Welcome to Momentum, a motorsports podcast powered by High Gear Success. I'm your host, Heather Wilson Schiltz. Here we share the stories and strategies that keep the world of motorsports moving forward. And my guest today is Zac Herrin, announcer for Racer TV, which includes GNCC and Loretta Lynn's Amateur National. He's also an announcer for ArenaCross, Bagger Racing League, and JDay Offroad Series. So Zac, thank you for joining me. Absolutely, thank you for having me. Glad to be here. So you've been an event MC and announcer for a few years now, but what first got you interested in doing this? Yeah, the story goes way back to 2012. I grew up racing motocross and unfortunately, smacked the ground and broke my shoulder blade and the brace that they put me in kinda like strapped my arm to my chest kinda like this. And so we had a local track at the time called Zoo City MX that was about five, six miles from my house. And the local announcer, Mike Elliott, I he had to use the bathroom or something and he walked by and just plopped the microphone in my hand. And if you knew me growing up, I even before I could talk, I was a talker. And so never knew a stranger. And especially when it came to something like, like motocross racing, I was always talking about it. So I wasn't scared and started talking. And next thing I knew, he never came back for the microphone and he was standing over on the fence eating a hot dog or something like that. And he's like, ah, no, just keep going. And that kind of led to starting to work with that track on a more regular basis. And then started to grow from there. I picked up a couple other tracks in North Carolina where I'm from. And it's just, it's kind of growing from there. So it's I'm 28 now, but it's been Genuinely over a decade of announcing motorcycle racing and in a couple other disciplines and now moving into some other sports as well Awesome, and you were just at the season opener for the GNCC over the weekend, which was a real mudder from what I saw. what can you kind of tell us about that weekend? Yeah, if you know anything about GNCC, the series is so exciting, Mother Nature doesn't even want to miss a round. So it was a kickoff for the 26th season. GNCC's got both ATV and motorcycle racing. We actually, we do some e-mountain bikes as well. But for the opening round, was ATVs on Saturday. Beautiful sunshiny day. It was in the 50s. Everybody's having a good time and then about about 1 a.m They said Sunday morning Mother Nature was like well, wait a second I don't want to miss out on bike day and when I say it started raining You think it can't rain any harder and he just kept stepping it up. So I mean all day long It took about about a 45 minute break right at the end of the pro race, it was just absolutely pouring. It's pretty incredible what the families go through. The professional side is impressive to me, but they've obviously got manufacturers and OEMs backing them up. the cool thing about GNCC is compared to something like Motocross is there's genuinely a whole amateur scene that follows the series. Motocross, you've got something like a Loretta Lynn's like a Mini-os, but you don't actually follow the professional racing series where at GNCC, you're at the same 13 rounds as Johnny Girror are and Ben Kelley and the best of the best. So I give a lot of props to the families. It's tight turnarounds between some of these races and it's absolutely brutal what the machines get put through, what the families get put through. I can't imagine how much you know they're basically framing these machines between rounds. So it's quite the undertaking but yeah that's the way we do it at GNCC. We're not scared of the mud and so there's no better way to kick off the season. Yeah, when I get post-race photos from clients, from teams, it's always really difficult for me when it's a really muddy race to determine who the rider is in the photo because you can't see the number plate, you can't see the gear, you can't see what color helmet. So it's always like a fun challenge when I get photos like, which rider is this? You know, cause they're just covered head to toe. So yeah, mean, I'm not going to say I know every single person perfectly, but I think sometimes people think we know a little less than we actually do on racer TV because they're coming by you at a high rate of speed. We're just looking at a monitor and I'm like, I think that was so and so, but it might've been this guy or it might've been this guy. And so, yeah, I completely agree. It's a, it only takes about five minutes and everybody's the same shade of this weekend. It was South Carolina red clay. And so it's a, it makes it tough for sure. Yeah. And when the race is happening, you've got live timing and scoring helping you out a little bit. So you can kind of maybe time it where it makes sense as to who the rider is. And then when I get them, you know, on Monday morning, it's like, I have no idea, you know, who it could be at that point. Yeah, and it's funny between like GNCC and ArenaCross are so polarly different because GNCC, especially in the pro races, you're looking at 30 to 45 minute lap times depending on the track and we only get time in the scoring when they come across the finish line. So for 45 minutes, there's a lot of different things that can happen. Whereas ArenaCross, it's 19 to 20 seconds per lap. So you're constantly getting an update on lap time. So