Off-Road Racing’s Cameron Steele Named as the Live Event Announcer for GEICO EnduroCross

Joins
Laurette Nicoll
as Co-Announcer

IRVINE,
Calif., (June 11, 2010) – A
familiar name to the sport of off-road motorcycle competition will be at
the
helm of the announcing duties for the 2010 GEICO Powersports AMA
EnduroCross
Series, presented by E3 Spark Plugs as longtime MX/SX/FMX television
announcer Cameron
Steele has been tabbed as this year’s master-of-ceremonies for the
six round EnduroCross tour that kicks off July 17^th at Vegas’
Orleans Arena.

Steele,
39,
himself and accomplished off-road motorcycle racer and, as of late, Baja
Trophy
Truck competitor arrives to GEICO EnduroCross with a solid pedigree in
off-road
sports. From a young age Cameron’s father, Mark, had him in-tow during
the 1970s to all the major (and not-so-major) desert racing events. Mark
Steele
then strapped Cameron into his first Baja Bug ride in 1984 and the
second-generation off-roader hasn’t let off the gas since.

Joining
Laurette
Nicoll (now in her fourth year as EnduroCross announcer) on the floor,
Steele is no doubt known more by the action sports generation for his
vocal
cords (supercross, MX Nationals, Summer and Winter X Games and the TV
voice of
GEICO EX last year on Versus) than his documented desert racing skills
as
he’s pretty much been the voice of freestyle motocross since the
sport’s inception – an energy he’ll no doubt apply to the
live events of GEICO EnduroCross.

GEICO
EnduroCross: Cameron,
how did this EX announcer deal come about?

Steele: Honestly, Eric (Perronard, inventor
of EnduroCross) was hanging out at my house and just asked me if I
wanted to do
it and I was like ‘Alright.’ I wanted to be part of it. I was the
TV announcer this past year, which is kind of interesting because
usually you
start as a live announcer and then get a chance at being a TV announcer –
which is how I got my very first TV job. So I did it backwards.

GEICO
EnduroCross: When did
you break into motorcycle announcing on TV?

Steele: TV-wise, then first real thing I did
was in 1998. I was going to be a competitor at ESPN’s first freestyle
motocross event. At the time they didn’t have an announcer and I guess
my
name came up a couple times with the promoter. Before practice started
he came
up and asked me if I wanted to be the announcer. I asked him what that
paid and
he said ‘Better than 10^th place.’ With 47 riders
entered, and it was the first ever event with metal ramps, I was like
‘Alright, I’m in.’ Costa Mesa Fairgrounds, the Freeride
Moto-X World Championships.

GEICO
EnduroCross: So you
pretty much lucked out last year with your debut, the great race between
Taddy
(Blazusiak) and Ricky Dietrich.

Steele: Yeah, that was unreal. But to be
honest with you I wanted to come and compete in EnduroCross at the very
beginning. But a lot of the races clashed with the Baja races,
particularly the
1,000 in November.

GEICO
EnduroCross: How does
your experience in the desert help with you announcing EnduroCross?

Steele: My desert racing experience, both on bikes
and in Trophy Trucks, gives me good insight into the obstacles. I’ve
spent a lot of time in Baja on my dirt bike and in the truck, so I have
some
clarity in areas where others may not and I hope to be able to convey
that to
the fans this year at the live EnduroCross events. In Baja we really
have to be
able to pick our way through things, logs, rocks, washes, riverbeds –
correlate all that information and being ‘The Guy’ that has to whip
up the crowd. It’s a different venture, yeah, but I like that energy
associated with blowing the house up. That can be a bigger rush than
just
knowing your efforts are going to show up on TV.

GEICO
EnduroCross: As the
TV color man on Versus last year for EnduroCross you’re no doubt highly
tuned-in on what’s happening with the sport. What aspects of your TV
experience will be best applied to the live events?

Steele: The unknown quality of EnduroCross is
what really drives the sport. I mean, how many dirt bike sports are
there where,
prior to the event, the winner is really unknown? Supercross and
motocross
you’ve got two-to-three guys that really have a shot at winning a heat.
But with EnduroCross there’s so many obstacles and so many lead changes
every lap  it just builds the excitement even more.

GEICO
EnduroCross: Did the
officials a Source Interlink Media talk you into taking the fans on a
mic’d lap of the tracks?

Steele: Not unless they want a comedy
routine. (laughter)

GEICO
EnduroCross: Ha, ha.
Right on. We look forward to seeing you in just over a month here in
Vegas,
Cameron.

Steele: Thanks. I’m really looking
forward to the Vegas opener for GEICO EnduroCross. It’s going to be an
unreal season.

All
six rounds of the 2010 GEICO EnduroCross series, presented by E3
Sparkplugs
will air on the Lucas Motorsports Hour on the Versus Network. To confirm
the
latest schedule, log onto www.motorsportshour.com.       

EnduroCross
tracks incorporate various
elements of off road racing into a supercross-style setting, including
rocks,
boulders, logs, sand, mud, a water-hole… and even a few special
obstacles
like giant tires thrown in!  Known as the “toughest racing on two
wheels,” this indoor version of extreme off road racing will certainly
keep you on your feet. The GEICO Powersports AMA EnduroCross series will
be captured by the Versus Network, to be aired on the popular
grassroots
racing program; The Lucas Motorsports Hour. With its excitement
and
unpredictability, the EnduroCross championship has always down to the
wire and
this year will be no different as the series starts and finishes at
Vegas’ Orleans Arena! Don’t miss your chance to see GEICO
Powersports AMA Endurocross “Live” - and be sure to log-on to www.Versus.com for
local airing
dates/times for the Lucas Motorsports Hour.

ENDUROCROSS is a registered trademark of
Source Interlink
Magazines, LLC.

For
rules and race information visit www.EnduroCross.com or email endurocross@sourceinterlink.com.