On nights when sprint cars fly around the dirt oval at Deming Speedway, one man’s voice can be heard over the roar as he describes the action and informs the crowd.
Kaleb Hart has been the track announcer and results writer at Deming since 2005, when he was referred by one of the track workers at the Skagit Speedway to Deming’s owner, Paul Lemley. Since then, Hart has enjoyed working at the speedway, where many families are seen on race night.
“Deming Speedway runs the fastest, most efficient show I’ve been to,” says Hart. “It maximizes the value of your entertainment dollar. Prices are reasonable, from tickets through food and drink, making it affordable for a family to come to enjoy a night out.”
The Deming Speedway is located in the majestic Mount Baker area, just 20 minutes east of Bellingham in Deming, Washington, along Mt. Baker Hwy. SR 542
Hart began his career in motorsports media when he was just 12 years old at Wenatchee Valley Raceway (now Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval). The track’s promoter, John Ball, hired him in 1996 and paid him $20 a night to help in the scoring tower.
“My dad, Kelly Hart, announced for him [Ball] then and started teaching me how to work as the announcer by doing time trials once in a while,” Hart says.
In addition to working events at the Deming Speedway, Hart can be heard at the Skagit Speedway as the head announcer, a job he’s held since 2005. He also hosts Hometrack Heroes, a local motorsports show for Evergreen Speedway, on Sunday nights, which airs on Seattle’s CW television channel.
Away from the Northwest racing scene, Hart also provides the play-by-play for FloRacing’s coverage of the nationally renowned dirt track, Tulsa Shootout, and Chili Bowl Nationals, from late December to early January. On his “off weekends,” Hart can still be heard announcing for freelance gigs; he worked 80 events last year.
Like many broadcasters, Hart’s style has been influenced by others, including his father.
“My dad naturally wore off on me because of proximity,” says Hart, “and he was my only true ‘trainer.'”
Beyond that, Hart makes a concerted effort not to watch other racing broadcasts. “I feel it helps me stay authentic to my craft and not pick from what other guys do,” he says. “Naturally, you’ll catch something watching other sports that you’ll incorporate. But in the racing world, I try to keep what I do isolated from how others work.”
Hart’s style can be described as versatile due to the wide array of events and crowds he works for. In doing so, he likes to know his crowds and use what resonates with them and what they respond to. He tries to match his energy with the energy of the crowd.
“It’s the most important thing I’ve found in broadcasting — know your audience,” he says.
Hart’s adaptable skills have led him to broadcast college and high school basketball, high school football, softball, junior hockey, track & field, amateur wrestling, and even goldfish racing.
One day, Hart would love to broadcast a full night of racing for a national touring series — but he’s content where he is.
“For a while, I kept looking at what was next, and it was unfulfilling,” he says. “Then one day, I woke up and realized that 12-year-old me would look at what I do now, broadcasting-wise, and think I had some pretty cool gigs.”
From early April until mid-September, Hart calls the exciting racing action at the Deming Speedway on Friday nights, and then at the Skagit Speedway on Saturdays. Like the experienced drivers whirling around the track throwing dirt in the sky, Hart’s voice has been a fixture on race nights, bringing information and excitement to racing fans in Whatcom County.
