Bob Jenkins

Bob Jenkins (born September 4, 1947 in Liberty, Indiana) is a television and radio sports announcer best known for his work at ABC and ESPN calling NASCAR and IndyCar telecasts.

Announcing career

Jenkins was one of the original cornerstone anchors on ESPN when it debuted in 1979, working there as one of the most senior members of the network until 2003. From 1979-1998, Jenkins worked on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. He reported various positions including the backstrech, turn four, and served as chief announcer from 1990-1998. Jenkins was the television announcer of the Brickyard 400 from 1994-2000, and the television announcer of the Indianapolis 500 from 1999-2001.

After being released from ABC/ESPN in 2003, Jenkins joined the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in various roles including public address announcer and designated emcee of various events (such as the Victory Banquet, Last Row Party, and press conferences). He had a short stint as an announcer for Champ Car, but was soon fired by the production company. He joined SPEED and was an anchor for "Speed News" for a little over one year. Jenkins has also been a contributor to WIBC.

In June 2006, Jenkins was released from his contract with SPEED. According to Jayski's Silly Season Site, in early 2006 Jenkins became the communications director for the Premier Racing Association [http://www.jayski.com/pages/media.htm] .

In July 2006, he was the chief announcer of the IMS Radio Network for the United States Grand Prix. In 2007, he was the announcer of Indy Pro Series broadcasts on ESPN2. Starting in 2007, he has returned to the IMS Radio Network for the Indy 500, reporting from the turn two position. He anchored the Allstate 400, his first NASCAR race call since November 2000.

In 2008, Bob returned to the ESPN booth for 2 IRL IndyCar races, the Rexall Edmonton Indy and the still-to-be run Nikon Indy 300 in Surfers Paradise. Regular play-by-play announcer Marty Reid was unable to broadcast because of prior engagements (he was calling the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at O'Reilly Raceway Park the day of the Edmonton Indy race).

Movie credits

Jenkins also has two movie credits, both from his positions. In order to be realistic, the race announcers in "Days of Thunder" were the actual ESPN crew, which meant Jenkins was the announcer, as in real-life, and while at Speed Channel in 2005, he was the Speed anchor in "" (released August 4, 2006).

His voice was used in the EA Sports NASCAR video game series, from NASCAR 98 to NASCAR 2001.

His most recent work can be heard in the trailer for the independent film [http://www.trifocalsmovie.com Trifocals] (March, 2007).

Jenkins is a cancer survivor and lives in the Indianapolis area with his wife Pam.