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It’s All in the Family for NASCAR’s Pemberton Brothers
Written by:
Megan Englehart
02/07/2008 - 12:52 PM
Charlotte, N.C.
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SPEED™ REPORTER RANDY PEMBERTON TALKS RACE CARS; LETS BROTHERS BUILD THEM
For the Pemberton boys, NASCAR is the family business. SPEED veteran reporter Randy Pemberton is one of four brothers who have made their living and their lives in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Pemberton, an award-winning journalist who returned to the NASCAR garage last season, can be seen on NASCAR Live and Go or Go Home on SPEED. He is the second oldest of four brothers, all of whom have been involved in NASCAR for two or three decades. From oldest to youngest, Robin Pemberton is the Vice President of Competition for NASCAR and a former crew chief; Randy Pemberton is an on-air personality for SPEED and DirecTV; Ryan Pemberton serves as the crew chief for David Reutimann and Roman Pemberton spots for Dale Jarrett.
After working in NASCAR for more than 20 years, Randy temporarily left the garage area a few years ago but resurfaced in 2007 with a new outlook on racing and a renewed desire to enlighten the fans at home.
“My passion for the sport brought me back because I love talking about racing and always have,” Pemberton said. “It’s a challenge because I am shy and withdrawn and don’t like crowds of more than five people. But I don’t mind being on camera and talking to a few hundred-thousand fans. I’m comfortable reporting and I like to convey what I see in the sport to the race fans.”
SPEED is giving Pemberton the opportunity to do just that with its placement of him on NASCAR Live, Go or Go Home and occasional Tradin’ Paint appearances, among other duties.
“Randy has a long and respected history in the NASCAR garage and again proved himself last season on SPEED,” said Steve Craddock, SPEED Senior VP of Network Programming. “He jumped right in and handled everything we threw at him, so we are excited to give him an expanded role in our NASCAR programming. His knowledge and insight will greatly benefit the fans and SPEED.”
The Pemberton boys grew up in Malta, N.Y., a small town outside Saratoga Springs in the northeastern part of the state. Their home track was Albany-Saratoga Speedway, a 4/10-mile asphalt track located about a mile-and-a-half from their house, where Modifieds were the predominant form of racing.
Randy and Robin attended their first Modified event when Randy was only six years old but nothing compared to the day NASCAR came to town at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
“We went to our first NASCAR-sanctioned race when I was 12, back when the tour ran about 50 or so races a season,” Pemberton, who also works for DirecTV HotPass, recalled. “NASCAR came to Saratoga and ran two or three races there. We met Richard and Kyle Petty when they ate dinner at my dad’s restaurant. Meeting ‘The King’ was like meeting Elvis Presley. Robin and I knew NASCAR was huge and we loved it. We’d read all about it in Gater Racing News but could never get to a race until they brought one to us.”
While Pemberton dreamed of working in NASCAR, he says he wasn’t mechanically inclined like his brothers but could shoot hoops and accepted a basketball scholarship to a junior college. After two years, he was all set to transfer to another college but decided to give acting a shot instead.
“I went out to Los Angeles to get into acting and didn’t know what the hell I was doing,” Pemberton admitted. “I was broker than broke … I remember on Christmas Day my girlfriend and I bought two muffins
and took some sodas to the beach and sat there. It was pitiful and I decided something had to change.”
Unable to support himself as an actor, Pemberton gave up the dream of being on the big screen and moved to North Carolina in 1982, in part to be closer to Robin, who was already working in NASCAR. He worked in several restaurants, modeled and did voice-overs, a skill he honed while in Los Angeles.
“I remember putting together my resume, which wasn’t much, not knowing what I was going to do,” Pemberton said. “Sometimes if you put yourself out there, you’ll get lucky and get somewhere. I’ve been very fortunate in that respect.”
His lucky break came when Chet Burks, owner of a TV production company, called Pemberton at 3 a.m. following his shift at a sandwich shop in Greensboro, N.C., and offered him his first television job.
