There is really only one IndyCar race that screams for national attention these days. Between the street circuits and the ovals, the Indy 500 seems to stand-alone as what open wheel racing used to be.
This year, Brent Musburger is hosting the ABC telecast once again. No one really knows why Brent is there or what he does. ESPN tried to put Brent in the very same role with several key NASCAR races and the results were not good.
In the end, Musburger snuck back into his stick and ball world for good. Only Indy remains as his racing moment in the sun. There are many other ESPN personalities that would be great in this role. The one that comes to mind right away is Dr. Jerry Punch. This is the type of role that fits him like a glove.
Instead, Punch will be on pit road with Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Rick DeBruhl. That group will be doing the heavy lifting for Marty Reid, Eddie Cheever and Scott Goodyear. Cheever is the character of this group, constantly disagreeing with everything Goodyear says and loving every minute of it.
Reid has been having a tough season on the NASCAR circuit. His lack of perspective has hampered him in his play-by-play role. I first met Marty back when he was deeply involved with off-road racing and bringing that sport to TV. Since then, he has worked both the NHRA and Indy Car series for ESPN.
Getting back to an IndyCar race might be just the right thing for Reid, but the executives at ESPN have to take a long and hard look at putting Reid back in the booth for the seventeen Sprint Cup Series races that network will carry beginning in July.
Former producer Neil Goldberg is gone from ESPN. It was Sr. VP Jed Drake that handled the pre-race publicity and answered the telecast questions. It should be interesting to see just how the race looks with Drake in charge.
The TV team has 64 total cameras for the telecast, including 12 cars that have multiple angle in-car cameras. The infamous bat-cam is also back. That is the little gizmo mounted on a wire that runs from the beginning of pit road down into Turn 1. It is used to zoom alongside of cars on restarts and offer pit road coverage.
NASCAR fans are used to safe races. Despite the improvements at Indy, this is going to be a telecast where the risk of injury to a driver or fans is a very real possibility. Several big accidents last year opened a lot of eyes, but the series is still not blinking.
IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard is still going to make the field utilize double-file restarts. The drivers are livid about this and it has become a huge issue. Once the race is in progress, there are "marbles" of rubber that build up outside the single groove in the corners. Literally, there is no way to run two-wide.
At the start and for tradition, the field will go wide on the green track. Unfortunately for those of us who can remember the incidents we used to see at the speedway on restarts, this year's race could bring back those old memories. The drivers requested single-file and Bernard said no.
Update: Robin Miller of SPEED announced at 10:30AM today that Randy Bernard has reached an agreement to restart the race differently today. It seems that the green will come out when the cars come off turn four and the field may well be single-file. Stay tuned on this topic.
The race has many great stories including several female drivers, some long-shots and lots of favorites. The media leader is Danica Patrick, who has been under the radar this week. After struggling early on, she finally qualified but never looked like a contender.
Typically, this race has early drama and danger and then settles down to a slow and single file pace while the remaining cars work on handling and fuel mileage. Then, business picks-up in the closing segments as teams maneuver to get themselves in contention.
Keep an eye on the crowd. No one is making predictions but between the price of gas, the rough economy and the outrageous hotel costs in the entire Indy area, it could be a real eye-opener.
This post will host your comments on the ABC coverage of the Indy 500. To add your TV-related comments, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.
294 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 294 of 294That's a finish!
WWWWWOOOOOOOWWWW!!!!!
How did he lose it there?
What a finish!!!
NASCAR better have something big happen tonight....otherwise the Indy 500 has already stolen the show for the day with that finish.
Poor Hillebrandt!
The last ten laps at Indy are almost always a big story.
What a finish! Too bad Marty failed to do his job. That was a god awful call of the finish.
I think Hillebrandt was just trying to go way wide of that lap car. wow...
OK, ESPN let's see your post-race segment measure up to the 500 finish
Still not too sure about the rules right there, but that was some TV drama for sure.
There is nothing that can happen at Charlotte that can beat the Indy story.
Hildebrand has the Si cover and the lead on all of the sportscasts.
Wow, just wow...
the marbles in that outside lane was a killer all day..experienced driver would have backed it down behind him, he had time
Camera focused on the wreck and not the finish.
Oh, well.
we have replay.
Remember the drivers sayin that was the biggest problem? No way to go two wide at speed in the corners.
As the old promo used to say:
The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.
The guy could compete with that ski-jumper.
It took a rookie mistake on the last lap to make the race finish exciting. Thank goodness it's over.
I think that wreath around the shoulders reminds me of winning a horse race!