yeah, it makes it difficult, but I think that's also something that makes GNCC so exciting is for the fans that are there, you kind of pick your spot that you want to watch at, see the leaders go by and there could be a change for the lead 20 plus times. The entire top five could flip flop by the next time you see them come around. And with arenacross, those are all closed stadiums, right? They don't happen in open stadiums. Yes, for the most part now the 25-26 season they actually branched out and did a little different for a season opener. So we're out in Huntington Beach, California. We had the roland sands designs. I think it's called the moto fest or the bike fest out there. Really cool, right? I mean like a few meters away from the beach out there in California, but that one was a little different than your standard arenacross. It was in an open parking lot. The track flowed a little bit different than most of your arenas. So a kind of cool unique way to kick off the season over the summer. wasn't a part of the series but kind of the same group actually went out to Sturgis where the big bike rally is at at the Buffalo Chip and we literally were in the infield of a concert venue so the night before Nickelback played they got done just about midnight one o'clock I had plenty of fun at Nickelback big fan and then after that at like two in the morning they start building this track right where all these fans were We raced all night long and that was actually the opener for Marilyn Manson who was the main act that night. So soon as the racing was done, the fans were bringing couches and putting it on top of the catapult. They had the best spot in the house to watch the concert. So yeah, this this past year, year and a half with arenacross has been cool trying to branch out and do some unique stuff. But to your point, yeah, for the most part it's it's all closed indoor arenas. I'm not sitting in the mud. I'm not I'm not saying I like it better, but I'm just saying I'm a little bit warm. That's crazy what you were telling me about Sturgis. Like I did not hear about any of this last year. So I feel like the media exposure needs to get stepped up there because I like I didn't know that was happening at all. So that's cool. Yeah, I completely agree. think it's, uh, it was almost one of those, let's, see it and see if it works. Because if you've ever been to Sturgis bike rally, that was my first time and it's. Whoa. It's, it's something out there. You know, they're having a good time. had the, uh, the concrete Cowboys out there. Uh, we had one guy legitimately ride through, I think it was 23, like walls of fire. And then there's some guys walking a tight rope. And then you look to the left and there's a full on arenacross race going on, which was, was really cool. We were able to cover it there live. I think, uh, the, atmosphere and just kind the people that come out to, know, to Sturgis, they celebrate motorcycles in general, whether it's street bikes, whether it's dirt bikes. And so we had some really good racers out there. Michael Hicks dominated, but I think the coolest part was the podium celebration afterwards. We got to go on the main stage, the same stage. Marilyn Manson was on about 20 minutes later and that was our podium celebration. So normally at Arena Cross, have, you know, 50 to a hundred people that stick around in the stands. Maybe you've got some track personnel there right in front of the podium. This one, I've never seen racers that are super in my eyes literally looking at me with terror in their eyes. There's thousands of people out there. They're like, what do I say? I'm like, I don't know. You just went out and dominated the race. Just talk about it. And so it was a, was kind of a unique experience for sure. And it's something that I definitely hope continues in the future. That's so cool. So when you're announcing GNCC, you're covering multiple classes across several hours of racing. How do you decide which storylines that you're elevating so fans can feel more connected and not just reporting on necessarily the overall leader the whole time? I think the cool thing about the GNCC style of racing, like I talked about with your amateurs following the circuit, is this will be the start of my fourth year with GNCC and you start to get connected to these families and these kids and you learn a little more about the struggles, you start to follow a lot of them on social media and I'm sure as you know that's the beauty of motorsports and racing in general. Everybody's got a story. Everybody's got a storyline. Somebody's coming back from injury. Somebody's doing something they've never done before. So and so has switched teams and so I think it's honestly take your pick. It's like fishing in a barrel. There's so many different things to choose from. So round one, normally we talk a lot about, you know, who's on different machines and, even for the little kids, you know, we do the micro classes that are, you know, as young as four years old, all the way up to the, I believe it's called the platinum class 70 plus years old and they're still out there racing. And so it's, pretty cool. So we've got a couple of kids that have switched machines. Some kids that were full privateer. it's, it's just them, mom and dad, and you know, maybe a couple of buddies helping out in the pitting and then They start to get some consistent podiums, grab some wins. And the