ABC Announce Team Thrilled to Call Network’s 50th Indy 500 Broadcast
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.”
Six Ideas That NASCAR Should Consider
NASCAR’s rules change on a yearly basis, and sometimes rules change in-season. Below are eight ideas that would bring value and entertainment to NASCAR.
1) Last weekend, Josh Wise, driving for underfunded Phil Parsons Racing qualified for the All-Star race via the fan vote. These votes were obtained largely by the community found on Reddit.com. While this author has no qualms with Wise qualifying for the race, the whole process needs better vetting. Major League Baseball provides vote tallies for the top vote-getters for their annual all-star game. NASCAR should do likewise for the all-star race. It would provide transparency in the process and fans of other drivers would be able to see how much support they need to drum up for next year’s race. That also leads into my next proposal.
2) When I was in high school, the student body participated in an event called “Penny Wars” during pride week. The gist of this competition was to see which class could accumulate the most spare change for charity. However, certain days have special designations, such as “Negative Dime Day”. On that day, students dumped dimes into competing classes’ jars and that money was deducted from their total. NASCAR should bring this concept to All-Star weeks. Fans willing to donate a dollar to a NASCAR-designated charity could subtract a vote from a driver they didn’t wish to see in the race. NASCAR charities would win and fans would have fun in the process.
3) My last comment on the All-Star race is that the format needs some tweaking. Some of the best races occurred in the early 2000’s when a knockout format was used. As each segment progressed, drivers at the back of the pack were eliminated. This meant drivers were racing hard for every position on the track. Additionally, the second place finisher in the Sprint Showdown should not receive an automatic berth in the race. From 2000-2002, a second race was run after the initial qualifying race. The winner of the No Bull Sprint also received a berth. With the emphasis on winning, a return to this format would be welcome. Second place should be viewed with derision, not rewarded. There’s less incentive to race hard for the lead when a driver can cruise around the track in second. Finally, the ten-year exemption for past winners and champions needs to go. The NBA all-star game likely won’t feature LeBron James ten years from now and the Pro Bowl won’t feature Tom Brady nor Peyton Manning in the starting lineup. Current success should be celebrated; not success from a decade earlier.
4) While multiple rounds of qualifying are a welcome sight over single car runs, drivers and teams should be rewarded for the additional wear-and-tear on their equipment. NASCAR should award points to those that qualify at the head of the pack. The pole sitter should be awarded seven bonus points, with second place earning four points and each position after second earning one point less through fifth place.
5) It’s high time that NASCAR place strict limits on how many lower-level races Sprint Cup drivers can compete in. Watching Kyle Busch trounce the field during last week’s Camping World Truck Series race does little for fans and competitors alike. Ideally, Sprint Cup Series drivers shouldn’t be allowed to compete in lower-level series at all, but track promoters would likely bemoan the effect on their gate receipts. A cap should be placed that drivers may run no more than 20 percent of the scheduled races in a lower series, rounded down. For 2014, this would permit Cup drivers to race six Nationwide Series races and four races in the Camping World Truck Series. Drivers running for Rookie of the Year should receive a one-year exemption from this rule in an effort to gain additional experience on tracks they may not have raced on previously.
6) When viewing the race results for the Nationwide Series race, astute fans will notice last place was awarded four points. In the Camping World Truck Series race, the last eligible driver to receive points was awarded 13. Its a minor change, but the point structure should be amended so last place always receives one point.
