Brent Musburger is down from his ranch and ready to lead the ABC team through another historic telecast of the Indy 500. Each season, TDP live blogs this one IRL race because it is truly a spectacle in auto racing.
Marty Reid will be coming to NASCAR in July to call the Nationwide races for ESPN2, but this Sunday he will handle the play-by-play on one of the biggest races on the planet. Joining him will be Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever.
Goodyear is the polite Canadian former driver who offers explanations and analysis. Cheever is the impulsive and emotional former owner who is often at odds with Goodyear in terms of reasons for actions on the track. The dynamic between the two is fun to watch.
Since ESPN sliced their IRL TV package in less than half this season, pit reporter Vince Welch has been working the NASCAR trail. Today, he returns to the IRL beat. Also on hand is Jamie Little, who has been full time on the NASCAR beat for several years now. The third pit reporter is Brienne Pedigo, an IRL regular. Finally, TV veteran Jack Arute rounds-out the reporting corps.
Hosting the entire telecast is ESPN's senior statesman, Brent Musburger. He has worked hard to fit in at Indy even as his NASCAR efforts flopped. Musburger was quietly removed from the ABC NASCAR races last season.
ESPN's head of field production is Jed Drake. He has taken the Indy 500 telecasts to a new level and eliminated a lot of the fluff and distractions of the past. This year's race should be squarely focused on the teams and drivers, instead of the celebrities and the gimmicks.
TDP invites you to watch the race with us and give us your views of the ABC coverage. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.
Thank you for taking some time out of your holiday weekend to join us.
383 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 383 of 383Penske has a Verizon wireless sponsored third car in the Indy 500.
We all know how that came to be, I see its even #12. Which brings me to the following point, Roger has a knack for runnning more ostensibly unsponsored cars in major American motorsports than anyone else. They all actually have sponsors though, and we fans are just expected to know who they are.
Penske also has Rolex sports cars which are sponsored by Verizon #12.
Total branding concept that Penske and Verizon came up with to circumvent that block put by Sprint in the Cup Series
You guys want some hot NASCAR news since we are in a caution?
Of course we do
go for it, jd! (and please God, no mayfield "news"!)
Truex to MWR. Just saw it.
Rumored tho
Martin Truex Jr. replacing Michael Waltrip over at MWR in 2010.
Gets Mikey out of the seat, gets Truex out of the DEI mess and probably brings Bass Pro Shops as the sponsor.
New info over at Jayski.
Sounds like NAPA could stay though? Which would give BPS the shot to go over to Stewart Haas with maybe Ryan or Keslowski.
I saw that on Jayski as well...very disappointed if it is true. I was hoping he would bring Bass Pro with him and come to SHR as a third car.
Seems to be a lateral move more than a vertical for Truex. Good for MWR though.
sure hope it's a done deal! i can only wish little martin all the best -- he deserves to be on a competitve team and mwr seems to be getting their "stuff" together!
@david and haus14: i, too, would like little martin to be at shr BUT i don't want smoke to expand too fast and dilute the power of the team. i'd much rather that team focus on consistency and building strength than adding a third team after only one year.
Pretty cool to hear Paul Page commenting on the radio
They sure have done a great job of keeping Brent in a support role and he has been nicely controlled in this telecast.
Can you imagine Danica's commercials on a NASCAR broadcast? Half the crowd would love it, half would revolt.
bevo, Paul on the NHRA is like Punch in the booth. Great guys in the wrong places.
i still think that Bass Pro goes to SHR since tony has Bass Pro as an associate sponsor as well as a primary sponsor for his world of outlaw team.
I am sad to see MIchael Waltrip without a ride. I know this is the Indy thread, but since you just posted the update - how sad!
Red:
I view them as a Hendrick team though. I dont think a 3rd car with Keslowski would dilute them much because the team would probably be that #25 group and I imagine sponsorship might fall in place between GoDaddy and if BPS were to come over it makes much more sense to back Stewart given their relationship then it does have Martin come over with that as well. Truex to MWR makes sense also as that is a team on the rise. Ty Norris is former DEI and was excellent over there. NAPA would probably stay if they could land a Truex which would probably make both parties happy. Everyone except EGR at least.
Then again, its silly season. This could all be for not in a couple weeks.
The rest of the nascar tip JD posted is McDowell in NAPA colors and Truex bringing BPS with him. Back to 3 cars + Ambrose for MWR/
If MWR went to 4 cars it would be a mistake IMO.