next year they get picked up on an amateur program from one of the actual OEMs. So it is cool to watch these kids grow from the micro to the youth classes. They start to develop little personalities. You know, I take a lot of pride in trying to make them comfortable on the podium because I think in today's world with all the media exposure, you can have a personality on a microphone. I think it's just as beneficial as being extremely fast on a machine. so, and there's a lot of personality out of GNCC, I will say. a ton of fun and they're not scared to let you know. Some of them love the mudd some of them not about it and they'll tell you all about it. And so I think it's just really trying to connect with the families, connect with the kids and listen to the stories that they tell because like I said, they've always got something going on. There's been a lot of kids that have jumped up now to some of those pro ranks and I think it makes it easy for us. There's plenty to choose from. Well, I think starting the kids younger on the podium, know, interviews and stuff, they're only going to get better over time. So I think that's a great achievement for them to start so young and then just be kind of growing as they're growing in the sport. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And I tell a lot of people like this, this past year, I worked a lot with Yamaha at the Blu Cru invitationals, which is something that is really cool that they do. It's, it's a race reserved only for Yamaha and Blu Cru riders themselves. And so it's, it's a little bit more of a family. Yes, there's, there's competition and you want to be the one that wins, but it is cool because it takes a little bit of the pressure off and we're able to do an interview with the top three in every class. And even been able to work with some of the riders about, Hey, you know, my job is to make you look good. You did the hard part. already earned the podium spot. I'm not going to throw you any trick questions. I don't want you to be scared of me because even in some of the pro ranks, I still see, you know, young athletes that are intimidated to get up there and talk openly. And, you know, especially when things don't go the way they want, they think we're going to try to make them look bad. And that's not what I'm out to do. I'll ask the hard questions, especially once you become a professional athlete. But as you're growing up, I think the exposure and the repeated action of being on the podium is great. And even at those invitations, I tell kids all the time, look, I know you're practicing starts, know you're practicing corners and jumps and scrubs. on the way to and from the track, why aren't we practicing interviews? You know, you shouldn't be reading off that list of sponsors, you know, looking down at your paper practice, mom and dad, and I pointed them a lot as well. Hey, you know, get those repetitions out there as well, because that's just as much what our, you know, our manufacturers and our personnel in the industry are looking at as anything else. I joke all the time. uh Everyone else is the number one sponsor, thank on the podium, because never fails. They get nervous, they start stuttering a little bit and they just go. And everyone else thank you and you know and everyone else isn't somebody so these these companies whether they're giving you gas whether they're giving you tear-offs Whatever it is even even just showing support at all. They're waiting for that. Thank you, and they deserve that Thank you, so I encourage people and moms and dads for the younger athletes to get those repetitions practice the interviews Just like you're practicing the craft of racing I think that's great advice for any age, so that's perfect. Can you walk us through a typical day on the mic for GNCC versus ArenaCross, and do you prepare differently since the pacing and the environments are obviously pretty different? Yeah, absolutely. I think each different discipline of racing in different series that I work for has a different feel to it. And so you got to approach them differently here in 2026. Mikey Waynes who I know you talked to not too long ago has stepped away. And so I think our roles have kind of changed a little bit as far as the duration that we're on the mic. But at a day at GNCC, we start bright and early. So at 8 a.m., that's the first race of the day on Saturday. It's the micro. So that is the youngest classes that we have. And those races that the youngest kids are racing 30 minutes in GNCC. So think about that. Your pro national motocross races are doing 30. That's what our kids are doing at GNCC. So we'll have our ATV kids first. They go out. Then our bike kids. That's usually the only bikes that race on Saturday, two 30 minute races. And then pretty much immediately once we get the last rider off, we've got our ATV youth class sitting on the line. That's an hour long race. And so we're shifting gears and we kind of alternate between who's doing the race call, who's doing podiums. um Then we do the hour long youth race. We've got those podiums after that. And then we go to the amateur race, which features our WXC class, our women's pro class. And then in ATVs, the four by four pro class, the big thousand pound machines. sound like freight trains coming through. And so that's a two hour long race. And then our pro ATV race is two hours as well. And that's just Saturday. And then Sunday