New Announcer at I-96 Speedway

Veteran track announcer Matt Prieur looks forward to new challenges at I-96 Speedway


By Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press
One of the most familiar voices in Michigan short-track racing will be coming to the I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa next season.

I-96 promoter Mike Mouch said veteran track announcer Matt Prieur of Ovid will be joining the track’s staff in 2011. Prieur will serve as the track announcer and be responsible for I-96’s media and public relations.

Prieur has spent recent seasons working at Dixie Motor Speedway in Birch Run and Owosso Speedway before stepping down at the conclusion of the 2010 season. Prieur said he is looking forward to his next challenge at I-96, which offers three-eighths and half-mile dirt ovals.

“This will be my 22nd year in racing, but this will be my first year on dirt. All of my previous years have been on pavement,” Prieur said. “I think the entire realm of dirt-track racing presents a new challenge to me. The terminology and the learning of brand new drivers and teams and a totally different fan base than I’m used to is going to be a lot of fun.

“I’m excited about the new chapter in my career. Mike and (wife) Sarah (Mouch) have the premier dirt track in Michigan, and I want to help them keep that going.”

Prieur said that Chris Fobbe of Holt will be joining him at I-96. Fobbe, 20, and a student at Baker Community College in Owosso, worked with Prieur at Dixie and Owosso.

Prieur was a teenager when he got his first announcing gig back in the late 1980s. He has gone on to call the action at approximately 80 different tracks across the Midwest.

“I started as a track safety worker in 1989 (at Dixie) when I was 15 years old,” Prieur said. “The owner didn’t have anyone to announce the races over Labor Day Weekend, and I always wanted to be an announcer, so I stepped up and said I would do it. The first race I called was September 3, 1989, and it was a SOD Sprints Series race. Gary Fedewa won the first race I called.

“They ended up hiring me for the rest of the year. I announced at Dixie and Auto City (Speedway in Flint) in 1990.”

Prieur later worked at Toledo Speedway, covering the Iceman Super Series. He also worked with the ASA Late Model Challenge Series from 2004-2008, which gave him the opportunity to announce at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway in August of 2007. It was the first race run on the track after it was resurfaced. Prieur worked at Dixie and Owosso the past two seasons.

I-96 continues to finalize its 2011 schedule. The World of Outlaws will return May 21.
“It is the only World of Outlaws date in Michigan next year,” Prieur said. “I-96 not only has weekly short-track racing, but they are bringing in a variety of racing action, and they have a few weekends where they will be hosting events like concerts, which makes it a multipurpose facility.”