July 29th, 2008 by Donnie Redd | Posted in General Information, History |
Jim Reyome “the voice of Music City Motorplex”
The former chief scorer at Louisville Motor Speedway as well as Nashville Speedway USA, Jim is originally from northwest Indiana and had no interest in racing at all till he saw the Indianapolis 500 in 1978. From then on he knew he’d want to be around the sport the rest of his life, and at one time or another he has participated in just about every facet of racing both on and off the track: go-fer, signboard man, tire changer, gear changer, track security, scorer, reporter, interviewer, PR hack, open wheel guru, announcer, newsletter publisher, race director and yes, driver. He has visited and worked tracks from coast to coast, from dirt bullrings to superspeedways to drag strips to road courses. He enjoys just about every kind of racing–in NASCAR he is a particular fan of the Craftsman Truck Series–but his first love has always been open-wheel racing and he still makes a pilgrimage to Indy once a year.
As an announcer, along with many, many drivers and crew members at literally hundreds of races, Jim has interviewed the likes of USAC Sprint Car champion and all-time feature win king Tom Bigelow, Fox Sports broadcaster Larry McReynolds, and even shared a microphone with legendary “King of the Midgets” Mel Kenyon at an All American Midget Series race in 1991. Still, his most memorable moments were when he had the opportunity in 2004 to get the first words with Chuck Barnes Sr. as his son won his first All-American 400, and the following year with Jason Hogan when he took home his own first champion’s guitar. Jim’s usual post on race night is in the booth, but this year he can be found before the shows gathering interviews with drivers and crew members to be played during breaks in the action. If he has any ambition in racing beyond the confines of the Fairgrounds, it is to be a turn reporter for MRN or, better still, for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.
Away from racing Jim has many interests, including computers (his “day job”), writing, hiking, and building and flying model rockets both large and small. For thirty years he explored and mapped caves throughout the country, and recently he has even appeared in stage productions as a singer and actor with the Renaissance Players at the Renaissance Center in Dickson. His greatest joy though is his family; wife Shelley–they were married in 1992 on the track at Louisville Motor Speedway, appropriately enough–and son P.J., who is now 13 and can occasionally be seen helping out Dad in the announcing booth.
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