Announcer
Flanders was a quintessential American motorsports track announcer. Dozens and dozens of dirt tracks, stadiums, drag strips, street courses and ovals across the country resounded to his knowledgeable baritone delivery. Flanders grew up Pasadena, California in a racing family with some competitive juices of his own. But in 1974 and home from Vietnam when he picked up a microphone to call his first race, something clicked, and his fate was sealed. Subsequently he voiced F1, IndyCar, MTEG Off-Road, AMA, SCCA, IMSA, NASCAR, IRL, CART and SCTA events at places like J.C. Agajanian’s Ascot Park, the Los Angeles Coliseum, Pontiac Silverdome, Seattle Kingdome, Rose Bowl, Lions Dragstrip, Caesars Palace, Bonneville and the Grand Prix of Long Beach. The best part of any Flanders mic work was his good humor, confidence, huge friendly voice and superbly timed signature pauses. Bruce lost a long battle with COPD in 2020. By then he’d been voicing events for some eight years (the facts, the stats, the anecdotes and those … pauses) with a portable oxygen generator at his feet.