Is it just me or do the cautions in this race seem much longer than those at Daytona or Talladega? I use those two tracks as examples as they are bigger tracks.
Does anyone think that the play-by-play announcers have it easier in Indy, because there is a lot less racing, a lot fewer passes, a lot fewer major-names to cover, and a slower pace to the race (in terms of developments happening on track).
anon, i am not sure that this would be an advantage, but since they cant actually see the entire track, they have spotters and not as much to keep track of themselves.
Maybe it is the angle or maybe it is because it is open-cockpit, but the in-race view from the Indy-cam seems to make a lot more aesthetic sense than the high-and-to-the-right cameras on the stock cars.
How much money does the winnner get? Last place?
@haus14: just a thought in re: clean-up but . . . these cars tend to fly apart into more pieces and spread further along the track as a result of being smaller pieces. nascar tends to break apart in chunks compared to irl wrecks. so i'm thinking they need to do actually clean-up further along the track than we're used to seeing.
haven't seen much speedi-dry as yet. i suspect the lines that carry those fluids are better protected and that the nose and those open wheels tend to take most of the punishment.
TK, oh man!
@ red, you're right about the debris field. I just noticed that during the TK crash.
I think winner gets close to 3 million today.
As for fluids, when the cars are towed back they place a diaper under them to prevent them for trailing fluids the rest of the way around.
DANGIT!!!! Bummed big time for Tony. TK is such a great guy and just cant get a break!!! Glad he's ok though
Am I the only one on here who thinks DP is getting entirely too much camera attention today?
just checked out Nascar Now on the dvr and noticed Mr. Burr in the big chair. Was this his first show of the year?
@ hotaru, she is the SDDD of the IRL. Only she doesn't win.
I like their pit screen... the triple pit is smaller than the exit shot.
I'm enjoying the broadcast!!!
No boooogitty booogitty!
ICS- the ONLY ABC (when they are the broadcaster of the race) broadcast I watch with the sound on. Also listening to IMS.
And yes, I do hate DP as much as SDDD.
Nathaniel, just wait a couple of hours. Only two to go for Fox.
Isn't Ryan Hunter-Reay engaged to Robby Gordon's sister Becky?
Sorry I'm late to the party and had to read all posts to catch up.
I was watching a little bit of Monaco while I was getting ready for church this morning and as much as i want to like F1, it just looked like a really fast parade lap.
@ Karen, yes. They're getting married later this year.
A JR moment for Danica.
they both drive for Go-Daddy too! how ironic.
Haus,
Nicole = at Indy because fiance driving.
AB = worked LMS infield show.
Massaro = pit reporter for LMS
Ryan Burr = relief pitcher.
@nathaniel; agreed. i really feel that we're getting solid information, historical perspective when appropriate and focusing on the racing instead of the personalities as much as nascar broadcasts do
.
i also like the omission of the bumper graphics and the "bells and whistles" approach that fox uses for cup races.
the only thing i'm noticing is that the booth seems behind the producer in seeing the accidents and i thought that (early on) one of them said something to the effect of "i hear there's a wreck in turn 4." maybe just a curious turn of phrase but it caught my ear.
ahh, process of elimination...good thing he was available. They may have had to call Doug Banks back from ABC 7 in Chicago.
red, they only have the monitors and a view of the frontstretch.
Line of sight is always a hassle at that track.
Haus, I tried to get him to talk about his experience, but no luck.
@ Haus14, or Erik K.
Is this new Goode family show ABC's attempt at taking some of Fox's animation viewers?
jd: copy that. makes sense, thanks.
so, all in all, a solid broadcast for me so far. many thanks to the team! they're proving that a race broadcast even with all the hoopla, can still be professionally done. i'm really enjoying it.
(not so much enjoyment over the broken-bat homer that the yankees just hit against cole hamels. sigh.)
The only thing I know he does right now for ABC is a weekly dining/entertainment show called 190 North. It is seen Sunday evenings at 1030 pm. He is one of the correspondents.
Show the racing!
Be nice to see RP on-cam.
With TK out, Dario won't have to cut that great hair he has now. Never did like his buzz cut.
@jd: sounds as if they're not certain the king is still at the track . . .
Hoping John Andretti has a good showing. Like to see RP, too.
OK, how many of you checked in on RaceDay?