There ya go. A fly by at the end of the race.
ssy what? a post-race flyover
JD yeah they race to the finish line for sure, no matter what. and a post race fly over, nice good day for Indy racing for sure, I would asume Hildi is ok,
I need to look closer, but I think Vince might be overdoing it about the emotion in regards to tears flowing. Sure it's an emotional win, but I'm not seeing tears.
Waiting for the JR interview. I am not a big fan of Mr. Wheldon.
can you imagine if hilde had passed over the finish line first despite the wreck, that would have been something...
Now there's some emotion.
Dan, great stuff.
Marty's silence at the end until the computer clicked as Wheldon crossed the line was awful.
He is not the best in crunch time.
I can't be the only person here that double-checked the flashing lights on the replay to determine the moment of caution.
We've seen that come up in this race before, too.
HEARTBREAK for Hildebrand. WOW..shame about bad turn into the marbles...but Wheldon is very emotional.
WHAT.A.FINISH. so Shocking, least he came in second.
You guys are right. Weldon wins, but Hildebrandt is the headline.
NASCAR cannot top this finish.
Be still my palpitating heart. Dang that was good!
Marty got stuck on wondering if Hildebrand was going to finish, and totally forgot about the person about to overtake the lead.
Anon
You don't see tears? Must be your tv. Wheldon emotional over win + racing for Alzheimers & mother diagnosed w the disease. Pretty darn emotional whether one is a fan of DW or not.
Lots of crying & choking up.
Admit it. You choked. It wasn't the fuel or the marbles or anything else. You thought you had it won and your concentration drifted.
@oldnewenglander
I was thinking the same thing. WWoS. But I did not say that thinking (I out thought myself) the refernce would be to obscure. I have Jim McKay (McManus) in my head right now.
Franchitti finishes 12th and we get a looksee of Ashley. Geesh.
What don't you like about Wheldon, JD?
he was talking about tears while he was sitting in the car, said he had "tears flooding out of his eyes", i couldn't see any either but he had big sunglasses on...
They'll have to do the obligatory interview of Danica before they finish up.
Hey, thanks everyone for hanging with us today.
Pretty interesting telecast to watch with lots of good points and several familiar challenges left to solve.
Going to take a break! Back at 5:30PM for NASCAR.
Thanks again.
I saw Wheldon about to break up when he was in the car talking to his car owner Herta. They called it correctly.
how did jr not win, ahead at moment of caution and kept a decent caution pace speed
Funny. For the Franchitti interview, have to keep Ashley in the shot. lol
Hildebrand must be a big name in Europe. I was at a Dry Kiln school where a Hildebrand had started a company that made dehumidification dry kilns for drying lumber in Europe and he was there to learn more about how to dry lumber.
Hildebrand is an American. I think he was the Indy Lights champ.
2009 - Firestone Indy Lights Series - Overall Champion
In a dominating performance, Hildebrand scored four wins, six poles, 11 top fives and 12 top ten finishes decisively taking the series title for AFS/Andretti Green Racing finishing the season just shy of 100 points clear of of the field having clinched the title at the penultimate round. During the year, Hildebrand also tested Andretti Green's Indycar Series machine on both the Sebring short course and Kansas Speedway showing both speed and comfort upon both occasions.
2009 - A1GP World Cup of Motorsports - Debut Race
Hildebrand filled in for Marco Andretti as the driver for A1 Team USA for the final round of the championship in Brands Hatch, England. Hildebrand was impressively quick all weekend, qualifying and finishing fourth while also leading several laps in the Sprint race, then pacing eventual championship winner Adam Carroll after a first corner accident in the Feature.
2008 - Firestone Indy Lights Series - Fifth Overall
After planning a second year in Atlantics, Hildebrand changed gears due to the merger of open wheel racing in America and joined RLR Anderson Racing, winning at Kansas in just his second oval race. He was in the running for the Championship until the last race of the year, scoring eight top fives and 12 top 10 finishes, finishing fifth overall in the final standings.
2007 - Atlantic Championship - Seventh Overall
Racing as the only driver for Newman Wachs Racing, Hildebrand was the top placed U.S. rookie and second placed U.S. driver in one of the series' most competitive fields ever. He had a rollercoaster year, with good speed but inconsistent results due to a variety of things, with his best finish of second coming at the ultra high speed Clevelend airport circuit, He scored seven top 10 and two top five finishes.
they are talking controversy now, that the yellow was out when he passed him
Hildebrand is the winner, i would protest if i was him, he should be the winner
Don't care what the rules are. If you crash in the 4th turn you don't deserve the win.
I don't blame the guy at all. he's a rookie and he was excited. But he shouldn't get the win.
Being told by ESPN's Ryan McGee that the finish is under review.
its just fate..if that car had been anywhere else in the curve..it wouldn't have happened..although he should have lifted, not sure if his crew was keeping him up to date on how close they were behind him
@JD --
I thought it was too close to know immediately who won.
