Shannon Spake

NASCAR Reporter

NASCAR pit reporter Shannon Spake joined ESPN in 2007. In her first year, she served as a reporter for ESPN studio shows NASCAR Now and NASCAR Countdown and was a part-time pit reporter. She became a fulltime pit reporter for the 2008 season.

Spake briefly worked for South Florida’s Neil Rogers Show on WQAM in 1999 before moving to New York City and working for Nickelodeon as assistant coordinator of on-air promotions in 2000. She spent two years at CBS – including one at The Early Show as an associate producer, and while at CBS news covered events such as the 2000 presidential election and the September 11th tragedy. She also worked as a production assistant on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO in 2003 and did freelance production work for a variety of specialty television projects, including the MTV Video Music Awards, VH-1 Fashion Awards, HBO boxing and The NFL Today on CBS.

Spake began covering NASCAR in 2003, when she became a reporter for the local Fox affiliate news station, WCCB-TV in Charlotte, N.C. In 2004, she joined the Charlotte Bobcats and worked as a reporter for the team’s regional sports network, C-SET.

She returned to covering NASCAR in 2005, when she joined Speed Channel to report for NASCAR Nation. She co-hosted Backseat Drivers and reported from the NASCAR garage during the 2006 Daytona Speed Weeks. Spake also shared the excitement of NASCAR Champion’s Week with viewers when she co-hosted a 2005 special from New York City.

Her first assignment for ESPN was as a pit reporter for the All-American Soap Box Derby Championships. In 2007, she added to her ESPN work as a sideline reporter during college football bowl games on ESPN Radio.

Spake received her bachelor’s degree in communications from Florida Atlantic University. She’s an avid marathon runner.

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