Marty Smith (reporter)

Not to be confused with American former professional motocross racer Marty Smith.

Martin Smith is an American sports journalist, best known for his work with ESPN. Smith was hired by the network in 2006 for NASCAR coverage. He hosted an interview show titled SportsCenter Presents: Marty Smith’s America.^[1]

Marty Smith
Smith in 2016
Born	(1976-04-15) April 15, 1976 (age 49) Pearisburg, Virginia, U.S.
Education	Radford University
Occupation	Television personality
Notable credit	SportsCenter Presents: Marty Smith’s America

Early life

Marty Smith is a native of Pearisburg, Virginia.^[2] He attended Giles High School, where he was a member of the school's 1993 state champion football team. Smith later attended Radford University.^[3]

After one year at Carson–Newman University, Smith transferred to Radford University and tried out for the Highlanders baseball team as a walk-on but was cut. He stayed at the school and graduated in 1998.^[4]

Career

Smith in 2018

Smith started his career with The Roanoke Times covering high school sports and the New River Valley Speedway, while still attending college. As a senior, he was assigned by The Washington Post to be the beat writer for Virginia Tech football.^{[a 1]} He started covering basketball as a reporter with The News & Advance.^{[a 2]}

Smith was hired by NASCAR as a Senior Writer in 1999.^{[a 3]}

Smith was hired by ESPN in 2006 to serve as their NASCAR reporter. In addition to coverage for SportsCenter, he also appeared on NASCAR Countdown and NASCAR Now.^[3]

In 2017, Smith hosted SportsCenter Presents: Marty Smith’s America, where he interviewed athletes such as Tim Tebow, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Cam Newton.^[6] In addition to appearances on SportsCenter and other ESPN shows, Smith hosts the Marty Smith's America podcast.^[7]

Smith co-hosts the Marty & McGee podcast alongside Ryan McGee. In 2015, the podcast was promoted to a regular weekend time slot on ESPN Radio and in 2018 a TV version of the show began on the SEC Network.

Smith covered Euro 2016 for ESPN including flying out to Iceland.

He was part of the team covering the 2025 Masters Tournament on behalf of ESPN.^[8]

Personal life

Smith met his wife Lainie while attending Radford University.^{[a 4]} His first child was born in 2005.^{[a 5]} He and his wife have three children.^[9]

Notes

1. occurs at 8:42^[5]
2. occurs at 9:10^[5]
3. occurs at 11:08^[5]
4. occurs at 7:23^[5]
5. occurs at 19:40^[5]