Allen Bestwick | |
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_(cropped).jpg) Bestwick in 2021 | |
| Born | (1961-09-24)September 24, 1961 (age 64) Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Employers |
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Allen Bestwick (born September 24, 1961) is an Americansportscaster. Known for his work coveringNASCAR forNBC andESPN, he is one of the lead track announcers at theIndianapolis Motor Speedway along with Dave Calabro and was the lead broadcaster for theSuperstar Racing Experience racing series. He is the lead play-by-play voice forUniversity of Connecticut women's basketball telecasts forSNY.
Bestwick was born inNewport, Rhode Island. His broadcasting career began at the age of 15, when he did on-air work for hishigh school radio station inCoventry, Rhode Island.[1] Bestwick began announcing auto racing at age 16, when he called the action atSeekonk Speedway, where his father raced.
He then was hired by Charlie Roberts, founder of MotorNet in New Jersey, to be the radio network's Director of Affiliates and Associate Producer.
In 1985, Bestwick joinedMotor Racing Network (MRN) as a race reporter and eventually became co-lead announcer withJoe Moore andBarney Hall. While still employed at MRN, Bestwick took over forKen Squier asTBS' lead NASCAR commentator for its abbreviated schedule.
Bestwick joinedNBC in 1999 as its lap-by-lap commentator for its lone race, thePennzoil 400 atHomestead-Miami Speedway. When NBC acquired rights to the second half of the NASCAR season, Bestwick was joined byBenny Parsons andWally Dallenbach Jr. as the network's full-time broadcast team. Bestwick also continued to work forTurner Sports, asTNT served as NBC's broadcast partner on cable.
In 2005, Bestwick andBill Weber switched positions on the broadcast. Bestwick took Weber's position as lead pit reporter while Weber, who had substituted for Bestwick for two races in 2004 as he recuperated from a broken leg, moved to the booth.[2] Bestwick substituted for Weber from 2005 to 2006 at Standalone Busch Series races.
Also in 2005, Bestwick made acameo appearance as himself, being the lead announcer, in the movieHerbie: Fully Loaded. During his tenure at NBC, Bestwick also calledArena football games, as well as other minor duties.
After NBC lost rights to NASCAR following the 2006 season, Bestwick decided to leave the network after seven years. Despite TNT retaining its NASCAR rights in the new contract that was signed, Bestwick opted not to stay with them and instead signed on withESPN.
For 2007, Bestwick joined theNASCAR on ESPN package as lead pit reporter, as well as occasionally being race coverage host and play-by-play announcer on Nationwide Series races, and occasionalNASCAR Now hosting duties. In 2008, he was moved up to full-time race coverage host and hosts a weekly Monday roundtable edition ofNASCAR Now. As lead pit reporter, from 2008 to 2010, he also hostedNASCAR Countdown.
On July 20, 2011, it was announced that Bestwick would replace Marty Reid for the 17 Sprint Cup races hosted by ESPN alongsideDale Jarrett andAndy Petree.Nicole Briscoe would replace him as host of NASCAR Countdown alongsideRusty Wallace andBrad Daugherty.[3] Bestwick replacedMarty Reid as play-by-play announcer for theSprint Cup Series races starting at theBrickyard 400, returning him to the position for the first time since 2004. Bestwick also called theNationwide Series for the remainder of the2013 season after Reid was fired from ESPN.[4]
With the end of ESPN's NASCAR coverage after the 2014 season, Bestwick became the lead announcer for ESPN's broadcasts ofIndyCar races forABC beginning in 2014, also replacing Reid. Bestwick also began to perform play-by-play duties for non-racing events, includingcollege football.[5][6]
OnHalloween night in 2015, Bestwick called theMiami-Duke college football game, when Miami was down 27–24 with 6 seconds in the game and won the game on a controversial kickoff return touchdown after lateraling the ball eight times.[7][8]
Taken short... lateral... they practiced that on Wednesday. Time's going to expire on the game, so this either goes or this doesn't. Ball's still alive! It's got to be a backwards lateral! Get behind it... still alive. They've got blockers, they've got blockers! They've got a lane! 40 yard line!No black shirts between the goal line! CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT YOU JUST SAW?!?!
On April 28, 2017, Bestwick confirmed that he was being released by ESPN after the 2017 IndyCar double-header Detroit Grand Prix and would call his last Indy 500. However, in February 2018, ESPN announced that they would be bringing Bestwick back to call the Indy 500 in 2018.[9]
In 2023, theSuperstar Racing Experience signed a deal withESPN to broadcast the 2023 season on their channels with Allen Bestwick returning as play by play commentator for the broadcasts.[10]
On April 14, 2021, it was announced that Bestwick will be the play–by–play commentator for theSuperstar Racing Experience (SRX) racing series forCBS starting in 2021.[11] Bestwick also did PA work for IMS during the Month of May the same year in addition to the NASCAR-IndyCar doubleheader weekend in August.[12]
In the summer and autumn of 2022, Bestwick was a sideline reporter during the inaugural season of theProfessional Bull Riders (PBR) Team Series.[13]Starting in 2025 Bestwick will do NFL games forNFL on CBS during busier weeks during NFL Regular Season.
| Preceded by | Television voice of the Indianapolis 500 2014–2018 | Succeeded by |
