Larry Mac: Weatherman

Larry McReynolds strolled into the media center on Thursday afternoon. As part of TNT’s coverage of the summer portion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, McReynolds—more commonly known as “Larry Mac” around the garage area—was at the track to check up on testing at Kentucky Speedway.

Larry Mac talks with ESPN Radio after he chatted with Joe D and myself

He chatted with some folks before FOX19’s Joe Danneman and I walked up and asked him to join us for a few seconds. Larry Mac obliged.

‘This is pretty cool,’ I thought. ‘I get to interview Larry Mac. Going to have to put that on the resume.’

We began talking about the excitement that had become the storyline of the day. For the first time ever, NASCAR’s big stars—guys like Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson—were running laps at the speedway located 40 miles from my hometown.

“Well it’s very exciting,” Larry Mac said. “It’s hard to believe that this speedway has been here for ten years. We’ve watched what this track has done with the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series for ten years. The way the fans have reached out to those races for ten seasons and it’s very fitting that we are finally bringing Sprint Cup racing to Kentucky.”

NASCAR fans who turn on the TV love to hear Larry Mac’s expertise. After 18 years atop the pit box—including two Daytona 500 wins—McReynolds ventured to the TV side of the sport in 2001.

“I really enjoy it,” he said. “It’s hard to believe I’ve been doing it for eleven years after sitting on the pit box for 18 years. People ask me all the time, do I miss being a crew chief the answer is absolutely. If I didn’t miss it, I probably would have wasted that part of my life.

“I’ve really enjoyed the opportunities that FOX, TNT and SPEED have given me each and every weekend and now, to some degree, I feel like I’m the crew chief for all 43 teams, I just don’t have to take the heat for my calls on Monday morning. But I do enjoy everything I do for all three networks.”

But wait, Larry Mac doesn’t just do work for all three networks he mentioned. He also is a weather expert. In fact, when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visited Atlanta a few years ago, McReynolds stopped by the Weather Channel’s headquarters and actually helped do some weather broadcasting.

“I love the weather. It’s a huge passion. If I can’t watch it, I get my wife to tape it and I watch it when I get home. That’s pretty passionate I guess,” he said with a smile.

“Weather man has been a NASCAR fan this year,” he said. “We’re almost halfway through 2011 but unlike last year, he has shined and smiled on us.”

If you need help understanding what it’s like to sit atop the pit box, ask Larry Mac. If you want to know what the weather is going to be like, ask Larry Mac.

I did, and it was pretty sweet.