we knock a couple of wheels off. First thing in the morning is the youth bike race. It's an hour and a half. uh And on the bike side of things, that youth division, especially that's where you're really starting to see these kids get support. from manufacturers, they're taking it just as serious as some of our pros are out there. They're on a training program, they've got the diet dialed in. so we give them a lot of props on that. then after that is the AM race with once again, WXC kind of being the featured class, two hour long race. And then our bike pro race, which is what's featured on racer TV is three hours long. So throughout the morning up until the AM amateur race, that is all there live on site. You guys can actually go online and hear the audio of the call, but it's not shown on racertv.com as far as the cameras. And then after that, things adjust a little bit for the pro race. We get our camera operators out there rather than sitting at the finish line solely relying on timing and scoring. I get to go into the racer TV truck and actually get to use the cameras out there to my advantage. all morning long, I'm pretty much, see you for 20 seconds when you check in and then I'm just. Seeing what happens, I'll get some reports from photographers. Some team members will communicate with us if they hear somebody went down, but the pro race is my favorite part because for the most part, it's my first opportunity to see different points on the trail. and. you know, we like covering race as good as possible. And so we get as many different camera shots as we can. In the last few years, we've introduced a drone as well, which I think is super beneficial. So the pro race, we get a little better ideas to what's going on. Two hours for the ATVs, three hours for the bikes. And then after that, we're doing podium celebrations, pop and bottle champagne showers. And that's a weekend at GNCC Arena Cross a little bit different. The amateurs on a separate day from the pro races. So at Arena Cross, usually if it's a single event, it'll be on either Friday or Saturday night. For the most part this year we've kind of moved things around as far as the way qualifying works. We'll get to the track. Track walk will be a little bit before noon. We'll talk a little bit with some of the riders. um Danny Stu and some of media guys will have interviews already set out depending on what the storylines look like. So we try to get a lot of that taken care of before the guys ever throw their gear on. I never try to miss a qualifying session because hey, there's always some kind of drama going on. Everybody's competing for that top spot. We got rid of free practice this year. So right from the first gate drop, these guys have got to be given it there all. So we've got two qualifying sessions, a little bit of downtime. If something happened, we'll try to talk to some of the riders and then my role a little different for arena because I am the voice of Arena Cross on site. So I am the only broadcaster there in person, but I also am able to work with the racer network and ride TV broadcast as well. doing a little bit of a multiple hat wearing, but know, switching mics back and forth between what we're doing solely for the broadcast versus what we're doing live, which is fun for me. Um, you know, I am a bit of a show minimum musician as well. So I always like getting to hype the crowd up. I've, I've sang the national anthem a few times to get opening ceremonies kicked off, but it's always, it's electrifying. grew up in Asheboro, North Carolina, which is about 20 minutes from Greensboro, which featured a lot of arena crosses throughout the year. So I've probably been to more arena crosses than I have super crosses in my life. So anytime you can get the crowd going and we see little kids out there, they're waving the checkered flags. That's what it's all about for me. It's all about sparking that passion and that's how the obsession gets started. So we get the pro race going. It's so fun opening ceremonies. The racing is like I said, blink and you're missing half a lap. These guys are the best of the best. They're going back and forth and you know a split second you can miss two or three passes. So that's always a ton of fun and then Sundays is our amateur racing and that's always a ton of fun as well. The track crew does a great job of keeping things interesting but toning down the track to where it's still safe and that's when we feature everything from our little micro kids on 50cc's up to our vet classes and things a little different with that. Obviously we don't know the riders quite as well so that's a little more like we do an amateur national or a local amateur race where we're talking more about what's happeni coming up, we've got our this weekend in Guthrie, that's going to be unique pro racing on friday, but our arenacross amateur n going be kind of the be the kids that have come rounds throughout the seas for this. And that's wher the tip of the iceberg a arenacross scene. I' always love to kind of s one coming up. It's a, of racing between motocross that maybe you don't talk about as much outdoors. Maybe you're going to shine a little bit more indoor. So it's racing. You never know what you're going to get no matter what series you're doing. Yeah, kind of wrapping up one season and stepping right into another. So never, never time for a break. you Absolutely, and that's the way