Jack Arute

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Jack Arute, Jr. is an auto racing pit reporter and college football sideline reporter for ESPN on ABC, radio host for Sirius Satellite Radio's NFL Radio as well as being president of the Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut.

Arute began his work with ABC & ESPN in 1984, after serving as a radio commentator for the Motor Racing Network from 1972-1980. He then served as Vice President of Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1980. In recent years, he has served as president of Stafford Motor Speedway, a regional NASCAR track in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, a track which the family has owned since 1970. His brothers Mark and Rob are CEO and Vice President, respectively, at the track.

Arute was one of the track announcers during the 1970s, establishing the circuit as a top race track in the Northeast, establishing a strong link of announcers which also included Mike Joy.

Arute is credited as one of three men who established the SK Modified Class at Stafford, eventually helping develop an entry-class Modified racing class which has been successful in the Northeast, and spread to other race tracks. This move helped NASCAR develop drivers for its Whelen Modified Tour, which began in 1985. In 1975, Arute, his father Jack Arute, Sr. (who died in April 2006), and Ed Flemke, Sr. (a Modified driver) met at the Arute home to discuss the idea for a Modified race car, with a tire rule to control costs of the sport, which had grown increasingly expensive, for the weekly shows at the track. When car counts grew lower, the Arutes began implementing their division, and eventually car counts and spectators returned.