There are lots of IndyCar folks on Twitter, so this year's race should have the most information and the most commentary ever provided by social media in real time. SBNation reporter Jeff Gluck and AP reporter Jenna Fryer, both formerly assigned to the NASCAR beat, will be in Indy for the 500 this season instead of Charlotte.
ABC will host an hour of pre-race with Brent Musburger beginning at 11AM Eastern Time. Marty Reid will call the race with Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever. Jamie Little, Jerry Punch, Vince Welch and Rick DeBruhl are the pit road reporters.
The ESPN production team is a hybrid mix of IndyCar regulars, NASCAR folks and lots of company management types. This is the big one. There will be 80 cameras, nine cars with onboard cams and the infamous "bat-cam" that races down pit road on a slim wire at up to 80 mph. It's great for restarts.
Here is a breakdown of the elements that TV viewers will see in the pre-race:
•Dan Wheldon: A Champion’s Story — interviews with drivers, owners and family members celebrating the life and championships of the 2011 Indianapolis 500 winner who died in a racing accident in October.
•JR Hildebrand: 799 Correct Turns and 1 Wrong Turn – A first-person feature about the heartbreaking finish of the 2011 Indy 500 for Hildebrand, who crashed with the checkered flag in site.
•James Hinchcliffe – The driver who has captured IndyCar fans with his sense of humor as well as his ability behind the wheel does a parody of the Danica Patrick/GoDaddy.com commercials.
•Dario Franchitti Museum Tour – The multi-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion takes a private tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, exploring the history of the race and his desire to win his third.
•Charlie Kimball: Inspiring Others — Kimball, the first diabetic driver to finish the Indy 500, has inspired a 12-year-old girl from Kansas to believe she can do anything, despite living with diabetes.
•ESPN Sport Science takes a detailed look at the new DW12 IndyCar chassis that debuted this year and details the changes from previous chassis.
•Memorial Day — The story of a mother who sacrificed a great deal when her son Ben lost his life fighting for his country. She visits Arlington National Cemetery to tell her story.
This year for the first time ESPN will be streaming some video online during the race. ESPN cable TV subscribers who have the WatchESPN service will be able to log into ESPN3 and watch the in-car cameras live. It's not clear from the media releases if the audio associated with those feeds will be the team radios, the natural sound from the car or the ABC telecast.
One unique feature of this Memorial Day event is that the race will be seen internationally not only on ESPN's affiliated networks, but on the American Forces Network that serves US troops worldwide.
The current version of the IndyCar is very different from last season. The challenges of racing at Indy look to make two-wide racing impossible through the corners and tough on the straights except to pass. Even the restarts after the ceremonial three wide start are going to be single file. It's going to once again be a war of attrition.
Reid had a tough time coming over to NASCAR, but hosts a solid Indy 500 and is a veteran at keeping the information flowing. His analysts are outstanding and the disagreements between the analytical Goodyear and the emotional Cheever make for great TV. It's going to be very hot and the pit road reporters may be telling a tale of both mechanical and personal challenges during the race for the teams.
After the final race last season and the resulting tragedy, it is going to be more important than ever before to put on a good show on this big stage for the series. Without Danica it may come down to the powerhouse teams vs. the underfunded independents to create the storylines when all is said and done.
We invite your TV comments before, during and after the race. Please focus on the ESPN coverage of this event on ABC. This is not a post for NASCAR or Formula One comments as both series will also be racing on Sunday. Comments may be moderated prior to posting.
36 comments:
Figured I would stop by on this morning of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing."
The most interesting racing story line I want ABC to explain is what exactly they plan to do with the Lotus cars. Reminds me for F1 in the late 90s when races were filled with "moving chicanes"
I think that's a brilliant idea w/the umbrellas covering the cockpits to keep them cooler.
Dan Wheldon piece was outstanding.
Yep, you could just feel Susie's & Holly's emotions talking about Dan-so sad...:(
It's gonna be a hot one at indy today. Far cry from the 92 500 when it was freezing
Pretty good pre-race. The Disney thing and the Go Daddy deal maybe not the best, but hey...better than what we get on NASCAR.
Yes sir! I was losing it during the Dan segment as I predicted!
I wanna go to Cars Land
What did you think of the national anthem
Recorded gomer due to illness
Great ramp-up to the race. Going to be up to Marty to keep the momentum going.
Brent Musberger is such a master of hyperbole I do believe he could make the run up to a Chess match seem like he was introducing the most important thing about to happen since the Big Bang.
He lasts and lasts and lasts. ESPN folks love him.
I thought the pre-race was strong. I was only disappointed by the starting lineup. The 33 drivers deserve some recognition risking their lives.
I missed the Dan Wheldon piece :( will have to recheck DVR.
