Danielle Trotta | |
|---|---|
 Trotta atDaytona International Speedway in 2016 | |
| Born | (1981-03-13)March 13, 1981 (age 44) |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina at Charlotte |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Spouse | Robby Benton |
Danielle Trotta (born March 13, 1981) is an American journalist who coversauto racing forSirius XM. She was[1] the co-host ofNASCAR Race Hub, and the pre-race showNASCAR RaceDay forXfinity Series events onFox Sports 1. Trotta started her career in high school, and after graduating from theUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte, she worked for local stationWBTV. She moved toFox Sports in July 2010 where she has coveredNASCAR and theNFL. In 2018, she joined the cast of Boston Sports Tonight atNBC Sports Boston. After Trotta and other on-air personalities were released from the network byNBCUniversal, in 2022 and 2023 Trotta hosted the television seriesMy Dream Car! onFox Business andFox Nation.
Trotta was born and raised inWestchester County, New York.[2][3] She is the daughter of Phyllis and high school girls' basketball coach Dan Trotta, and has one younger sister, Andrea.[2][4] Her family moved toRichmond, Indiana, when Trotta was ten years old, and at the age of 13 before she started high school, moved toCarmel for business reasons.[2][3][4] Trotta, who was inspired to go into broadcasting after watching anNBA on NBC pre-game broadcast byBob Costas andHannah Storm,[5] started her career in television while she attendedCarmel High School by working for the school's 24-hour local channel as a host and presenter between 1995 and 1999.[3] She also took part in three consecutive statewide championships in swimming, diving and springboard diving.[6]
Trotta enrolled in four colleges along the East Coast before she graduated from theUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in Mass Journalism in 2005.[2][7] During her period in college, Trotta had internships with television stations withIndianapolis and withCharlotte, North Carolina–based stationsWCNC-TV andWBTV (she joined the latter in 2004). After graduation, she was hired full-time as a weekend news editor for WBTV. Trotta started as a photographer, and later convinced the station's management to allow herself to be shown on television.[3][8] She made her on-screen début at WBTV as weekend sports anchor in 2007,[4] following the departure of Kricket Morton that April;[7] Trotta additionally hostedSports Saturday Night, and co-hostedThe Point After with D&D with Delano Little on Sunday nights.[9]
She moved to the station's sports department in August 2006; She stated her favourite stories were those about high school athletes who overcame challenges on the playing field and in the local community.[2] Trotta remained with WBTV until 2010, when she moved toFox Sports'sSpeed in July after being offered a three-year contract to work as a reporter onNASCAR Race Hub.[3][6][4] Despite leaving, WBTV won aRadio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas award for a sports special program calledFirst Class that she contributed to in October 2010.[10] She also co-presented theACC Network's pregame and half time show,The ACC Blizz, alongside football coachTommy Bowden in 2011, and also wrote football columns for local newspaperCharlotte Weekly. Trotta was also a weekly contributor on NASCAR and ACC Football on Charlotte-based talk radio stationESPN 730.[3][6] She was mentored by fellow Fox Sports employeeSteve Byrnes.[9]
In 2012, Trotta moved into a co-host role, and presentedSpeed's coverage of that year's NASCAR Sprint Awards Ceremony from Las Vegas.[3] She also hosted various specials devoted to NASCAR, along with Supercross andMotoGP events throughout 2014.[6] Since 2015, Trotta has been the host ofNASCAR RaceDay forXfinity Series races,[9] and in the same year, made her début as a sideline reporter for coverage of the game between theArizona Cardinals andCleveland Browns onFox NFL.[8]
On February 13, 2017, Trotta tweeted that she would be leaving NASCAR Race Hub to pursue other opportunities. A few hours later a press conference was held to announce thatShannon Spake would take over Trotta's duties as co-host ofNASCAR Race Hub and host of theXfinity Series edition ofNASCAR RaceDay on Saturdays.[11] She toldThe Charlotte Observer in 2022 that she left Fox Sports because she did not want to be typecast as a "the NASCAR girl".[5] In 2019, Trotta joined NBC Sports’ NASCAR coverage as host of the “Victory Lap” post-race show for select Cup Series races.[12]
On August 3, 2020, Trotta, along with many other NBC Sports Boston on-air personalities, were released from the network due to decisions made by parent companyNBCUniversal.[13]
In 2022 and 2023, Trotta hosted the television seriesMy Dream Car! on theFox Business cable news channel, and on theFox Nation subscription video on demand service, where "Families find, buy and restore a car as a surprise for their loved ones."[5][14]
She is married to formerNASCAR Busch Series stock car driverRobby Benton.[15]
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