I'd like it. You know, I think it's uh I get lonesome, know, I miss racing and so it's it's been nice being been my second year with arenacross which takes care a lot of the winter months and then yeah about about February or so we kick it in into high gear We've got GNCC kicking off this season. I'll be working with the JD off-road crew as well Which I'm really excited about that's gonna be shown on racer TV GP TV And uh I think that's gonna catch a lot of people by surprise as far as how entertaining it really can be so yeah I like to keep the late full and stay busy for sure. So in addition to describing the action, you're also shaping the way that fans are experiencing it. So you can definitely influence how a rider's reputation or personality is perceived. Does that impact the way you say things or how you talk about a certain rider? It does, but at the same time, feel like, especially in the professional ranks, our obligation is to... call things like they are, And so we're not out here to make anybody look extra good or make them look extra bad. But at the same time, we don't want anybody to be hated. Last season at uh FIA North America, ArenaCross especially, we had Vince Friese, who I think is a name that has a lot of reputation in the sport. And, you know, I think that we did a good job of showing, hey, Vince is an aggressive writer, but he's not ashamed of that. He embraces that writing style and it fits the style of ArenaCross. And I'll be the first to I've never heard booze like that. know, Vince is not necessarily loved by a lot of people, especially at the start of the season. But Vince does a great job of saying, hey, I'm here to race. I'm a competitor. I want to win. And that's exactly what he did. He continued to execute good starts and a lot of the Vince Friese reputation wasn't necessary. He went out and executed a solid ride to where by the end of the year when he wrapped up that title, I genuinely think he had a fair amount of new fans. There was a lot of applause and it was it was a title that was earned. So To your point, yes, I know that we've got a lot of ability to kind of persuade and alter perception, but I think a big part of that is what the riders want to do. You we have had a great battle between Ryan Breece and Cole Thompson this season. They got into it. There was a little bit of a chit chat back and forth and we don't shy away from the drama. don't and I don't think we should. I think that is something that makes. racing, entertaining is it's a passionate sport. We've got adrenaline through the roof. We're out there risking life and limb. And yeah, when, guys get together, when, when they feel like somebody does them wrong, they're going to let each other know. And I think that's something that the fans should experience. don't like showing these riders as, as robots. They're just going through the motions and especially off the machine, going back to that personality. That's what the fans crave. That's what I crave growing up as well. You know, my, my favorite writer of all time growing up was Travis Pastrana. That guy's got more personality than he knows what to do with. And then you take a look at Adam Cianciariello now, if you'd show somebody a video of Adam at eight years old chatting it up and say, that guy's a commentator for the sport now, I don't think anybody would be surprised. so I think it's, yeah, giving the riders an opportunity to say how they feel. And some of them say, hey, somebody's got to play the bad guy. So if it's got to be me, it's got to be me. Well, and I love the riders embracing their personality because I feel like for a while the sport was kind of just like stale and like sterile and everybody was like very uptight and professional. And I think a lot of that comes probably at the manufacturer level that they want these representatives to be a certain way. But it got to the point where like people couldn't even be themselves and they couldn't have the personality. I think we've kind of swung back a little bit. and there is more personality inflected into stuff and the manufacturers have realized like it can be a good thing to have them be so individual and showing that personality. Absolutely. think it's, I think it's necessary. And I think the manufacturers are starting to realize that as well. think, um, social media, not going to say it's all good things, but I do think it's provided that realization of while the fans actually appreciate who these people are off the motorcycles as well. And, I completely agree. I think there was a timeframe where the riders were encouraged to don't say how you feel, get up there say it was a good race. Thank your sponsors. That's all you need to do for an interview. And while I do think, you know, giving appreciation and thanks is important. And I don't think. I think there is a line between whining on the podium and you know, trying to make excuses and stuff like that. But I think showing frustration, showing passion, showing how much these riders care. I mean, you think about what a professional athlete has to go through day in and day out. We see them, you know, one to two days out of the week, but it's a seven day, 365 type job. And these guys, you eat the right thing. You train in the gym, you train on the machines. You ought to be able to say how you feel. And so I think it's, it is refreshing to see the manufacturers kind embracing that, encouraging their