Steve Byrnes
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Steve Byrnes (born April 14, 1959) is a television announcer and producer associated with NASCAR broadcasting.
Byrnes is a native of New Carrollton, Maryland, and graduated from the University of Maryland in 1981. Byrnes was a senior when he served as an intern for WJLA in nearby Washington. His internship led to his hiring as a weekend sports producer where he covered the Washington Redskins, Washington Bullets, Maryland, Georgetown, the Baltimore Orioles, and other sports around the area after graduation. His first opportunity to be an on-air personality was in November 1982, when he was hired at Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina-based WCIV, where he was a sports reporter and weekend anchor for the NBC affiliate until January 1985.
In January 1985, Byrnes was hired at Sunbelt Video, where he hosted a NASCAR newsmagazine with Ned Jarrett. (In 2001, Sunbelt Video was purchased by NASCAR, and is now NASCAR Images.)
He has been hosting and producing various NASCAR-related segments since 1985. He’s produced segments and did some pit road announcing for World Sports Enterprises (which did shows for WTBS, and later TNN (in 1994, after they purchased half-interest) and CBS (which purchased the organisation in 1997). (World Sports Enterprises also produced syndicated and other shows for various channels before MTV shut down the CBS operation as part of shutting CBS operations in Charlotte in 2000 as part of the elimination of the network’s motorsports operations.) He was also a backup pit commentator for the TNN broadcasts of Monster Jam. He is currently a pit announcer for NASCAR races on FOX and is also the host for Trackside and "This Week In NASCAR" on the Speed Channel. Byrnes also contributes a regular column on Foxsports.com.
Byrnes was given an extra assignment as one of the network’s available play-by-play broadcasters for FOX's NFL broadcasts in 2006, teaming with Bill Maas for selected games when Fox has seven or eight games in a given week. (Networks usually assign five to six teams but will need a seventh and eighth crew for selected weeks. When a network has just four games in a week, they will usually let the lead crew take a bye.)
He currently resides in Mooresville, North Carolina with a wife and a child.