I already lost it during taps & his car circling the track. Love Jim Nabors...all my relatives from Indianapolis are gone now. My mom was from that area...first Indy race w/o calling her to tell her to watch :(
Thanks for the blog today, JD.
Hope it's a safe race & everybody keeps hydrated.
Love the constant side-by-side in commercial breaks.
The trolls have shown up sadly.
I gotta say, Hinchcliffe brings a different angle to the whole goDaddy thing. It actually makes me laugh
Good Day Folks!
Is anybody else having a problem with the IMS radio stream dropping in and out?
In car cameras are good addition on ESPN3.
Kudos to ABC for talking about the Lotus cars. More than we'd get about S&P's
Good prerace show. The Wheldon piece made me sad. I felt bad for the family.
The GoDaddy commercials are just as annoying as they are in NASCAR.
At least they are using wide shots, so we can see the race.
PiP is such an intelligent way to broadcast a race. i appreciate the respect it shows fans!
im watching... just seeing INDY takes me back to last July when I went for the first time the Brickyard 400. What a magical place. Great race so far
JD its ashame we wont see this in 6 hours aka live blogging for the Coke 600 :(
Thats the race im waiting for
I enjoy the wide shots, but once it became clear that Andretti wouldn't be seeing any challenges for the lead the coverage should have tried to show some more racing further back in the pack. We've seen very little of the racing from 6th on back, even though the wide shots are showing some big lines of 5-10 cars back there.
Kinda bummed out Cablevision does not have a deal with Disney for ESPN3. The TV coverage has fallen into a snoozefest once the field spread out.
Race coverage faux pas: don't cut to showing A.J. Foyt's face while his car is sliding wrecked across the track and possibly about to be hit by another car.
Still cheaper for Indycar to do PiP than it is for NASCAR.
Dozed off but that is because I had a late night, not because of the racing. Scary wreck there for Conway, good angles of it though and pretty quick to get a word in with Foyt. Pretty refreshing.
I agree, it would be nice to see some more action mid pack
side by side race window is far too small. The race should be in the big box, the commercial in the small one.
Excitement is picking up...
It's been great. NASCAR media types have been on Twitter trying to provide "NASCAR stories."
No one buying.
JD
We could have a 92 esque finish
They've cut returning from commercial breaks on restarts just a little bit too close so far today. One more chance to get it right!
Totally awesome. Thanks for having the blog for Indy. I'm all in for NASCAR but after watching that, I already know it will fall short.
Mr Editor -
Good presentation overall ...needed to show more racing 'back in the pack' and yes, too lacking in comments from top 10 finishers ...noticed Martina McBride glancing to see approaching fly-over, timing her finish and enjoyed the variety of war-birds ...hope this broadcast effort lends itself to upcoming Sprint Cup telecasts w/more wide shots ...Dario handled things well and classily invited Susie Wheldon for post-race victory lap ...all-in-all a worthwhile watch.
Walter
I thought it was a very good broadcast. they got lots of ads in, but the ads did not intrude. As a result they probably -- no, they did, register more with me as I was not constantly P.O'd I especially liked how fast the transition back to full screen was from the SxS.
I also like the new car. Looks racy unlike the COT when we were given that monstrosity.
Also I liked the In-Car, or Overhead or Air Intake camera (what-ev-er) shots. Why because they were like old time NASCAR In-Car cams. I could watch the driver drive. The side shot cam not so much. Could have done without that.
Lastly the booth seemed to care that I had some clue about what was going on. That was nice and I think how nice it would be for me to be able to say the same thing after the 600.
I shall not, however, be holding my breath that I shall be able to.
Glad you all got to see it live!
Blackout still here near Indy, but I did listen on the radio as is our tradition.
I will watch what I can later and have the DVR programmed for what I might miss.
And not wasting anytime or DVR space for Nascar... very sad what they have done to that series!
I agree, pretty solid presentation overall. Thrilling finish to boot!
JD, I'm not biting on the NASCAR hype either. I'll be watching the race tonight but it doesn't mean I am drinking the kool-aid.
Dover promo on RaceDay "Miles is hungry for torn up race cars" REALLY?! =\
Good job by ESPN with the Indy500. I agree that more back in the pack racing would have been good, but they did use decent camera angles and seemed on top of the strategies for the teams.
Ha, think it's funny that the NASCAR people have been interjecting to gain interest. Sorry, I'm not expecting much from the 600. Based on Fox's track record and the way the track at CMS has been since "levigation", I expect one car will run away in clean air and whatever racing there might be other than at the front, we won't see it unless it involves DP, Jr or KK since they appear to be the chosen ones.
Weather has finally cleared up here in my area at least for the moment, so I think I'm going to try and get some work done outside.
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