The "Voice of American Flat Track," Scottie Deubler [Photo: Kristen Lassen for AMA Pro Racing]

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In “10 Minutes + 2 Laps with…”, we take the same amount of time required to complete a Mission AFT SuperTwins Main Event (give or take a red flag) and use it to catch up with, and hopefully learn a little about, some of the more prominent figures on the Progressive American Flat Track scene. This week, we checked in with the “Voice of American Flat Track,” Scottie Deuber.

AmericanFlatTrack.com: Anyone who has attended or watched a race probably knows you’re a former national-level racer yourself. But when you speak of those days, you generally do so in a self-deprecating manner. To combat that narrative, I want you to tell me one of your proudest moments as a racer.

Scottie Deubler: I honestly don’t like bragging upon myself, so…

AFT: I know, but I’m making you do so right now.

SD: I’m very humble in that aspect. But probably one of my proudest moments was back when there was the Supertracker class for a little while. We went to the Indy Mile on a Yamaha TDM 850, still in a stock chassis, and I think I ran fourth, if I'm not mistaken. It was either fourth or fifth. That one was really exciting. I also did good in the 883 class. I never won any AFT races, but just to be out there with the best of the best was good for me.

AFT: So how did you transition from racing to announcing to eventually becoming, the “Voice of AFT?”

SD: Well, it’s kind of a sad story for me, honestly. My cousin (Dusty Faulds) was killed in 2000 in Des Moines on a Half-Mile right in front of me. It kind of changed my career path. I was racing for fun, not racing for a living, and I had a daughter. So at that point I made the decision to stop racing. Yeah. “It's time to do something else.”

Locally in Oklahoma, I went to a few races here and there, and the announcer didn't show up at an indoor race, so I announced that one. No big deal. I ended up doing another one here and there, and it was just one thing after another.

Scottie Deubler and fellow announcer "Chatty" Madi Ruh [Photo: Kristen Lassen for AMA Pro Racing]

Then Mike Kidd put a post on the old flat track forum, and Clear Channel Motorsports was looking for announcers. So I filled out a little application-type deal and sent them a homemade video and my résumé, and about six months later I got hired to go to work for Monster Jam.

I did that for five years. And another friend of mine started Live I Sports, which was streaming before streaming was a thing. Ronnie Jones and I got hired to be the announcers, so we were going to all the Nationals and streaming races on the internet.

So I had my name still out there. And then when J.B. Norris passed away at Lima, Ohio, the next race was in Topeka, Kansas, on the Fourth of July. I used to ride for Topeka Harley-Davidson, and my name came up, and I got the job. I went and did that race – I worked as the pit announcer and podium announcer. And then the last race of the season was also in Topeka. I did that race too.

The next year was when Mike Kidd and Gary Kidd took over AMA Pro Racing, and I got hired full time. Since then, it’s just gone and gone and gone.

I’m not sure where the “Voice of American Flat Track” came from, but it sounds good so I use it. It’s been 18 seasons now.

AFT: You’re coming up on a milestone, aren’t you?

SD: Yeah. Sunday at Springfield will be my 300th AFT race. And it’ll be my 299th consecutive because the first was that Fourth of July race.

AFT: I know you come from a multi-generational racing family. Can you break that down?

SD: Sure. My grandfather started racing when he was in his twenties. He actually raced with “Pappy” Hoel, who helped start the Sturgis Rally. My grandfather did some other racing – road racing and stuff like that – but he was really good at flat track.

And then my dad raced, my uncle raced, my two aunts raced a little bit, along with my cousin, who I mentioned earlier. So almost the whole family on my dad’s side of the family raced.

Scottie and family presenting the $4300 check to Chase Saathoff following the Kathy "Gram" Deubler Challenge race in Sturgis [Photo: Kristen Lassen for AMA Pro Racing]

AFT: I bring it up because at Sturgis this year, your family backed the Kathy "Gram" Deubler Challenge race. It was obvious that meant a lot to you.

SD: It really meant a lot to me and my family. I've been going to Sturgis almost every year. I'm 54 years old now, and my dad thinks I've been there 47 of those 54 years. And Gram and Pa were always there. They started going there in 1957, and they've gone every year except for the last couple. So Sturgis means a whole lot whole Deubler family.

Me and my dad and my two aunts were there, and we wanted to honor Gram. We thought what better way than to give back to the AFT Singles riders that need to make some money.

My grandpa was #43J and I was #43G and then when I got my national number I was #43. So we wanted to raise like $1043 or $1430 or something like that. But my dad just started raising money from people in the family – we didn’t ask for help from anybody else – and we got to $4300.

Just to be out there and watch that race was awesome.

AFT: And it turned out to be an fantastic race on top of that.

SD: That was awesome. Chase (Saathoff) made the pass coming out of Turn 4 on the final lap, and Gram would have been sitting right there. Her and Pearl Hoel used to always sit right there in Turn 4, and there’s a placard on the fence for where she always sat.

I couldn’t have scripted it any better.

Scottie Deubler and Kolby Carlile [Photo: Kristen Lassen for AMA Pro Racing]

AFT: You’ve worked alongside a number of commentators over the years, but I think the current pairing of you and Kolby Carlile has been especially strong. You two have great chemistry. What’s it been like working with him, especially after announcing his entire pro career?

SD: Working with Kolby has been great. I think we do have that chemistry because we've known each other for so long. When he got hurt like four or five years ago, he stepped into the booth at Lima. He did his homework, he studied, and we practiced. And he still puts in the work. That makes my job easier. I can throw him a softball and let him hit it out of the park.

We have a good flow. The only time we really talk over each other is when something really crazy happens on the track. But normally, it seems whenever I stop talking, he starts, and vice versa.

AFT: Okay, I’ve got two bonus questions. The first one is, can you name an interest or hobby of yours that is completely removed from racing, engines, or wheels? 

SD: Oh man… I like to play pool. I’m not very good at it, but that’s a hobby. When I was still in Oklahoma, I played in a pool league with my dad.

AFT: Last question. What would be your death row-style last meal? 

SD: That's a tough one too. I’d say Raising Can’s Chicken or pizza. And I’d have to have a Dr. Pepper too.