The official voice of the International 500 Snowmobile Race is Matt Prieur.
The Westerville, OH resident, originally from Flint, MI, works for Performance Racing Network (PRN) as a pit road reporter for NASCAR sanctioned events nationwide.
After making his NASCAR debut on May 21, 2022 at Texas Motor Speedway for a NASCAR Xfinity Series event during NASCAR All-Star Race weekend, the 48-year-old will make his long awaited NASCAR Cup Series debut on Easter Sunday, April 9 at Bristol Motor Speedway's Food City Dirt Race in TN.
“I have wanted to be an announcer since I was a little kid,” Prieur said. “I would listen to Detroit radio and NASCAR events. I would listen to TV broadcasters very early on in life. I knew back then that I wanted to be the link between drivers and fans.”
Broadcasting was certainly in Prieur's future. He jumped at the opportunity to call his very first race at the Speedway & Event Center (Dixie Motor Speedway) in Birch Run on Sept. 3, 1989. He was only 15-years-old.
“I was working on the safety crew at the race track,” Prieur said. “The owners knew I wanted to get into broadcasting. The regular announcer had called in. I got called on to duty. I guess I did well because they told the guy to never come back.”
Prieur worked for Birch Run Speedway & Event Center up through the season of 1995, when the Iceman SuperCar Series visited Auto City Speedway in Clio, MI.
“I was calling the short-track stuff,” he said. “They asked me to fill in for the Iceman Series, which is based in Toledo, OH. I guess I did well because they hired me on the spot.”
At the time, Prieur was pursuing a degree in communications. He attended both Mott Community College and University of Michigan – Flint.
“I decided that I had had enough college and was ready to start working full-time,” Prieur said.
He knew exactly what he wanted out of life and went for it, placing work ahead of books. He believed he had what it took to make it to the top.
“Other than a driver’s family, there had better be no one on that property who knows more about that racer than I do,” Prieur said. “I have lived by that statement my entire career.”
I-500 Chairperson Ric Federau knew he was sitting in front of greatness the first time he met Prieur in Gaylord, MI.
“We met at a Big Boy for what I thought was going to be an hour,” Federau said. “We were there for three hours. I was like a sponge. I am familiar with hesitation and modulation. I just listened to his voice. As we were talking, I thought, ‘This is the right voice.”
Federau called the I-500 Snowmobile Race director and said, “This guy is the real deal and I want to hire him.”
Prior to Prieur, the voice of the I-500 was the late and well-respected Joe Moniz, 50, of Barbeau, MI.
Moniz passed away on the morning of Monday, Feb. 8, 2010 at Northern Michigan Regional Hospital in Petoskey following a massive heart attack.
“Joe did a heck of a job,” said Federau. “I knew It had to be someone good to take his place.”
I-500 volunteer Chad Colby stepped up to fill-in as temporary announcer, while Federau put his “feelers out” for someone more permanent.
“Chad was a great asset to us,” Federau said. “Without Chad at the time, we would have been hurting. Chad filled the bill. Then, Matt came along.”
Prieur’s first I-500 race was in Feb. of 2016.
“I was a little nervous,” said Prieur. “I had only announced car racing up to that point. I learned that racing is racing no matter what. The terms are just different. It is tires on cars and skis on snowmobiles; drivers or riders; steering wheels or handlebars; shocks or carbides.”
I-500 volunteers, Canadians, Yoopers, and traveling fans gave Prieur a warm welcome.
“They rolled out the red carpet and treated me like a rockstar,” he said. “In all the years I have done the I-500, I have never wanted for anything. They treat me so well. I enjoy coming back every year because of their kindness.”
Prieur quickly fell in love with I-500 Snowmobile Race Week, its fans, and racers.
“I have no favorites though,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Bunke or a brand new team racing. Gabe Bunke has won the I-500 eight times, tied for the most ever with Corey Davidson. In 2005, Gabe Bunke, Corey Davidson and Josh Davis were on one team. They won the I-500. Bunke is a name I think of when I think of the I-500. But Troy DeWald is one of the toughest racers I have ever seen in my lifetime. He is an eleven time pole winner… eleven.”
Prieur also loves I-500 racing history.
“The I-500 is one of those facilities in the racing world where you walk on property and history smacks you in the face,” he said. “You just know something special has happened here and is going to happen again this year.”
Perhaps Federau said it best when he said, "Prieur has climbed to new levels in the world of broadcasting."
He has opted to take the I-500 Snowmobile Race along with him.
“We are getting a lot of exposure,” Federau added. “It is huge because of Matt. He talks about the I-500 in Texas, Florida… everywhere he goes. Matt has traveled around the country.”
In just a few short months, Prieur will fulfill his long awaited NASCAR dreams.
“It goes back to my NASCAR debut with Xfinity in Texas,” he said about announcing at Bristol Motor Speedway this coming Easter. "I think about it now and feel like throwing up. It is the top of Mount Everest in the world of NASCAR broadcasting. It is as high as you can get. It has taken me nearly 3,000 races to get here.”
Prieur is one of the handful of announcers in the business who has managed to turn his passion into a career.
“It has been close to 34 years now,” he said. “I wouldn’t know what to do walking into some office. I am very aware of how privileged I am. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about that or how much fun it is.”
But racing is not all Prieur has been up to. He won the 2022 Mick Schuler Memorial Excellence in Media Award at the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame Awards Banquet and Induction Ceremony on Nov. 6. He is the two-time, defending United States Premier Hockey League Broadcaster of the Year for the 2021/22 and 2019/20 seasons.
“I called my first hockey game in 2016, but didn’t call again until the 2019/20 season,” he said. “I sincerely wish I would have gotten into it sooner. I love hockey games. I am a 29-year hockey referee. I will be calling hockey games in Mount Clemens for the Metro Jets before the I-500. Then, I am on my way up north.”
Until then, Prieur is busy posting I-500 Snowmobile Race Week updates to its Facebook page and website, where you can find the latest registration information and view the full week's schedule.
