Radio talk show hosts Pedro and Danny have been part of the resurgence of Summit Raceway in Elko, Nevada. When the Covid pandemic began, it forced both the track and the talking tandem to rethink what they do.
When the Pandemic Struck for Pedro and Danny
The namesake show of Pedro Marin and Danny Story, “Talkin’ Sports with Pedro & Danny,” had to change what it covered at the onset of the pandemic.
“In March 2020, sports shut down,” Danny said. “Even March Madness [college basketball] was cancelled. We shifted gears and started talking topics like the best sports movies of all time.”
That’s when Pedro and Danny started to look beyond what they typically do. Their show covered local sports, including Little League. They reached out to Cindy Clair, of Summit Raceway, to see what they had going on. The duo never attended a race there before. Cindy invited them.
“I was doing the announcing myself, and I sucked at it,” said Cindy. “Then Pedro and Danny showed up. I handed the mic to Danny and asked him to go with it.”
The experience changed Danny’s perspective.
“I never announced a race before — I’m a stick-and-ball sports guy,” Danny said. “I had fun — no, I had a blast. Racing was so cool.”
Pedro had done voiceover work for Summit Raceway’s radio ads, but never ventured to the track.
“I knew of NASCAR, but not IMCA,” said Pedro. “When I went to the track, I found out that it was a hidden gem. There were so many moving parts to dirt racing that it was fascinating. Being there made me into a race fan.”
Thinking Outside the Norm
Cindy’s father, Jim Durant, serves as president of the Elko County Auto Racing (ECAR) organization that runs Summit Raceway.
“When Covid hit, we thought we were doomed,” Jim said. “It turned out that during the pandemic, people wanted something to do that was outdoors. We got the word out that we were racing. More and more people showed up at every race.”
Seeing potential, Cindy made an all-out assault on promoting Summit Raceway. That included appearances at local events, plastered fliers around town, hanging banners at local casinos, and collaborating with Pedro and Danny.
The duo did more than announce. They also helped with streaming races. Pedro and Danny first used phones, and then bought cameras. Beyond the hardware, they brought with them a radio mentality in producing a show.
“We took the announcing from a funeral atmosphere to a nightclub atmosphere, from sober announcing to high energy excitement,” said Danny. “Our goal was to show people were having fun at the racetrack.”
They say enthusiasm is contagious. Cindy found that as they streamed races, their attendance numbers climbed, too.
In an area dominated by the gold mining industry, many locals work one-month-on, one-month-off or 14-days-on, 14-days-off schedules. Streaming races helped the organization reach those people, too. Ultimately, with the races aired live and Pedro and Danny behind the production, Summit Raceway grew its reach.
“People loved the broadcasts and wanted to come to the track to see what is going on first-hand,” Cindy said. “There are more people on the hill, in the grandstands, and more kids are running around.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
