Jerry Punch

Jerry Punch
Punch at the2010 Indianapolis 500
Born	(1953-08-20)August 20, 1953 Newton, North Carolina,U.S.
Alma mater	North Carolina State University Wake Forest School of Medicine
Occupation	Sportscaster

Gerald Lee"Jerry"Punch(born August 20, 1953) is an Americanauto racingandcollege footballcommentator known for his career atESPN,as well as a physician. Punch also does local radio spots inKnoxville.Punch is also a Principal Investigator for clinical research company, Alliance for Multispecialty Research or AMR, in Knoxville.

Early life

Punch grew up inNewton, North Carolina.He began his broadcasting career when he was selected to join the localradiostation staff ofNewton-Conover High School.The local radio station, WNNC in Newton, provided free air time to the local high school broadcasting organization with rotational assignments to aspiring broadcast journalists. Students at the high school auditioned for the much sought after staff positions. Punch was successful and was selected by fellow students to become a new reporter and, thus, he was permitted to participate in the weekly Saturday morning live broadcasts on WNNC.

Punchwalked-onto theNorth Carolina State Universityfootball team,serving as a backup quarterback under coachLou Holtz.He graduatedmagna cum laudeat NC State in 1975 with a degree inzoology.He received amedical degreefromWake Forest University School of Medicinein 1979.Punch paid his college and medical school tuition through prize money earned racing at short tracks in North Carolina.

Prior to his broadcasting career, Punch worked as anemergency medicinephysician. He initially worked atHalifax Medical CenterinDaytona Beach, Floridain 1982. He later served as the director of emergency medicine at Bunnell Community Hospital (now known asFlorida Hospital Flagler) inPalm Coast, Florida.For a period of time, Punch's medical and broadcasting careers overlapped.

Broadcasting career

Punch began radio broadcasting forMotor Racing Network(MRN) in 1980.In 1984, he began working for ESPN as a pit reporter forNASCARraces.While working at ESPN, Punch also moonlighted atTBSandSETNdoing pit reporting; as he was the first to report on the eventually fatal injuries to driverTerry Schoonoverduring the 1984 Atlanta Journal 500 for the network's race coverage.

Punch has also been a pitlane reporter for theIndianapolis 500from 1989 to 2006 and from 2010 to 2018. He also served as the lead play-by-play voice for ESPN's coverage of theCraftsman Truck Seriesuntil the network lost that contract toSpeed Channelfollowing the 2002 season. In addition, he called play-by-play for collegebasketballand football, and has served as asideline reporterfor college football.

On October 12, 2006, he was named the lead lap-by-lap commentator for ESPN's coverage of theSprint Cup Seriesand theNationwide Seriesstarting in 2007 along withRusty WallaceandAndy Petree.Punch and Petree were joined byDale Jarrettin 2008 and stayed together until the end of the 2009 season; ESPN replaced Punch withMarty Reidfor 2010 and returned him to pit road.

In 2015, after ESPN lost broadcast rights to NASCAR, Punch returned to his previous role as asideline reporterfor college football games on ESPN, pairing up withMike PatrickandEd Cunninghamto call selected games on the network.

Punch also has been ESPN's expert for discussion of medical issues. He was consulted as a doctor in 1996 to report the condition of Nebraska quarterbackTommie Frazier,who would go undrafted in the NFL due to a blood clot in his left leg.

On April 26, 2017, after 30 years with ESPN, Punch was let go along with 99 other network employees.He continued to be the pit road reporter until the 2017 Chevrolet Dual in Detroit, the final IndyCar race on ESPN's contract for 2017. He would later return for the 2018 IndyCar season to cover the IndyCar Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 as ABC airs its final year of IndyCar as NBC Sports has acquired the rights beginning in 2019.

In 2019, Punch returned to college football coverage with ESPN, serving as a part-time sideline reporter for games in 2019 and 2020.

Medical role in incidents

In 1988, in two separate incidents, Punch helped with the rescue efforts after the wrecks ofRusty Wallaceand Don Marmor.In the case of Wallace's front-stretch crash atBristol Motor Speedway,Punch happened to be on pit road at the time, and as a result, was the first person on the scene before the rescue crew could be scrambled. Punch's medical training proved pivotal, as Wallace was initially unconscious following the crash. Punch revived Wallace, who was able to start the following night's race with only minor injuries, driving for about half the race before giving his seat up to a relief driver.Wallace later worked with Punch in ESPN's coverage of NASCAR.In the case of the career-ending Marmor crash atAtlanta Motor Speedway,Punch (a trauma specialist) is credited with helping to save Marmor's life.

In1989at theMotorcraft Quality Parts 500,Punch was reporting from the pit stall ofRichard Pettywhen a fire broke out, injuring two crew members who Punch proceeded to treat on the spot. Following the incident, ESPN mandated that its pit reporters wearfire-proof suits.

Punch is also creditedwith helping to saveErnie Irvanfollowing a practice crash atMichigan International Speedwayin August 1994. Punch also had aided injured pit crew members on pit road in several races in the 1990s.

While Punch was addressing aNashville Superspeedwaymedia luncheon he was interrupted by a loud crash from the back of the room. Punch immediately rushed from the podium to the back of the room where Jenny Gill (daughter of singer-musician,Vince Gill), a Nashville Superspeedway intern, had fainted. Punch helped revive her, and she was taken to a local care center for observation and soon recovered, according to Sean Dozier, the Superspeedway's public relations director. Punch returned to the podium and resumed his speech.