“Chet said, ‘Do you have a sportcoat?’ You’re the new host of This Week in Motorsports,’ Pemberton reminisced. “I’d never seen a teleprompter, let alone read one, and I was terrible. But Chet let me do it for a couple of months until Steve Byrnes, who was working on Inside NASCAR on TNN, saw me and we started talking.”
Pemberton soon went to work as a reporter and writer on Inside NASCAR with Byrnes and Ned Jarrett, a stint that lasted nearly 10 years. The next years saw him serve as a host, reporter and producer for networks including CBS, TNN, TBS, Fox Sports Net, SPEED Channel and DirecTV, in addition to radio work. In that time, he has produced and reported for more than 500 feature packages and won multiple journalistic awards, including the National Motorsports Press Association award and the Russ Catlin Award of Excellence.
Despite these accolades and his family’s involvement in NASCAR, Pemberton left the sport a few years ago to take a step back and pursue other interests
“I got out when the new wave of young drivers started coming in and I didn’t like their attitudes,” Pemberton stated. “Some of them had never won a race but would refuse interviews for no good reason. I needed a break and just decided to do something else.”
However, the Concord, N.C. resident’s deep love for NASCAR and the people in the sport lured him back and he says everyone welcomed him back with open arms - even the drivers.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to get back into NASCAR and I hope I do this until I am too old to hold a mic,” Pemberton said. “I think the sport has a lot more to offer the race fans than it’s been given credit for the past two years. It’s gone through changes and taken its lumps. The race fans have their opinions, many of them negative, but I think they need to sit tight. NASCAR might be in a little lull right now but I’m going to be here to watch it progress. I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet.”
SPEED, now in nearly 78 million homes in North America, is the exclusive home of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Gatorade Duel at Daytona, NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The only network delivering live, at-track programming all season long, SPEED offers the definitive pre- and post-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series programs – NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane, as well as other popular NASCAR programs including Trackside Live, Tradin’ Paint, NASCAR Performance, NASCAR Live!, Inside Nextel Cup, NCTS Setup, Go or Go Home and The Chase is On.
SPEED™ REPORTER RANDY PEMBERTON TALKS RACE CARS; LETS BROTHERS BUILD THEM
For the Pemberton boys, NASCAR is the family business. SPEED veteran reporter Randy Pemberton is one of four brothers who have made their living and their lives in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Pemberton, an award-winning journalist who returned to the NASCAR garage last season, can be seen on NASCAR Live and Go or Go Home on SPEED. He is the second oldest of four brothers, all of whom have been involved in NASCAR for two or three decades. From oldest to youngest, Robin Pemberton is the Vice President of Competition for NASCAR and a former crew chief; Randy Pemberton is an on-air personality for SPEED and DirecTV; Ryan Pemberton serves as the crew chief for David Reutimann and Roman Pemberton spots for Dale Jarrett.
After working in NASCAR for more than 20 years, Randy temporarily left the garage area a few years ago but resurfaced in 2007 with a new outlook on racing and a renewed desire to enlighten the fans at home.
“My passion for the sport brought me back because I love talking about racing and always have,” Pemberton said. “It’s a challenge because I am shy and withdrawn and don’t like crowds of more than five people. But I don’t mind being on camera and talking to a few hundred-thousand fans. I’m comfortable reporting and I like to convey what I see in the sport to the race fans.”
SPEED is giving Pemberton the opportunity to do just that with its placement of him on NASCAR Live, Go or Go Home and occasional Tradin’ Paint appearances, among other duties.
“Randy has a long and respected history in the NASCAR garage and again proved himself last season on SPEED,” said Steve Craddock, SPEED Senior VP of Network Programming. “He jumped right in and handled everything we threw at him, so we are excited to give him an expanded role in our NASCAR programming. His knowledge and insight will greatly benefit the fans and SPEED.”