With my view of race control I have lost the Race position, gear and speed numbers. They are froze. The in car camera is still working fine.
so is nudity the only line danica won't cross? Seems they would have said no to some of these scripts, especially the lesbian theme.
have it recording right now, but haven't checked in yet.
First time I've seen that Boost commercial. Funny. Hope her crew got paid, too, for their participation.
God id hate to see how much go daddy spent on advertising for just this race.
Recording RDay, also.
OK had to do a few things got back in just in time to see TK, not good.
RE Truex, I've been wondering if that would happen ever since MWR signed his brother. I love Mikey but he needs to step out, maybe do NW Daytona or Talledaga or even cup if they don't go to 4 cars
nrf, i forgot about that angle to the story.
The Go Daddy commercials with chicks in them should be full screen. You get a much better view of them.
Anyone know if that's her first child?
How cool would it be to give birth in the in field care center?
Danica changed agents back in February. The Go Daddy stuff is AGR driven
That's crazy updating Alex Lloyd's wife. Why would she want to be breathing all those fumes, etc.
This is fun but off to Raceday, but I am DVR for later and will prob bounce back and forth
ya' know, when contractions are 10 minutes apart and there's still 70-some laps to go, i think she might do well to be arranging for a chopper and alerting the hospital.
Checked out RD. Camera lens had drops on it.
John Andretti is moving up. Good for him.
My plan for now is to finish the IndyCar race, but then I, as a Detroiter, have to jump over and watch the Red Wings game afterwards. Then I can get onto watching SPEED's pre-race coverage and the Cup race itself. Assuming they even get the Cup race in tonight, which I'm thinking isn't very likely.
@Charlie- Mine is fine
you could even see the camera vibrating on dp's car
Oh man that sucks for Meira
Didn't the old fuel not have flames?
FOX will just imply that we're just 5 minutes from the engines starting, even if the radar is covered in green.
That is a great TV moment. Hope they show the applause from the crowd.
Yes but it still burnt but invisibly that I think is one of the reason they switched to ethanol
wait! did they just say meira had "minor burns" on his eyes? and he's out there again? please tell me i heard that wrong.
fire + race cars = too scary to contemplate.
Hi all
Been watching the race! (and made a small batch of brownies, long night of racing!)
Lots of action so far and mostly good coverage.
Hated wreck so early.
Now fire in pit. WOW!!!!!!Vito minor burns in his eyes...wow.
I love the side by side. To those of you whining for NASCAR to do the same I have one word ala Mr. Hill "TOUGH". *sigh* NASCAR is so behind the times.
Agree DP is too much camera time, and Go Daddy Commercials....NOT for daytime tv.
Back to the tv but wanted to stop by.
Thank Goodness TK is ok due to safety updates...he's gonna be sore tomorrow, I bet but he was grateful to talking.
They switched to ethanol because of the money they brought to the series. Paul Dana.
@ snlfan3, I remember seeing drivers rolling around while on "fire", but no flames. Good move to Ethanol.
Meira must have ba**s of asbestos. I'd be out of that car so fast.
Sorry I'm late to the dance --- I've been glued to the TV watching actual racing!
That was a scary fire in the pits.
Go PT ! I want to see him blow by Helio.
@red- No. Cheever was speculating
@ dear Sophia, did you make enough brownies to share with the Planeteers?
TexasRaceLady said...
Sorry I'm late to the dance --- I've been glued to the TV watching actual racing!
agreed! great racing could be the death of race-day bloggin on TDP! maybe it's better to have crappy broadcasts so we can comment ; )
Some years back someone actually knocked over the fuel tower in the pits. Glad they changed that set up.
IRL's fueling system seems to be far more dangerous than what NASCAR does.
A bevo: thanks. it simply didn't seem likely gievn the helmet style and all the fire protection these guys wear. but then again, i saw those photos of boris said after his recent crash/fire and his eyes were definitely swollen shut.
I'll get it right this time --LOL
Just checked the NOAA site for Concord, NC weather --
Radar is crappy and forecast is even worse. Even tomorrow doesn't look good.
Why wouldn't the inside tire guy tell the driver when to go?
Anonymous said...
IRL's fueling system seems to be far more dangerous than what NASCAR does.
May 24, 2009 3:36 PMIsn't that the truth!
And that folks is the first time PT has ever lifted his foot...
/Hell commences to drop below 32 degrees :)
"snuck" ???
Oh, the horror! ROTFL
The first ten times, that was funny. Now, not sooooo much.
