An Interview with Marty Snider of TNT / NBC Sports

You see Marty Snider on pit road, in the booth, and interviewing Dale Earnhardt Jr.. Marty is a driven man, pursuing his goals, living out his dreams, and through it all, remembering where he came from.

This interview compliments a profile I did on Marty back in July 2007, and some of my questions were designed to verify my information and to find out more about the man that the profile couldn’t tell us.

Marty grew up in High Point, North Carolina and hung around auto racing since the age of 10, over at Caraway Speedway (Caraway Speedway opened as a dirt oval in 1966. It was paved in 1972 when the track joined the NASCAR weekly racing series.)

Marty’s sports coverage career started in 1991 while he was at the University of North Carolina where he obtained his Political Science Degree* and worked at covering NASCAR and other sports for the NBC affiliate, WYFF (Where he got an award for his photography), Motor Racing Network(MRN), CNNSi, ESPN, NASCAR.com and is presently working for TNT / NBC Sports. In my original profile, some dates overlapped, but Marty said it is not uncommon for reporters to work for multiple organizations.

*A PoliSci degree was the degree to get when you wanted to get into broadcasting.

While Marty was being mentored in his early days by Dave Despain, he learned about every aspect of his chosen industry to get the job done. From this, Marty developed a very deep appreciation for what his support crew does for him.

As we see Marty in the booth, or on pit road, interviewing crew chiefs, drivers, and whom ever else might have nuggets of information for us, the viewer, Marty is running up and down pit road, he’s got a support crew running around after him, lugging 50 or 60 pounds of support gear. Whew! That’s rain or shine, heat or cold, charging around with a whole bunch of wires, cameras and batteries.

Marty’s original goal was to get to MRN (Motor Racing Network) which he did four years after commencing on his quest. He recounted for me his first race covered for them in Richmond. He was nervous thinking about how the words he will use, paints the picture that we, the radio listener forms in our minds eye. As Marty put it, “Your words tell everything in this live and creative forum”. He cares about what we experience.

What Marty likes about his job at TNT / NBC Sports is the chance to cover other sporting events like the NFL, the CORR racing series and next year, he’s going to be doing some international travel while he covers the Olympics. (Neat.. Hey Marty, need any extra help!?)

As we see him on TNT / NBC Sports, we can also hear him weekdays from 7am to 11am ET, on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, channel 128, where he co-hosts the “The Morning Drive” with David Poole.

During The Morning Drive, the producer puts the show together and Marty sets up David throughout the show. Marty says it’s David’s show but despite his humble perspective, the show exemplifies how 2 personalities can compliment each other from different ends of the media spectrum and make it work.

These different backgrounds lead to fascinating difference of perspectives. I’ve chatted with David Poole and he says “Marty brings different angles to the different subjects they deal with.”, and I think he means his TV broadcast background that he so often “mocks”, while Marty says that David’s perspectives come from hanging around the media rooms too much.

I think it’s great to hear the different perspectives of 2 men highly respected in their individual fields.

Marty is a busy man, but he still finds the time to manage his company called MS&A., (Marty Snider & Associates) a very successful video production company.

It’s one of the few in the Charlotte, NC area and is an offshoot from a onetime request from a friend to help set up a video gig for Kellogg’s. The rest is history.

Today, MS&A’s projects include mostly NASCAR projects but also, behind the scenes of LeBron James’ Sprite commercials, the launching of the FedEx Cup & video support for Bounty’s newest products. They also count Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Robert Yates Racing among their long time clients and also provide video productions for The Coca-Cola Company in their Final Four events, Exxon/Mobil, Ford, Oreo, FedEx, Proctor & Gamble (Old Spice, Tide), IAMS Pet Food, and Miller Brewing Company are some other clientele of theirs.

All in all, no matter what he’s doing, Marty wants to “keep NASCAR in his day” and he feels blessed to have had the opportunities he’s had, and to be doing what he does now.

One of Marty’s priorities is making free time for his family and his church. He makes sure he has a date night with his wife every other week, and does things with his 3 children, including a bandelero racing league with his oldest son.

In closing, I asked his opinion on what it takes to get where he is today in his industry.

His thoughts on the issue were that there are all kinds of new people in the industry every year. Hard work, diligence, and the willingness to do the work are the key components to being a success in this industry.

In closing, one thing Marty always keeps in mind, is that no matter how busy you are, always remember where you came from and remember to give back.

Thanks for your time chatting with me Marty, and thanks to you, the reader for “listening”.

Interview By Bruce Simmons