The Pemberton boys grew up in Malta, N.Y., a small town outside Saratoga Springs in the northeastern part of the state. Their home track was Albany-Saratoga Speedway, a 4/10-mile asphalt track located about a mile-and-a-half from their house, where Modifieds were the predominant form of racing.
Randy and Robin attended their first Modified event when Randy was only six years old but nothing compared to the day NASCAR came to town at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
“We went to our first NASCAR-sanctioned race when I was 12, back when the tour ran about 50 or so races a season,” Pemberton, who also works for DirecTV HotPass, recalled. “NASCAR came to Saratoga and ran two or three races there. We met Richard and Kyle Petty when they ate dinner at my dad’s restaurant. Meeting ‘The King’ was like meeting Elvis Presley. Robin and I knew NASCAR was huge and we loved it. We’d read all about it in Gater Racing News but could never get to a race until they brought one to us.”
While Pemberton dreamed of working in NASCAR, he says he wasn’t mechanically inclined like his brothers but could shoot hoops and accepted a basketball scholarship to a junior college. After two years, he was all set to transfer to another college but decided to give acting a shot instead.
“I went out to Los Angeles to get into acting and didn’t know what the hell I was doing,” Pemberton admitted. “I was broker than broke … I remember on Christmas Day my girlfriend and I bought two muffins
Unable to support himself as an actor, Pemberton gave up the dream of being on the big screen and moved to North Carolina in 1982, in part to be closer to Robin, who was already working in NASCAR. He worked in several restaurants, modeled and did voice-overs, a skill he honed while in Los Angeles.
“I remember putting together my resume, which wasn’t much, not knowing what I was going to do,” Pemberton said. “Sometimes if you put yourself out there, you’ll get lucky and get somewhere. I’ve been very fortunate in that respect.”
His lucky break came when Chet Burks, owner of a TV production company, called Pemberton at 3 a.m. following his shift at a sandwich shop in Greensboro, N.C., and offered him his first television job.
“Chet said, ‘Do you have a sportcoat?’ You’re the new host of This Week in Motorsports,’ Pemberton reminisced. “I’d never seen a teleprompter, let alone read one, and I was terrible. But Chet let me do it for a couple of months until Steve Byrnes, who was working on Inside NASCAR on TNN, saw me and we started talking.”
Pemberton soon went to work as a reporter and writer on Inside NASCAR with Byrnes and Ned Jarrett, a stint that lasted nearly 10 years. The next years saw him serve as a host, reporter and producer for networks including CBS, TNN, TBS, Fox Sports Net, SPEED Channel and DirecTV, in addition to radio work. In that time, he has produced and reported for more than 500 feature packages and won multiple journalistic awards, including the National Motorsports Press Association award and the Russ Catlin Award of Excellence.
Despite these accolades and his family’s involvement in NASCAR, Pemberton left the sport a few years ago to take a step back and pursue other interests
“I got out when the new wave of young drivers started coming in and I didn’t like their attitudes,” Pemberton stated. “Some of them had never won a race but would refuse interviews for no good reason. I needed a break and just decided to do something else.”
However, the Concord, N.C. resident’s deep love for NASCAR and the people in the sport lured him back and he says everyone welcomed him back with open arms - even the drivers.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to get back into NASCAR and I hope I do this until I am too old to hold a mic,” Pemberton said. “I think the sport has a lot more to offer the race fans than it’s been given credit for the past two years. It’s gone through changes and taken its lumps. The race fans have their opinions, many of them negative, but I think they need to sit tight. NASCAR might be in a little lull right now but I’m going to be here to watch it progress. I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet.”
SPEED, now in nearly 78 million homes in North America, is the exclusive home of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Gatorade Duel at Daytona, NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The only network delivering live, at-track programming all season long, SPEED offers the definitive pre- and post-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series programs – NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane, as well as other popular NASCAR programs including Trackside Live, Tradin’ Paint, NASCAR Performance, NASCAR Live!, Inside Nextel Cup, NCTS Setup, Go or Go Home and The Chase is On.
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