For the 50th consecutive season, ABC will broadcast the Indianapolis 500-mile Race, marking a milestone for the network.
“Our team looks at it like it’s a privilege to produce the Indy 500,” Rich Feinbeg, ESPN vice president of motorsports production said on Tuesday. “It always has been. It always will be. It’s a cherished assignment that everybody embraces. Our goal is quite simple, and that’s to uphold the tradition of excellence in coverage that’s been established by our ABC colleagues over the past 49 years.”
Allen Bestwick, the long-time lap-by-lap NASCAR announcer and first-time Indy 500 voice explained how much of an honor it will be to call a race he has always treasured.
“As a young boy, watching this race every year sparked my fascination with the broadcasting business,” Bestwick said. “So for me all these years later to get a chance to sit in that seat on this occasion, it’s not just bucket list, it’s beyond bucket list. It’s a little overwhelming to think about how fortunate I am and how honored I am to be part of this.”
Bestwick added that he was overwhelmed to be in Indianapolis rather then Charlotte for the NASCAR events this month.
“It’s been a great experience so far,” Bestwick said. “It’s funny because for as long as I’ve been around racing, I’ve spent my whole career in the month of May in Charlotte basically and watched the 500 from afar.
“I spent time in Indianapolis in February just after the Daytona 500. Some of the (IndyCar) race teams were more than gracious in welcoming me in. I went through IndyCars from top to bottom at team shops, had dinners and lunches with drivers and team managers.”
After commentating NASCAR’s biggest events, Bestwick still considers the Indy 500 the biggest race in the United States, and possibly the world.
“Obviously it’s the premiere auto race in the United States, maybe the world, every year,” Bestwick said. “To have the opportunity to call it is a fascinating thing. I’m more excited than anything because it’s been a great experience so far. I can’t wait to see what race day is like in person.”
Scott Goodyear, three-time IndyCar Series race victor, will be alongside Bestwick for the exclusive broadcast contributing analysis from a former driver perspective. Goodyear, like Bestwick, is delighted to be in the booth for IndyCar’s premier event.
“Having a chance to go (to Indianapolis) as a rookie in 1990 as a driver was pretty cool,” Goodyear said. “Having some reasonable success there, and now having an opportunity as I have done for many years to be in the booth with ABC is truly a privilege. When we get together for meetings, there’s a lot of passion and pride to being involved in this race.”
Goodyear, who had two full-time seasons in IndyCar, can’t select a favorite or predicted winner, he also said the weather could alter the outcome.
“Indianapolis is all about the weather literally, the sense of what it can do to your racecar; emotions, what it can do to you as a driver and that’s just qualifying — the race is no different,” Goodyear said. “Somebody asked me the other day, pick a winner. I don’t think I can. I think there’s an honest 10, 12 people that can win this event. If you were betting in Vegas, it would be hard to put your money on somebody.”
The last-but-not-least member to call Sunday’s 500-mile race will be Eddie Cheever, the 1998 Indy 500 champion. Cheever, who grew up in Italy, dreamed about this race during his childhood, and now being in the booth is a surreal moment for him.
“I dreamed about it as a child when I was living in Italy, I heard it on the radio,” Cheever said. “I kept racing. I was lucky to come here and race. I was lucky enough to win it. Now I’m going to be sitting in the booth with two friends calling the 50th anniversary of ABC calling the Indy 500. I don’t know how it could be any better than that.”
Cheever, who experienced three full-time seasons on the IndyCar circuit, expects a nail-biting finish and the best race we’ve witnessed at Indianapolis in a few seasons.
“It’s going to be a very exciting race,” Cheever explained. “There’s too many stories to sit down and go through them one by one, so many different possibilities, that I really think it’s going to go down as one of the most exciting races we’ve ever had at Indy.”
