From his view in the control tower high atop the frontstretch on race day, David Hoots says watching a Winston Cup race is like looking at an album on a turntable.

“If there’s a scratch on the record, you have a bunch of grooves and the scratch shoots straight out,” Hoots said. “That’d grab your attention. For us, instead of a scratch it’s smoke.”

Hoots is the managing event director for NASCAR’s Winston Cup Series, a title that does little to describe just how critical his keen eye and judgment are to the safe operation of an event.

Hoots is the primary voice of race control. For fans who listen on NASCAR’s scanner frequencies, Hoots is the man who says “Put it out!” when there’s need for a yellow flag or who asks spotters “How’s the racetrack?” as cleanup continues.

Hoots, 48, who grew up in Winston-Salem, N.C., started working races at Bowman-Gray Stadium, a few miles from his home.

“I went to the races just about every Saturday night, and found out that on the longer races they would give you your money back for getting in if you scored a car,” Hoots said. “I had read an article about how you did that in a racing magazine, about how you watched a clock and wrote down the time. I knew I could do that and I knew it would save me the $8 or $9 that I had to pay to get into the races three or four times a year.”

He gradually began working races at more tracks as a scorer, inspector and race official. He was chief steward at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway for a little more than three years, and also did a stint at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C. His first big race in the control tower was at Rockingham, N.C., in the fall of 1988.

“I was scared to death,” Hoots admitted. “You can imagine going from a place like North Wilkesboro, which was the biggest thing I’d ever done working with modifieds running 100 mph, to the premiere stock-car series in the world at Rockingham.”

After 25 years of juggling his real job with a travel schedule that grew along with his NASCAR responsibilities, he joined NASCAR full-time.

One of David Hoots' duties as managing event director for NASCAR's Winston Cup Series is to conduct the pre-race drivers' meeting.

The event director’s job has never been easy. Hoots shows up at the track by Thursday to make sure everything is working properly, and to set up meetings among his staff and track safety personnel. He’ll direct NASCAR Grand National or Truck series events if they’re at the site of the Cup race. On Sundays, he takes roll and conducts the drivers’ meetings, reviewing such items as the pit road speed.

Since NASCAR banned racing back to the yellow this year, the job has become more challenging. Hoots and other NASCAR officials working a race have become the arbiters of where each car was running when a yellow comes out.

“The safety of the competitor is the No. 1 reason we put out a yellow,” said Hoots, who also helps dispatch safety vehicles for on-track incidents. “I’ve tried to train people to do this job with the motto that was taught to me: ‘When in doubt, put it out.’ If you think a guy is in danger because of how he’s sitting or where he’s sliding or what’s on the racetrack, put it out.

“If for any reason you feel like the guy is in harm’s way, that’s the right thing to do.”

Hoots has spotters and radio communications and television monitors and all kinds of technology helping him, but he relies most on experience.

“I’ve been watching races since I was 4 or 5 and just about everything has happened somewhere else,” Hoots said. “I’ve either seen it or read about it or called it. It’s experience. I think that’s part of what I bring to the table. There’s not a whole lot I haven’t seen.

Hoots has been involved in stock-car racing for more than 25 years.

“Technology has, at times, made it easier. But it also can indicate you’ve made a mistake quicker.”

Hoots said the only thing you could do about the mistakes was learn from them.

“Nobody in the garage will get mad at you if you make a mistake and are man enough to admit it,” Hoots said. “The truth on making any mistake, no matter what you do, is not to make it again.

“We’re not trying to knock anybody out of a race. If we do our jobs correctly, none of the fans will notice we’re here. … Let the race flow. We try not to determine the outcome of the race. We don’t want to have any influence on that.”