds and Jamie McMurray from a bespoke multi-purpose virtual-studio set deployed in the Fox Sports Charlotte studios for the pre- and post-race shows. The signals were transmitted over fiber and transferred to MADI for the onsite audio mixers.
This year, team communications radio is being moved via Unity Intercom's internet-based AoIP platform, an estimated 64 channels each direction, and is converted to MADI for use on the broadcast campus.
Last year's race saw the first inklings of REMI, with some technical and talent participants located in Los Angeles and Charlotte, reductions and dispersions that observers attribute to a combination of COVID and industry economics.
This year, says McCloskey, there are fewer people overall but many fewer onsite. But, after using [at-home production] this way for football and eight races last year, we've gotten it to the point where it works very well. It's reliable. The Daytona 500 is a huge endeavor, and spreading it around like this increases the complexity, but it's still very manageable.
There is a lot to handle. For instance, Bayer is taking in communications from 40 cars - driver, crew chief, and spotter for each, all three on a single RF channel - with frequency management by NASCAR's Racing Electronics subsidiary. The addition of a road course on Daytona's roval course adds a new wrinkle: right-hand turns, among other things. The Busch Clash will be one of three such stock-car road races this season.
The road-race sound is more intimate and more discrete than the Daytona 500's, notes McCloskey. They're taking the turns at slower speeds, so you can hear more of individual cars instead of the huge roar of the 500, picking up sounds from wherever the cameras are along the course.
One thing that's not changing is Crank It Up, the SFX drum solo that Fox inserts at some point during the race. Made up of a mix directly from Weaver's Calrec Artemis submix console sent through McCloskey's main mix, it which sounds awesome in surround.
Everyone loves Crank It Up,' says McCloskey. Can't imagine doing this race without it.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
04/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...
04/06/2026
This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...
04/06/2026
For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...
04/06/2026
Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...
04/06/2026
Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...
04/06/2026
Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...
04/06/2026
KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...
04/06/2026
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...
04/06/2026
The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...
04/06/2026
MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...
04/06/2026
NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...
04/06/2026
David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
Over his l...
04/06/2026
Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...
04/06/2026
California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...
04/06/2026
New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts
TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...
04/06/2026
Steinberg DAWs now boast in-depth Tonalic integration
Celemony's innovative virtual session musician plug-in has just received an update that brings ARA...
04/06/2026
Get Hands-On With Over 20 Mic Brands
GearExpo UK is fast approaching, and if you've been looking for a chance to check out some new mics, then you'r...
04/06/2026
Combos feature new Amplifier Intelligence engine
Positive Grid's latest release sees the company introduce two new combo amplifiers that promise to offe...
04/06/2026
Is Your Job Making You Work this June?
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS Launches the World Cup Watchers' Rights Association to Stand Up For Australians&...
04/06/2026
Statement regarding unauthorised use of SBS logos on third party social content
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has become aware of social media posts in c...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
All the Truth in My Lies Coming to Netflix on August 28
Entertainment
04 June 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the imag...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at ...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World ...
04/06/2026
Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn Published on Jun 4, 2026 Categories: Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Share
LinkedIn
Facebook ...
04/06/2026
BackStory follows four Irish young people as they travel back to their parents' homelands
Modern Irish identity is enriched by cultures and influences from...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
Daytona 500: Iconic Race Is Sonic Centerpiece of Fox Sports' Speedweeks Sound from track, road courses is produced by sparse, spread-out audio crew By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