riders to be open. Do it in the right way. You want to maintain you know, professionality but I think that personality is something that's required for motorsports to continue to elevate. Yeah, as a PR person myself, there's definitely a tactful way to say things, even when things aren't going well. And I can think of a couple of riders in the past year or two that I've said things that as, if I was a manufacturer and especially on their PR team, I would not be happy with that response. Like it went too far. ah But yeah, I think there's a lot that goes into media training too, that these riders should be getting. Maybe they're getting it, maybe they're choosing not to follow it, but yeah, media training, that's its own sort of thing. Like you were talking about earlier, just having the kids practicing their podium speeches. It's something that not everybody is an expert on. So it does take some work and some training. And I think it's one of those things where what this person may feel is right, this person may feel is a little too far. And so I think being able to work with your teams and have that open communication as well. feel like going back to your point to where the industry was, it was kind of like this stonewalling of like the riders maybe wanting to say this, maybe wanting to say, hey, I'm not feeling a hundred percent on the machine. And I think the manufacturers and teams have to understand they're not saying that the machine is bad. They're just saying they haven't got it a hundred percent comfortable yet. So I think the teams starting to I this a little bit more work on it and going back to even a youth and amateur side of things, repetition. You get good at what you do over and over again. And if there's ever a time to make a mistake and say the wrong thing, it's when you're a kid up on the podium and you're learning, you know, when you're just starting to have those relationships with manufacturers to where now, like I said, we've got some super mini riders, 125 riders that they give arguably better interviews are just as good as our top professionals because they've had the time on the podium. They've talked about things they know. Okay, yes, this didn't go like I wanted but I can't I can't quite say exactly how I'd like to say it but I can still talk about it because I think another thing that people have to understand is the education and understanding of our sports fans you know most of motorsports fans are either motorsports racers or athletes themselves or at least they've grown up and are so heavily ingrained in the sport to where you can't fool us all right you go out and have a bad race most of us know you had a bad race and we know you're probably not happy about it so if you go up and say no everything was great. What are you talking about? You're not fooling anybody. So I think it's having that open honesty to where the fans feel like they're getting the genuine representation of the riders and how they're feeling but the manufacturers are understanding, we're still spending a lot of money to make you comfortable out there, a lot of money to keep you racing and so it's it is a balance act for the athletes. You have also likely had a front row seat to some very emotional moments in racing. So was there a moment that you can recall where you had to kind of manage your own emotions while still delivering that call? You know, I feel like for me it's one of those things, especially on the professional side where I have an obligation. I have a job to do just like they have a job to do and for the most part. All of the athletes respect that, know, Stu Baylor who races GNCC. He's definitely a big personality in the sport and he's one of the top riders with the most wins that doesn't have an XC1 Pro title. And uh Stu and I met very early on in my kind of pro announcing career. And I very much like what Stu's about. I don't care what anybody tells Stu. He's going to say what he wants to say, but there's been times where he's been in a really solid position and things have gone wrong, whether it's it's his fault or it's in his control or not things have gone wrong and I walk up to him. You know, that is a nice thing about racer TV is we're able to run down to the pits and get interviews. The race takes so long that oftentimes when we see somebody's pulled out of the race, we can immediately run down there and try to grab a word with them. And so I'm not the kind of person to always be like, can I get an interview with you? I'm going to be like, Hey, can we get an interview now? Or do you need a few minutes? I want to respect you. I understand the adrenaline's high. You know, you you've put a lot into this and things just fell apart. I don't want you to say something that you're later going to regret. I get emotional sometimes I pop off and say things maybe I shouldn't and so I understand hey they might just need a few minutes and I think also that that trust between the rider and what I do knowing hey you're not gonna you're not gonna try to make me look bad you're not gonna make me say something I don't want to say so For the most part, my emotions stay in check with that. I understand that it's a professional job. It's an obligation that we see whether you're a football player, a race car driver, or a motorcycle racer. And so I think that's something that the athletes have to understand. Some of the younger kids maybe struggle a little bit