I'll give them a pass since they're giving us side-by-side
they show dp trying to pass, talk about it.. and then miss the actual pass
Saw some blue sky @ LMS. Maybe we'll get lucky and see the whole race.
How do you mess up one lugnut?
well, now we are going to have some Indy fun. This restart is going to be one for the ages.
Dot said...
How do you mess up one lugnut
verrryyyyy carefully.
Mr Editor -
Ever the true pro, Marty Reid's enthusiasm comes across so well ...enjoyable memory come to life with Eddie Cheever letting Scott Goodyear who the alpha male is in the booth today ...great sound quality and good timing with team audio
Walter
@ red, too funny.
*groan* "from the clutches of the IRS to the top of the IRL"
Oh, please --- wonder how long he had to work to come up with that.
Good analysis on fuel strategies from everybody
Team orders?
They're doing a fine job. They get to the point where they're teetering on too much Danica coverage, but then they reel it back in to keep it from becoming over-exposing her.
guess that does away with the fuel strategies they've all discussed . .
Cool wall ride.
What a ride.
Yep, the Danica stuff got a little weird but I guess that is the reality of being a celebrity and a driver.
The safety team has a stretcher out, good work by Marty not making a wild leap to any conclusion like Fox was guilty of just a couple weeks ago.
You know, I'm beginning to get creeped out by these GoDaddy ads.
Weird and weirder.
Hadn't had a chance to stop by earlier....I just wanted to add to the <3 Jim Nabors comments! It wasn't the same a few years back when he was sick and not able to make it.
Scary scary scary for Vitor :(.
Was that GoDaddy with the lady cop the one you were asking about earlier JD?
question: does this safety crew travel with the series? what about the medical crew?
This is going to be a long caution. They are fixing the wall during the break.
x
Wendy's got the umbrella out.
Cheers to the Delphi safety team. Their prompt response time and skilled staff are awesome.
Makiki
Honolulu
@ red, I think they do. Both safety and medical.
by the way: great coverage by indycar race control: they had a tighter shot until it became evident that meira was stuck in the car. from that point on, they pulled the shot the back out.
twitter says they're working on the safer barrier and vito waved to the crowd.
wow! amazing real-time sound on the wreck just then. that makes it even scarier.
red, they do and it is all an integrated medical system manned by physicians, Paramedics and rescue techs.
The one driver that every other driver out there would love to see win besides themselves it would be Meira
Why no red flag?
Red:
Yes, the safety team and medical crew works for the IRL and travels to all the races, under the direction of Dr. Michael Olinger of the Indiana University School of Medicine
very disconcerting the crashes in these open wheel race.
Hope we get an update on Vito...ya knew it was bad from the hit and skidding :(
thanks to all for the safety/medical team info. certainly wish nascar would do the same. seems to me that, with all the concern about driver safety, that should be a no-brainer and therefore, right up brian france's alley.
Hate to say it, but its crashes like this that they had Jerry on the Indy 500 broadcasts for all those years and something is missing without him right now.
Both are awake and alert according to the radio broadcast
I know it's sentimental history, but that Firestone ad is getting tiresome.
@ red, YOU are killing me.
Helio is going full rich on fuel
@ dot: we aim to please!
(just wait until we're about 300 laps or so in tonight and i've had a lonnngggg day and a few adult beverages!)
@red, you owe me a new keyboard.
A perfectly good glass of iced tea just went everywhere.
If I recall, there is a ridiculous statistic about the number of winners of this race who did not lead with 10 laps to go (just ask Scott Goodyear)
trl: my apologies.
if you have a mac and bought the warranty, they replace keyboards for free, no maximum number of times and no questions asked!
Actually, red, I keep it covered with one of those flexible thingys.
Learned my lesson long ago.
hehehe
Anyone have an update on Mrs. Lloyd? Just curious.
TRL: watching racing makes us all wiser consumers, doesn't it? we learn from our mistakes. . .
Numerology? Somebody please shoot me.
Marty is working it for all it's worth but he has no passing right now.
Can't you just hear JP about now zzzzzzzzz
Come on keep the focus on the cars please
OK, Helio ---
It's a 4 lap q'ing run, hit your marks.
Remember Bob Jenkins anchoring post-race coverage on Versus
this is THE feel-good story of the year for me! c'mon, helio! hit your marks and just bring it home.
Just want to say thanks for stopping by and we have a new post up for the 5PM NASCAR race.
