By Dan Daley
SVG Audio Editor

Motor Racing Network (MRN) Radio relocated and built all new audio studios and edit suites, which were up and running just in time for the February kickoff to the NASCAR season at the Daytona 500. MRN moved from Daytona, FL to Concord, NC, a suburb of NASCAR’s hub in Charlotte. In fact, the facility is built in what was once Darryl Waltrip’s race shop. Nice touch.

The facility consists of two control rooms and four editing suites, all completely re-equipped. “We didn’t keep anything from the previous facility,” states Doug Watson, MRN’s chief engineer and the designer of the rooms. The company also built three video editing rooms for Nextel Vision, a division of MRN that provides trackside on-screen entertainment.

Each room has an Axia Audio Element networked system with an integrated Telos console and Scott Studios automation. Monitoring is through Tannoy Reveal 5A and 6A speakers. “Each room has identical technology so that once you train someone on one room, they can operate all of the rooms,” Watson explains.

Picking the technology was straightforward: Watson researched heavily at NAB events. The learning curve was another story. “We literally switched out everything going from analog to digital,” he says. “We had a busy off season learning the new systems and getting the trucks ready.”

Anyone who has ever been to a NASCAR event knows that sound is key to the experience. Watson says comprehensive coverage is how you get it. “We have a couple of guys in the booth, three guys with Lectrasonic wireless in the pits and one wireless at all the turns,” he says. “But what you have to add is passion. These guys love racing and they know that when it’s on radio, you have to paint a picture. And they do. When that green flag drops, they become a machine.”