Larry McReynolds

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Larry McReynolds on NASCAR Performance, describing how air flows over the rear decklid courtesy of flickr contributor
Larry McReynolds on NASCAR Performance, describing how air flows over the rear decklid courtesy of flickr contributor

Lawrence Joseph McReynolds III (born January 10, 1959 in Birmingham, Alabama) was a long-time NASCAR crew chief and currently serves as a racing analyst on Fox Sports and columnist on Foxsports.com. He currently lives in Mooresville, North Carolina. In the past, he has served as an advisor to Petty Enterprises, and as a minority owner in Bang! Racing.

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[edit] NASCAR crew chief

His NASCAR career began in 1975. He worked his way up the ladder and took his first crew chief job in 1985. His first win as a crew chief was in 1988 at Watkins Glen with Ricky Rudd as the driver.

McReynolds was the winning crew chief for the 1992 Daytona 500, with driver Davey Allison, in the 28 Robert Yates Racing Ford Thunderbird. He joined Richard Childress Racing in 1996, and helped NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt win the 1998 Daytona 500.

[edit] Broadcaster

At the end of the 2000 season, Larry made the hard decision to leave the Richard Childress owned #31 Lowe's Chevrolet and ventured into the Fox Sports broadcast booth with Mike Joy and three time Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip.

He will be a roving reporter for the six Nextel Cup races on TNT during the 2007 and the 2008 Sprint Cup season.

[edit] List Of McReynoldisms

  • "This race track is just like 80-grit sandpaper..."--In reference to the track surface at Darlington Raceway and North Carolina Speedway.
  • "When you win the Daytona 500 you feel like your career is complete, finally in 1992 I got to experience that feeling with Davey Allison and I was privileged to have a second opportunity with Dale Earnhardt in 1998. I wear this ring on finger and other than my wedding ring it was an experience I'll never forget"--Larry McReynolds winning on the Daytona 500.
  • "The hits just keep on comin'"--when a driver makes a mistake, or they are hit multiple times in an accident.
  • "Darrell, like I tell you every week, reach up and pull those belts tight one more time!"--said at the start of the race.
  • "Git 'er done"--When a pit crew gets their driver out first, a phrase coined by Larry The Cable Guy.
  • "The Caution is Out" or "The Caution will Fly!"
  • "Let's get this party started!"
  • "Business is pickin' up, boys!, business is pickin' up!"--when drivers come down pit lane. McReynolds uses this before the cars reach pit lane as a warning to Pam Miller (pit producer), Barry Landis (producer), and Artie Kempner (director) to prepare for pit stops. Fox announcers and producers are known for their communication with each other.
  • "He's starting to stretch it out right now"--when a driver is pulling away.
  • "...On the high side!"
  • "Side by side!"
  • "It's a ball and strike call" or "It's going to be borderline!" -- McReynolds analysing the potential of a driver being black-flagged for a violation happens because of an in-race violation (offside violation on restart, hitting the commit cone, below the out-of-bounds line at some tracks, rough driving. This is often used when he notices a very questionable call.
  • "It's going to be a drag race!"
  • "Now I want you to keep your eye out on Kyle or Kurt Busch" --referring to the reckless Busch brothers.
  • "They're bangin' off each other!"
  • "You think these boys are tired? Dale Jr. just ran his fastest lap of the race right now!" - When McReynolds sees NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. turn his fastest lap of the race (when the scoring monitor detects that lap is the fastest that driver has turned during the race) late in the race.
  • "The vibrations of the engines gets me hard."
  • "Now these are the big losers..." - analysing pit stops, usually observing the scoring monitor and noticing which cars had lost positions in pit stops. Often with scoring monitors, pit times (from pit in timing line to pit out timing line) and positions gained/lost are displayed, and television often will display the results during caution pit stops.
  • "I spoke to (so and so's crew chief this morning) and (insert saying like: he says they was working real hard on the setup of the car and that they was struggling to go a little further than most teams)."
  • "I'd like to document..." - Setup phrase before explaining something that may have happened earlier in the race, information given to him by the a team or production staff member, etc.
  • "Juan Montoya will get the pardon to get back on the lead lap"-- in reference to the Beneficiary Rule. The "pardon" is referred as the "Pardon from the Oval Office," a reference to Juan Pablo Montoya at NASCAR trackside headquarters in the trailer known as the Oval Office by the Fox staff.
  • "We're awfully impressed with Tony Stewart" - Used frequentlly when mentioning Tony Stewart having an improbable run (usually in the top ten) or making his way up through the field quickly.
  • "Kasey Kahne in that nine car / the nine" - Used when talking about Kasey Kahne. McReynolds never just says Kasey Kahne without adding "...in that nine car" or "...in the nine." Example: "Look at Kasey Kahne in that nine car, trying to make the pass on the outside of David Regan in the six."

[edit] External links

He's gonna make a run on him out of turn four!