Four Steps! Come on, he stayed in it and crossed the line!
I like seeing Danica without the big sunglasses, without the scowl and with a minimum of makeup.
When was the last time the caution light situation happened? The Paul Tracy race?
I'd be very surprised they change the winner with everything they've done post-race.
ABC should pre-empt the Hot Wheels program until Barnhart explains this mess.
Sure, he crossed the line. In second. Fine.
I don't care if he was upside down when he crossed the finish line. You have to cross upside down in first place.
there ain't no way they are changing who won at this point.. they need the nascar loops so they can just say he was ahead even if he wasn't! although prelim video is indicating he passed before lights came on according to mullhern
Rules are fine but not when they contradict common sense.
if you aren't the first across the line then you shouldn't win. No matter what the rules are about who is the leader when the yellow comes out.
I'm aware of the Paul Tracey controversy. This is much more cut and dried.
@four steps
The trouble is that what JD & I are alluding to -- like it or not -- the field is frozen at the moment of caution. Unless you can't maintain caution speed, you don't get passed under the yellow flag.
Right, but why did they hold the caution lights? Did they expect him to regain control after that hit?
The other side of the coin is that he hit the wall, the caution lights did not come on until he was halfway down the frontstretch.
What IndyCar is reviewing is if everything we think we saw on TV was accurate.
can't believe brent missed "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" what an idiot... and on abc!
instead he says "ecastasy of winning"
Well, this one should be interesting to follow over the next hour or so.
I'll update with a new post if anything happens!
JD
the rule is you dont pass when the caution comes out, so it doesnt matter if he got passed or not under yellow, he was ahead, the field was frozen and he kept a descent pace car speed, he is the winner
weldon didnt slow down when the caution came out
you almost need a rule that if you caused the yellow, you can't win...
They're saying on radio that Panther Racing has filed a protest.
If they uphold that rule then any driver leading on the last lap should just crash going into the first turn. It eliminates the possibility of being passed or running out of gas.
If you crash real good, you can do it with 5 to go. it will take a while to cleanup. that's what Danica shoulda done. She was running out of gas while in the lead
I think even NASCAR waives the rule for the last lap.
Let me give you my perspective.
He hit the wall and the caution lights should have come on instantly.
At that time, being the leader, he had to maintain reasonable speed in order to maintain first place. He did that.
He then crossed the line at speed before slowing down and in theory winning the race.
The issue is if IndyCar Race Control waited and during that wait Wheldon passed him before the caution was out.
That is currently the case as Wheldon is the winner and JR second.
What JR's team is asking is why didn't the caution lights come on when he hit the wall and therefore freeze the field.
It's a good question.
This Hot Wheels promo is stupid. Hot Wheels should just show the jump then spend the rest of the time honoring Indy history.
four steps from the blues, nascar usually doesnt throw the yellow on the last lap for this reason, sometimes they do but if they wreck in turnf four, they leave it green until the leader crosses the finish line, remember tho 07 daytona 500
Four - Nascar does not waive the yellow flag rule on the last lap.
Panther Racing will look petty if they take a win on this basis.
It's a good payday and they could use the money. But I wouldn't do it. 2nd place pays OK too.
It makes Indycar look bad.
IMHO the winner is now irelevant. Hildebrandt or Weldon, either. We have the pictures. That is what will stick.
Lee Petty or that other guy. Now that was "who won" story (which was, as we all know, Big Bill created). This is not, again IMHO.
But dang it it made me quiver. What a finish. What a finish....
(shuffles offstage mumbling about tonight)
So heartbreaking for JR but congratulations to Dan
Does anyone else have a problem with the audio on auto-themed programs? I can't heard most of the announcing because the background is too loud. reporters ran around all morning (PDT) giving reports that couldn't be heard above the engine noise.
It may be a fault of my TV speakers (a Vizio), or Because of my own hearing aids (you who have them know the problems therein), but my wife says the same thing and the other TV in the bedroom has the same issues (thou, it's a old, cheap set).
I got this issue on FOX network and thought it was because of their production, but I had the same thing on ABC; as if they use the same gear for all of them.
Ok this hot wheels things is so corny......and scripted......and ake.
This was a great broadcast...until Danica took the lead and Marty, Eddie and Scott started trying to talk Danica's car into saving her 5-7 laps of fuel even though she had to pit.
Referencing the disputed Bobby Unser/Mario Andretti finish, and the Paul Tracy/Helio Castroneves controversy.
The protests were unsuccessful. Once they show you drinking the milk the game is over. No matter what the rules are.
