Ralph Sheheen (born August 23, 1964) is an American sports announcer. He was one of the lead broadcasters ofNASCAR Xfinity Series onNBCSN, and was the lead commentator ofFeld Entertainment'sAMA Supercross Championship from 2006 until 2020. He also is the co-owner of theSpeed Sport 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 inUtica, New York. Sheheen's work at Speed Channel included anchoringSpeedNews, and being the lap-by-lap announcer for theWorld of Outlaws'Knoxville Nationals. His broadcasting career began in 1988, when he did anIMSAsports car race forESPN. Sheheen's career has grown since. He has worked forESPN2,FSN,TNN (nowParamount Network), andCBS. While at TNN, his first job in 1992 was as a pit reporter for their coverage of theASA. 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 theNHRA 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 ofWinston Cup Series races, most notably theDaytona 500. In 2005, Sheheen did lap-by-lap for Dorna-produced CBS's broadcasts of theSan Marino Grand Prix, theSpanish Grand Prix, theCanadian Grand Prix, and theGerman Grand Prix.
Until 2005, Sheheen was the host/narrator of Speed's coverage of theWorld Rally Championship, and of the network's magazine show,WRC Rally Magazine. Sheheen has since been replaced. Speed's on-site WRC reporter, former co-championNicky Grist, has seen an increase in his role.
Since 2007, Sheheen has been a pit reporter for Speed-producedNASCAR on TNT. At the 2009 New Hampshire race, he filled in forBill Weber as the lead announcer. On July 1, 2009, it was announced by TNT and NASCAR that Sheheen will fill in for Weber at theCoke Zero 400 and theLifeLock.com 400, the final two races of TNT's 2009 schedule.[1]
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 atSonoma Raceway in the early 1980s.
For his contributions to covering sprint car races, Sheheen was inducted into theNational Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2023.[2]