Rick Allen Schwieger[1] (born June 17, 1969) is an American television personality, play-by-play announcer, and voice-over artist.[2][3] He is currently the lead play-by-play commentator for NASCAR's Xfinity Series on NBC Sports,[4] serves on an interim basis for the International Motor Sports Association, and covers track & field for NBC Sports. He previously did play-by-play broadcasting for Fox Sports coverage of NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series.[5]
 |
Rick Allen | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rick Allen Schwieger June 17, 1969 Grand Island, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Sports commentary career | |
| Genre | Play-by-play |
| Sport(s) | NASCAR, College basketball, Track and field |
| Employer | FOX (2003–2014) NBC (2014–present) CW (2024–present) |
Biography
Allen was the second of two siblings. Allen grew up in Grand Island, Nebraska, and was a walk on for the University of Nebraska Track and Field team, where he was a letter winner all four seasons, a three-time All-American in the sport, winning two Big Eight Conference decathlon titles (1991–92).[6][7][8] He received his bachelor's degree of communications from the university. After graduation, he worked as a public address announcer for the University of Nebraska athletic department, and later at local dirt oval racetracks including Eagle Raceway, where Fox Sports found him.[6]
From 2003 to mid-2014, Allen worked for Fox Sports, where his main duty was calling the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and ARCA Racing Series on SPEED and later Fox Sports 1. He occasionally covered Nationwide Series (now Xfinity Series) events.[6][7][9][10]
On December 4, 2013, it was announced that Allen would become the lead announcer for NASCAR on NBC for the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series starting in 2015.[11]
During the Truck Series Eldora race on July 23, 2014, Allen announced that it would be his last race at Fox Sports, as he was now bound only to NBC.[12]
It was announced in 2016 that Allen would be joining the IndyCar Series on NBC broadcast team for select Verizon IndyCar Series events beginning at Phoenix in 2016, filling in for regular IndyCar play-by-play announcer Leigh Diffey because Diffey worked with NBC's Formula One coverage.[13]
In 2024, NBC Sports announced that Allen would be replaced by Diffey as NASCAR Cup Series play-by-play announcer, but would remain on Xfinity Series telecasts, which will relocate to The CW later that season ahead of full-season coverage of that series beginning in 2025.[14][15]
References
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