more to reel those emotions in. But for the professional side of things, it is a part of the job. And I believe that, and I also have a job to do as well, and an obligation to the viewers at home. maybe somebody's race ended early or they were just involved in a big wreck, like, are you feeling it on the inside and just trying to keep it together on the outside? Like you're heartbroken for them, but you're trying to maintain that professionalism. Absolutely, how can you not? I think going back to that understanding, I was never a professional motorcycle racer by any means, but I have put a lot of time into motorcycle racing growing up. And I understand, you know, trying and working very hard towards something and being so close to something and I understand heartbreak. understand what it's like to have things go wrong and sometimes it's completely out of your control. absolutely. How can you not get emotional about racing? That's what I tell people all the time. just as a fan, as a viewer, as an athlete yourself, how can you not recognize the emotion after seeing what these these riders or athletes are putting on the line? It truly is life and limb out there. So it's something where, yeah, I definitely feel I feel bad, you I don't want to see anybody get hurt. I don't want to see anybody have bad luck or, or mechanical issues that are out of their control, but it is just part of the job. And so, um, I think a lot of the riders understand that usually by the time they're professional athletes, somebody's probably had things go wrong, whether you've, you've missed out on a title or you've had a mechanical problem, but yeah, absolutely. I feel it a little bit for sure, but Again, I try to be as professional as possible and understand that there is an obligation to it. And I think it's also a great opportunity. Going back to Adam C. Cerelo, I can't remember exactly what the year is, but he was this close to a 250 Supercross title and things just fell apart. And I will never forget Adam accepting the interview because I know he could have turned them away and refused it. He had tears in his eyes. He'd already looked like he'd been crying, but he did the interview and man, he had so much class when he did it. And I truly think that interview stands out for Adam's career just as much as anything else because to handle the good times, to be talking on the microphone when everything went right. That's not that hard to do. But man, when you were so close, you could almost taste it. And you had worked so hard and everything fell apart to still be able to hold yourself accountable, to still be able to represent yourself and your team with class and grace. That's something that separates a lot of people. So I think it's a great opportunity for riders to show the character that they have off the motorcycle as well. What is something that fans would be surprised to learn about what happens in your headset during a live event? Are you talking and hearing voices in your headset and how do you manage that? Yeah, so that has been something that we've kind of adjusted throughout the years and again talking about different people like things different ways depending on the series. Oftentimes depends on the amount of communication that we get. I'm fortunate enough to work with similar producers and directors across a couple of the series that I cover, especially those on racer TV. What OPAG is we like to call them our producer Adam Gordon and I have worked together over the last few years to kind of tailor fit the way that we like to talk back and forth with one another. I'm not a big fan of is super long-winded information in my ear while trying to hold a conversation. you've never done it, I highly encourage you to try to have somebody talking to you while you're also trying to talk without breaking it up at all. And so it is hard to do. We get a lot of information. get just statistical information, things that we're not able to do in the moment as far as math calculations, points. Hey, if this guy passes this guy, this is how it's going to break down. So I think people would be surprised to hear how much communication goes back and forth. time I think a lot of people are surprised to see how little that we're running off of. Yes, we've got a laptop with timing and scoring. Yes, I'm looking at a singular screen. I'm almost identically looking at what the viewer at home is looking at. I'm just talking about it and you're listening to me. So some people are surprised with how much information we get. Some people are surprised that we don't have a whole lot more. You're obviously traveling constantly. So how do you kind of protect your voice and your energy over? I mean, really there is no off season for you. It sounds like so how do you stay healthy and uh feeling good all season long? Well, it's program we're still dialing in. I'll put it like that. I've gotten on the tea grind here recently, so I'm a big fan of some teas, but I think just trying to take care of yourself. You know, I still try to stay active, still try to stay athletic as much as I can, but I think a big part of it is, you know, taking care of yourself. The simple cliche things, washing your hands, trying to make sure that you're trying to avoid as many just super germy situations as possible. I'm driving to a fair amount of them, but now that I'm starting to fly a lot more airports are crazy. as we all know so as