What Matters Most

Starting my 11th Season on SiriusXM

The microphone in my broadcast studio

It’s hard to believe that this 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season is my 11th year of covering NASCAR for satellite radio.  I had been a reporter for years, covering NASCAR on television, radio and as a writer before satellite radio and the NASCAR Channel even existed.

I honed my skills and got tough in the trenches as a morning news anchor, morning show co-host, and news director, working my way up from college radio (no one else wanted to do the early morning shift) to local small-market radio to larger stations until I landed where I am today, host of “Dialed In” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

To tell you the truth I can hardly remember when I wasn’t in radio, near or holding a microphone, a great deal of the time in the field.

Last season, I celebrated my 10th anniversary on the NASCAR Channel without any hoopla because I was so busy covering an ever-moving sport, and traveling to race tracks from February to November.

What matters most to me is that when I am done with all of this – some little girl, your daughter or granddaughter, will benefit from what it took to kick the door down and gain respect on sports talk radio.

For many of my years in terrestrial radio the female was the “swizzle stick” and I wanted to be Anderson Cooper.  It’s hard to put into words the support and respect that I got from the team members and drivers and their wives and owners in the sport since I walked into the garage with a microphone with the intent of turning all the attention on them. They have been most giving and have been the reason that I have been able to make it in my chosen field telling their story. I can’t thank them enough for the trust they put in me to be fair.

I am thankful for the work ethic that my parents taught me because it is true that if you work hard enough for long enough you can achieve your goals. I also believe that learning how to fall and get back up – is the one thing that separates those who achieve their goals and those who don’t. Success is easy, failing or getting knocked down and getting back up is the one key element leading to long-term achievement.  Everyone gets knocked down on life’s journey, a lot, and forks and pits in the road are part of life….so you get back up again and again and again until you get there.

This past Daytona 500 Speedweeks I was honored by the Living Legends of Auto Racing, along with a number of legendary drivers and those who have helped to make the sport what it is today. The Russ Moyer Media Award was presented to me by NASCAR President Mike Helton, and I was humbled to receive it. To be honored in the presence of the living legends whom I have covered for so many years is hard to put into words.

My studio is in my house and above the broadcast unit on my radio board is an engraved silver bar that reads “Be CALM, Be STRONG, Be GRATEFUL.”  I am truly grateful today to be in a medium that fits what I do in broadcasting. Satellite radio is like a canvas to paint on to me as I tell the stories of the truly amazing people in this sport.

Thanks to the listeners on Sirius XM many of whom have been loyal since the beginning. You all have seen this medium grow to where it is today, and into something, especially for those of you on that long and lonely highway in the big rig, it would be hard to live without.

I’ll keep working hard to do you proud.

Claire B Lang