1. Robert August Varsha was born on April 21,1951 and is an American broadcast journalist who specializes in covering motorsports.
21 Facts About Bob Varsha
1. 2.
Bob Varsha is best known for being the lap-by-lap commentator for Formula 1 and CART series races for ESPN, ABC Sports, and Speed Channel among others.
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Bob Varsha was born in Northport, New York, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign language.
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Bob Varsha made the finals of the US Olympic Trials marathon event twice, doing so while attending Emory University School of Law.
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Bob Varsha won the inaugural Peach Bowl Half Marathon in 1980 at a time of 1:08:23.
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Bob Varsha practiced law in Atlanta, but his life took a different direction when TBS asked him to cover the Peachtree Road Race, which he headed as part of the Atlanta Track Club in 1980.
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Bob Varsha did so well that TBS offered him a part-time job.
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In 1999, Bob Varsha moved to Speed, then known as SpeedVision.
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In 2002 and 2003, Bob Varsha was the host of Speed's Champ Car coverage.
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In 2004, Bob Varsha returned to his Formula One hosting duties.
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Bob Varsha commentated on the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction on Speed Channel in Scottsdale, Arizona, Palm Beach, Florida, Orange County, California and Las Vegas, Nevada annually.
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Bob Varsha is leader of the network's FIA World Endurance Championship coverage, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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Bob Varsha was the original studio host for the Formula E series on Fox Sports.
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Bob Varsha was permitted by Fox to host three F1 races during the 2013 season for the NBC Sports Network, which carried F1 in the United States until the end of 2017.
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In 2014, Bob Varsha was again permitted to work with NBCSN's coverage, but NBCSN decided instead to have Bob Varsha be lead broadcaster for the Verizon IndyCar Series races instead of Formula 1, where Diffey remained lead broadcaster for the entire season.
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In 2014, Bob Varsha worked Carb Day, Pocono, and the Toronto IndyCar race weekends.
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Bob Varsha called the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix on NBCSN with Steve Matchett and David Hobbs filling in for regular F1 announcer Leigh Diffey who was ill after he called the Olympics for NBC.
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Bob Varsha covered for Diffey on NBCSN's coverage of the F1 Singapore Grand Prix on September 17,2017, as Diffey was on assignment covering the IndyCar Series finale the same weekend.
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In January 2002 Bob Varsha joined Focus On Racing Radio, syndicated by Westwood One.
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Bob Varsha was play-by-play radio announcer for the 2014 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
21.
In January 2020, Bob Varsha revealed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and would begin chemotherapy treatment.