Track announcer Goemmer, dead

Kevin Goemmer, a longtime track announcer at River Downs, died Tuesday after apparently having a heart attack while driving. He was 48.

Goemmer was the track announcer as well as the director of publicity at River Downs for 15 years ending in 1995. He was the voice of Chicago racing for several years following that. He called races at Arlington, Sportsman's Park, and Hawthorne before returning to the Cincinnati area in 2000 to take a job with Charlson Broadcast Technologies, where he was director of sales and marketing at the time of his death.

On Saturday, Goemmer called his final race card, substituting at Turfway Park for Mike Battaglia, who was covering the Sunshine Millions at Santa Anita for NBC.

Goemmer is survived by his wife, Deborah, and sons Jason and Justin.