Mik - To hear the announcers you could try changing the sound on your Vizio from Surround Sound On to Off, using your Vizio remote and see if you hear any difference.
Shame on ESPN/ABC for not even mentioning the protest. IMS radio was all over after the race was over.
Seemed like most people liked the coverage from skimming over the post. I was in the speed chat room where the coverage was trashed.
I bailed on the ABC audio about 25 laps in, IMS radio was passing on alot of information that never made it to TV.
Give me FOX anyday.
Hot Wheels wasted their money. Most turned the channel after the race. Those that didn't think the whole thing is so stupid that they think less of HW every minute.
Like I said earlier, do 28 minutes of honoring Indy heroes then two minutes at the end showing the jump.
Johnny Lightning had back-to-back Indy 500 wins in 1970 and 1971. Hot Wheels' success is all in drag racing. The whole idea was stupid from the get-go and IMS should have told them to take a hike.
jd, it will be intresting to see which race ends up with the higher tv rating my money is on the 600 winning, what are your thoughts?
The Speed chat room was trashing ABC because they are Fox and everyone has been trashing Fox NASCAR coverage. getting their revenge.
As I said earlier, Robin Miller has been trashing ABC for several months. He works for Comcast/NBC.
Both Fox and NBC would like to keep their options open just in case Indy spikes up and NASCAR trends down.
I've been watching the Indy 500 on ABC since the Jim McKay days. I think they did (and have done) a good job.
I would give them up in a minute if Comcast put all the races on NBC broadcast.
It's a good thing you're anonymous. You make a lot of bold statements with an obvious stocker bias. Are you DW ?
As much as I would have loved so see Hildebrand win, he shouldn't get it on a technicality.
The race was rather dull; difficult to pass, obviously impossible to run on the outside. The last 20 or so laps were incredible, emotional, heartpounding stuff.
The broadcast was dreadful. Way way way too many commercials; inexcusable even with side-by-side. And the booth did a terrible job over the last 20 laps of covering the cars that could make the distance, etc. I had no idea Wheldon was in second. When Hildebrand was coasting to the line I was looking for a Ganassi car because I thought they were next in line.
I feel so bad for J.R. Hildebrand. His win would have been a fantastic story. But he threw it away; he shouldn't get it back because of the timing of a caution.
Didn't listen to the race on radio but I'm not surprised that they did a better job. They do better with NASCAR too.
The lack of video forces the announcers to do a better better job at describing the action.
I haven't watched F1 in a long time but always thought Varsha/Hobbs did well. I bet radio puts them to shame too.
I wish we could have that level of commentary coupled with the quality video of European F1 coverage. If I'm not mistaken Bernie Ecclestone has a big piece of the F1 TV action and he makes sure that they do it right. Fox/Speed control much of NASCAR's video product and haven't done as well with it.
It's rumored that Brian France is thinking about a NASCAR channel. Although I think he's incompetent, I think it would be better if NASCAR had full control.
How much does control does NFL Films have over TV coverage?
I also was not aware that Wheldon was in second. Last thing I remember was that Franchitti was 2nd. He finished 12th I think.
Like Hildebrand, ABC was caught up in the Cinderella story. They didn't cover the field well after Baguette pitted for gas.
I said it several times here, the last ten laps at Indy are usually worth watching. I didn't mind the commercials. I think I've been inoculated by seeing them so often in other races.
In case any advertisers are watching... In the side-by-sides, most of the time I was watching the ad instead of the race. But when I grew bored off the ad (cue Danica's 65th appearance), it was great that I could turn my attention to the race.
ESPN is now reporting that no formal protest has been made, so that is the end of it.
On to NASCAR!
I know what the NASCAR race is going to be like already.
It's supposed to go to 11pm so I'll tune in at 10:45. They should be on their 25th caution by then and I can catch the last 20 laps.
I guarantee a green-white-checker (cue one of the Busch brothers). Junior in the top 5. I'm thinking either Stewart or Johnson for the win.
This was another level of commercial overload, though: As someone posted, laps 100-178 were more than 50% commercial, and immediately afterwards there was that bit where they broke from commercial, Brent M. said "this will be a great finish" and then they returned to commercial. Unprecedented, I think.
SPEED's Will Buxton just posted on Twitter a photo that clearly shows Wheldon ahead of Hildebrand with a green light on. No question on the finish.
Darius Wazzzzsssup ? Nothing against the guy ....but couldnt Nascar get a FAMOUS NAME TO DO
the Anthem ?
Nascar is lacking sooo much in
the Public Relations department ..
it is beyond belief. No Hope
WSYR Channel 9 Syracuse, New York lost the ABC network feed for the first half hour / 20 laps of the race. They failed to acknowledge technical difficulties nor have they explained or apologized to their viewers.
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