6PM is the new start time so you have an hour of Chris Myers before the race start.
Great coverage by ABC today and I look forward to Marty Reid coming over to NASCAR on ESPN later this season.
Thanks again everyone.
Just flat out an amazing month for Helio.
Why not cap it off with his 3rd 500?
Just spectacular.
Perfect month.
wow, no other cars finishing....wow...that is all I can say on that decision...wow.
YAY Helio.
Damn it!!!!
Show the cars crossing the finish line! Why is that such a hard concept to grasp?
now he can use the money to pay back his taxes and fines
YEAH BAY-BEE! Congratulations to Helio, Mr. Penske Sir and all of Team Penske!
Now I know where Fox got it from, sad
And we thought FOX & BSPN were bad at not showing the other cars cross the finish line.
Wow. Indycar almost screwed that up bad.
They did such a good job and they blow the finish.
@bozo- he was found not guilty.
I'm sure the IRS is watching and keeping tabs. :>)
After all that Danica build-up and no coverage of the finish....did I already say...wow...?
They almost didnt let him climb the fence. Wow.
Can't believe that they were trying to stop him from getting out of the car to climb the fence because the broadcast was running over.
interviewing shawn johnson on raceday
And here in Houston during the last 2 laps - they had the severe weather map over 1/4 of the tv area warning us of rain in SE Texas.
Now I'm crying.
bozo, how ironic is that? No interview on two hours of rain delay on ESPN and RaceDay comes through.
Me too Dot
bevo said...
They did such a good job and they blow the finish.
so true. from a racing standpoint: crappy job of the finish.
but from a human interest perspective: nothing else really mattered.
can't say i can fault them on this call, gang. the story of the individual trumped the finish shot this time (although i truly wish they had shown the cars finish!)
Did you see Arute put the Firestone hat on Helio's head?
me too Dot...me too!
red, I'm with you
Yes, not showing the cars finishing was a downer ---
but Helio was the story.
OK off to raceday see you all on the flip side
see everyone later tonight: we're off to family dinner so i might get back around 8 or so. see ya' then!
nascar better fix the cot or the interest in its racing will drop to irl levels
they are reporting now that the mtg on tuesday will not be a town hall format..instead individual mtgs with teams
Thanks again for stopping by everyone! See you next year!
All I have to say is the IndyCar Series and ESPN/ABC know how to cover a race. Between the TV broadcast and the online viewer that is available for every race, that is how it should be done. The "Race Control" at IndyCar.com is free and its better then racebuddy, with live telemetry and the radio broadcast as well as what they call the "leader view" that circulates through the field. Also, you get four in-car cams. That's five camera angles (if you count ESPN/ABC).
Plus, I don't buy the excuse from ESPN that they can't get sponsors to agree to the side-by-side thing like they have in IndyCar. I am sure if they really wanted to negotiate, they could.
Great job by the crew for the IndyCar race. If we could get that top-of-the-line coverage in NASCAR, you won't see the ratings in the toliet.
Also, they pulled it off without Digger! FOX, take the dang hit already!!!
That lack of cars on finish line was bummer..and not even a replay of the REST!!
but indeed Helio WAS the story..I kept sobbing along with him but honestly, could they NOT interview Penske first when Helio was sobbing in his car...geez...media just can't wait..thankfully his sister stepped in for a minute.
CAN NOT imagine his emotions.
NASCAR will pale in comparison for this!!
Vito severe back pain is upsetting...hope we get update soon.
Thanks JD for the comments
p.s. don't recall the name but Robin Miller could..didn't ABC once show the WIFE crying when her husband won the 500 and fans never saw the finish line of the WINNER...sigh
The main thing that comes to mind after watching the Indy 500 is ABC/ESPN telecast an auto race and Fox telecasts cartoons.
Yes NASCAR watching the Indy 500 today has made me realize how cartoonish NA$CAR has become the last few. Years and I am not referring to rodents being jammed down our throats.
I think another thing to take away from this broadcast is that, espescially on TV, shorter can be better. It's not a problem of attention span, it is that four hours is a LOT of time to fill up on a broadcast.
I used to listen to Red Sox games in the car a lot. It wasn't unusual for Joe & Jerry to spend a couple of innings running through as list of third basemen with the most home runs, by state of birth or something like that to fill time in a blowout. That kind of thing can be endearing or annoying depending, but with a two, two and a half hour race you don't have to worry about it.
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