RPW Column: Mike Warren Discusses New Super DIRTcar Series Announcing Job & Previews ’23

Column By: MARTY CZEKALA / RPW – ROCHESTER, NY – With the rainout of the Rumble In The Hills at Atomic Speedway, the Super DIRTcar Series points season opener is scheduled for April 15 at Can-Am Speedway.

Mike Warren, the new announcer for the Super DIRTcar Series, recently sat down with Race Pro Weekly, his former home, to discuss his new gig and preview the 2023 season.

Warren replaces Shane Andrews, who was “The Voice” of the “Beasts of the Northeast” for 16 years.

In addition, Warren is also the PR Coordinator for the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series since 2021.

This interview was done alongside Kelvin Lapierre with RSN Trackside and has been edited for clarity.

RPW: How excited are you to announce the biggest dirt-modified Series in the Northeast?

Warren: It’s awesome. There’s no way around it. I remember growing up in the late 90s watching this tour come around. Seeing all these guys like Brett (Hearn), Danny (Johnson), Alan (Johnson), Barefoot Bob (McCreadie), all of them guys. To be the one that gets to entertain everybody with the Series and bring it to everyone’s homes, it’s an awesome feeling. Very rarely does anybody get the chance to say, ‘something you were part of in your childhood you get to bring back to other people.’ I can say I did that.

RPW: Which announcers did you grow up listening to?

Warren: Dan Martin, definitely. He and I were together for 10 years at Albany-Saratoga and Lebanon Valley. John Stanley also with the Lebanon Valley tie. Doug Logan and Gary Montgomery because those were the ones I was watching on “Rush Hour” when the Series was going through there. And obviously, Shane. There’s no question about it, all of us have learned something from Shane at some point.

RPW: What advice did Shane give you in this new role?

Warren: Make it your own. Don’t try to be me, essentially. It’s your show. Run with it the best you can. Everyone knows these shoes are impossible to fill. There is nobody like Shane Andrews. My job is to just go out there and enjoy it.

RPW: You’ve gotten your feet wet already with two World Finals races and the DIRTcar Nationals. What’s the reaction been like?

Warren: It’s been good. I don’t want to say something was like spring training before jumping into the regular season like ours is. It took a little bit to get my feet wet. One thing I don’t think a lot of people realize since 2020, I think I’ve announced 10 races. Obviously, we were shut down in the Northeast for a while, and then I moved to the PR role on the Late Model side. World Finals came out of nowhere. I found out two days before I announced I was doing it. You had to knock off a lot of the ring rust. It’s a lot harder on a half-mile track than you think.

RSN: What track or race are you looking forward to the most outside of Super DIRT Week?

Warren: It’s a four-way tie. Atomic, I’ve been there with the Late Models. This place is awesome. I’d be lying if I didn’t say the three-race stretch between Memorial Day at Lebanon Valley, Albany-Saratoga in June, and then Airborne the night after that. Those are the three tracks I grew up announcing at, or at one time was one of the weekly announcers at.

RSN: What’s the hometown response been like for you?

Warren: A lot of it has been like, ‘we’re really happy for you,’ ‘you’ve earned this,’ it’s just an opportunity I’m running with. It’s just me having fun out there. It’s been cool to see the response from everybody at Albany-Saratoga because I grew up entertaining this. Now, I get to do this on a national level.

RSN: For the fans that don’t know you, if you could describe your broadcasting style, what is your blend?

Warren: I try to be as concise and clear as I can. It’s a happy medium of when and when not to bring excitement. Remember, these are long races a lot of times. You don’t want to lose everything on lap 25 when there’s a pass for the lead, and then a pass for the lead on lap 70 of a 75-lap race would be a totally different style. It’s just one I’ve developed myself. It’s just me.

RPW: How did you come up with your start call ‘a shower of big block power is about to send a shockwave through *insert location*?

Warren: I’ve been using that since 2016-2017, but for the Sportsman at Albany-Saratoga. So, it was “a shower of 602 crate power” which kind of worked. It was me giving something different from Dan for the Modifieds there, and I just kept it because it was my thing. The four-wide call that’s one of the hardest things I think I’ve ever had to do. You don’t want to do the same thing as Shane for obvious reasons. And try to make it entertaining but short and to the point.

RPW: Matt Sheppard looks to be the clear-cut favorite for title 10. How do drivers stop him?

Warren: The biggest thing is you just got to find that extra thing that will help you. The guy has a mechanical engineering degree from RIT, so he’s going to be tough to beat. This is what he does. But I think you’re going to see the gap close a bit. You already saw Adam Pierson. Without an engine failure, he would already have a win. Jack Lehner came oh so close in Florida from getting his first win. You can see the rise of those guys coming up. Don’t count out Mat Williamson. These guys have been digging and can close the gap. Matt had a career year last year, and there’s no doubt he could do it again this year. That’s not a question. But I think you’re going to see that gap close in, and it’s going to be exciting.

RPW: Do you think as well, with the runs that Williamson and McLaughlin had in Florida that the hot start can move forward?

Warren: I think it does because of the confidence. You get a baseline of what’s working. Volusia’s a different animal compared to any other track in the country. I’ll be the first one to tell you that. But it’s going to be fun to see how this comes out. Qualifying will be more important than ever if you get that early jump.

RPW: How about the future of the Series from Jack Lehner to Alex Payne?

Warren: Payne has been very good no matter where he runs and is crazy, he’s a high school senior. There’s another guy I don’t think many of us have been talking about. He’s the reigning rookie of the year on tour that I think is looking to break out after one year in that Salerno car and that’s Anthony Perrego. He only has two wins, both coming back at OktoberFAST in 2020, but with one full year under his belt, it’s going to be interesting to see. We talk about Sheppard and Williamson being good, don’t count out Jimmy Phelps, either. He’s been the mainstay, same with Peter Britten. They’re going to be tough to beat night in and night out.

RPW: The Series is back in Canada. How important is that for those DIRTcar weekly tracks to host Series races again?

Warren: Our Canadian base is just as important as every other track in the Northeast, no question about that. Drummond is going to be fun. I know these fans love their big blocks up there. It’s going to be exciting to go back to Brockville as well. It’s essential to get that exposure back in. Unfortunately, with the way things have been, the only way you could watch them is through DIRTVision unless you’re going to travel to the states. I hope we can put on one heck of a show because it will be a battle, and I’m looking forward to meeting many of those fans.

RPW: We’ll let you promote anything else we should have mentioned.

Warren: We’re at Can-Am April 15 for the Thunder on the 1000 Islands and Bridgeport April 23. We’ve got a lot of racing coming up in the next month. Gonna be very exciting. It’s gonna be a fun year! I’m looking forward to it.