far as the the voice side of things goes I'd like to like to thank my sponsors Halls cough drops uh honey you know but it is it's simple little things like that where you know maybe a little pre-preparation can save you on the back end we talked about the difference between the the different series where when I'm on racer TV with GNCC I'm almost talking like this I'm very analytical there's not a ton of fluctuation between my voice but when I'm out there especially on site in arenacross I am yelling I'm hooting and hollering sometimes I surprise myself with the things that I'm saying on the mic out there because that's what it's all about. It's a spectacle as much as it is a race itself. but yeah it's just simple little things trying to know yourself as well like I said I've grown up not only announcing but being a musician as well so singing a lot you kind of learn hey my voice is starting to go away and uh a big part of it is understanding like the duration of the race duration of the weekend and how much do I really need to push yes there's a time you need to yell but there's also you need to be screaming the entire time as well. Well, it's like you're kind of pacing yourself just like a racer has to pace himself in a race. Like you don't want to go too hard at the beginning because you've got to make it to the finish line. yeah, absolutely. mean, you think about the Loretta Lynn's amateur national, that is 10 plus hours of announcing almost an entire week, five to six days of it. And it is, know, I'm Loretta's is one of my favorite events that I do all year long. was lucky enough to race it in 2015 and it is a spectacle in the motocross world, unlike anything else. But so it's hard when the first bikes are on track, it's practice day or even moto's ones were fired up in the tower. And I got to remind myself, Hey, we got 30-something motos and three of them per class. Let's make sure we've got the same level of excitement on Friday and Saturday that we do on Monday and Tuesday. So yeah, it is something that you've got to learn with time and some commentators are able to just absolutely scream their heads off all day long. And I'm trying to figure out how they're doing it because it's impressive to me. But yeah, you definitely got to know yourself, know your body and know what you're capable of doing over a long period of time. After a long race weekend and you get back home, are you just like silent or does that not really faze you? Like you just talk all the time and that's just who you are. I'm a chatter, so I mean, I'm always gonna be chatting with somebody, but Loretta's is a perfect example. Like I said, a long, long week. It's about an eight to 10 hour drive back to North Carolina. I don't listen to a podcast. no radio, I'll do a quick call home, let mom and dad know I'm on the way, I'm safe, everything was great, and then I am silent. And it's not even that like, I don't want to talk to save my voice. I'm sick of hearing myself. I've been talking all day long. And so yeah, it's definitely a little bit of a reset period. Maybe I'm going to relax a little bit, especially in the in the season where I'm going weekend to weekend to weekend. It's it is funny to think you know Thursday through Monday is most people's Monday through Friday for me. Tell people where they can connect with you online and follow your journey. Yeah, absolutely. So all my social media is Zachharren16. It's Z-A-C like Zac Efron. Nobody messes that up. yeah, Zachharren16 on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, everything else. like I said, if you guys have any suggestions on uh some things we can do better, I think that's another thing a lot of people think is we think we know it all. I know I don't know it all. I swear. I promise. so people when they correct me on how to say somebody's name, hey, maybe you should try this. I'm always open to suggestions. Big fan of constructive feedback. I don't like even calling it criticism. Like if you can give it in a positive way and you're not a jerk about it, feedback is good. Absolutely, I think that's that's how you grow and I think you see riders getting feedback every time they get off the track you see Any kind of professional they I don't know most of the top level people are never the kind of people that say I know it all I think some of the most successful people whether it be in in athletics whether it be in business They are constantly looking for the new thing They're constantly evolving and so I definitely think trying to keep the ego out of it as much as possible Is the best way to go about it now to your point? There's a way to do it. anytime you can can chat it up with us and say hey maybe try this we're we're always open-minded and I say we because anybody that I've worked with I feel like is the same way they're always looking for a way to get a little bit better because we love the sport we're fans just as much as we are commentators and so if there's a way to make the sport more appealing for the fans at home eventually you can't announce everything we're gonna be that fan at home so always looking to try to up the game for sure. Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Zac. And thanks to everybody for tuning into Momentum. This has been a production of High Gear Success. If you want to connect or recommend a guest, head to MomentumMotorsportsPodcast.com. Until next time, keep the momentum rolling.