Doug Rice.

GREENSBORO — West Rowan and Appalachian State graduate Doug Rice was honored at Monday’s National Sports Media Association Awards Banquet held at Grandover Resort & Spa.

The NSMA was once known as NSSA and banquets were held in Salisbury.

Rice retired recently after 36 years of calling races and hosting talk shows for Performance Racing Network. He was the voice of NASCAR for a long time.

Rice got some of his early radio experience on local sports with WSTP/WRDX in Salisbury.

His motorsports broadcasting career began in 1980. He was a pit reporter before moving to the broadcast booth.

He broadcast Jeff Gordon’s first win (1994 Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte), Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s first Cup Series win in Texas and Tony Stewart’s first Indy win at the 2005 Brickyard 400.

He was the only broadcaster to call the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on-site on the same day, a feat knowns as the “Doug Double.”

He was the National Motorsports Press Association Broadcaster of the Year three times.

He was inducted into the Salisbury-Rowan Hall of Fame in 2017 as the Horace Billings Lifetime Achievement winner.