VERSUS BROADCAST TEAM TO MEET AND GREET WITH FANS AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY’S
20TH ANNUAL TOWN FAIR TIRE 150
(Stafford Springs, CT)— With the Whelen Modified Tour coming to Stafford
Motor Speedway for the 20th Annual Town Fair Tire 150 on Friday, August 6th,
Versus will also be making a stop at the Connecticut half-mile to provide
tape-delayed television coverage of the race. The Versus broadcast team
consisting of Jack Arute, Jimmy Spencer, and Ralph Sheheen, will meet and
greet with fans and sign autographs at the Town Fair Tire booth following
the conclusion of Whelen Modified Tour Time Trials.
Arute left his Stafford promoter duties in 1973 to pursue a broadcasting
career first with NASCAR’s MRN Radio and then with ABC Television where he
covered a variety of sports including NASCAR, the Iditarod Sled Dog Race,
Olympic Soccer, Cycling, and Luge. For more than 25 years he was a
cornerstone to ABC’s coverage of NCAA College Football as well as the
IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. Arute’s television efforts have
earned him multiple broadcasting awards and he is a current member of his
hometown’s (New Britain, CT) Sports Hall of Fame. Since returning to the
Northeast in the early ’90’s Jack has been the force behind Stafford’s
television coverage including ESPN’s telecast of the Fall Final and NESN’s
NASCAR New England. Now the IZOD IndyCar Pit Analyst for Versus’ IndyCar
series telecasts, Jackie was also a key catalyst in the network’s decision
to air 9 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events this year including the Town
Fair Tire 150 and Stafford’s season ending CARQUEST Fall Final.
Jimmy Spencer, also known as “Mr. Excitement”, is a former two-time Whelen
Modified Tour champion and he is the 1984 CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler
champion. Spencer moved from the Modified ranks into the Sprint Cup Series
where he won 2 races while driving for Junior Johnson. Spencer is one of a
handful of drivers that have victories in each of NASCAR’s three top series.
Spencer has 2 career Sprint Cup wins, 12 career Nationwide Series wins, and
1 career Camping World Truck Series victory, which came at the New Hampshire
Motor Speedway in 2003. Spencer is a former co-host of NASCAR Race Day and
NASCAR Victory Lane on SPEED, and he is now the host of What’s the Deal on
SPEED.
Ralph Sheheen is currently a pit reporter for NASCAR on TNT, an announcer
for AMA motocross and supercross on SPEED, as well as announcing many other
forms of racing on SPEED. Sheheen’s broadcasting career began in 1988, when
he did ISMA sports car race for ESPN and he has since worked for ESPN2, FSN,
Spike TV( formerly TNN), and CBS covering various forms of auto racing.
Versus is one of the fastest growing sports channels in the country. Versus
offers a wide range of professional sports to viewers, including the Izod
Indycar Series, National Hockey League, WEC, UFC, College Football and
College Basketball, Professional Bull Riders Tour, the Tour de France, and
the UFL. Versus is available nationwide in high definition on DirecTV and
Dish Network and is available on a regional level on cable.
Tickets for the 20th Annual Town Fair Tire 150 are on sale now at the
Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $30.00 for adult general
admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and
under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved
seating is priced at $32.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor
Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.
For more information on the 20th Annual Town Fair Tire 150, or to order
tickets, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or
visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.