Live Blogging Indy 500 (12PM - ABC)

Every year we live blog the Indy 500 because there is simply nothing else like it. Over the past several years the event has seen its ups and downs, but this year the race has come roaring back into the global spotlight.

ABC goes on the air at 12PM ET with a fast-paced one hour pre-race show. Unlike NASCAR, this program is actively coordinated with IndyCar and contains several elements including live driver introductions.

Here is what ESPN put out to the media about the coverage:

Brent Musburger hosts the telecast, while Marty Reid will call the race with analysis by former IZOD IndyCar Series star Scott Goodyear and 1998 Indy 500 winner Eddie Cheever. Reporting from the pits will be Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Vince Welch.

ESPN will use 59 cameras to televise the race fully in high definition, including a 360-degree rotating onboard camera mounted behind the driver on multiple cars. Unique views will be provided by Track Cam, a high definition camera running on a cable over pit road and the frontstretch that can move at more than 80 mph. All 33 cars will carry GPS boxes for the Sportvision RaceFX system to provide telemetry and pointers to help identify the cars for viewers. And ESPN will use a radio replay system that can record, playback and edit radios from any of the 33 drivers.

The one-hour pre-race show will include interviews with many of the 33 starting drivers as well as special features, including a look at the up-and-down past year of polesitter and defending race winner Helio Castroneves, from beating tax evasion charges to winning Indy to becoming a father. Ryan Hunter-Reay is featured in an ESPN Sports Science piece comparing driving an IndyCar to flying a fighter jet and drivers who have and have not won at Indy talk about the Blueprint for Success at the famous track. ABC Good Morning America host Robin Roberts, the pace car driver for the Indy 500, conducted a unique sit-down interview with Danica Patrick that will appear both on GMA and in the pre-race show and another feature looks back on ABC’s 46 years at Indy with on-camera interviews with some of the iconic announcers who were part of the history. The telecast also will include a Memorial Day tribute salute to veterans.

ESPN International’s networks and syndication of the Indy 500 will reach more than 252 million households. In addition, U.S. troops serving overseas and on Navy vessels around the world will watch via a broadcast agreement between ESPN and the American Forces Network, bringing the total to 213 countries and territories.

How about that for an attention-getter? ESPN's NASCAR team plays a prominent role in this special live event. Punch returning to Indy for the first time in many years is a great story. Marty Reid has also been putting in solid work on the NASCAR trail and he is tuned-up for this one.

Indy is a mix of strategy, luck and skill. Racing is done on the straightaways and simple mistakes can cause disaster in the corners. Translating this to TV has always been a challenge. Wideshots down the straights have served to be the most efficient camera angle for decades. Restarts in this series often tell the tale.

This post will serve to host your comments about the ABC coverage of the Indy 500. To add your comment, 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.

Live Blogging Nationwide Series in Charlotte (2PM ET - ABC)

This Memorial Day weekend is busy for motorsports. ABC will televise both the Indy 500 and today's race.

Nicole Briscoe will host the pre-race and anchor from the Infield Pit Center for the NASCAR on ESPN gang in Charlotte. She will be joined by Dale Jarrett and Brad Daugherty. I am told that there may be a special guest as well. The telecast starts at 2PM ET.

Dale Jarrett will be moving up to the broadcast booth where he will be joining Allen Bestwick and Andy Petree. Marty Smith is in Indy working that race on Sunday.

Also in Indy are Jerry Punch, Jamie Little and Vince Welch. That puts Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake and Dave Burns on pit road for the Charlotte Nationwide Series race. Yes, Tim Brewer will also be on-site in the Tech Garage.

ESPN has come along way and this weekend has the potential to be electric. Stories are unfolding in this series as the Sprint Cup drivers are going to be racing in front of the hometown crowd in cars that are intended only to win. No point battles, just racing for the top spot in front of family and friends.

The weather is good, the camera placement is outstanding and SPEED has already shown the Nationwide cars are flying on the track this weekend. This should be fun.

This post will host your comments about the ABC/ESPN coverage of the Nationwide Series from Charlotte. To add your 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.

Thursday On SPEED Means All Day TV

This is the week where the action on the track starts Thursday. The Charlotte Motor Speedway is quiet on Friday while the World of Outlaws races Sprint Cars across the street at the dirt track.

SPEED starts Thursday day at 2PM with Mike Joy and Nationwide Series practice. The duo of Hermie Sadler and Jeff Hammond has been fun to listen to this this season as they called these sessions. Sadler has come a long way since he first began his part-time TV career and Hammond did a stellar job on the Hall of Fame show in a reporter category.

3:30PM brings the NASCAR on FOX team as they enter the final weekend of coverage for that network in 2010. This season, it will only be Mike Joy who takes a break after the Charlotte weekend. Darrell Waltrip is replacing Kyle Petty for the six RaceDay shows on SPEED this summer while Petty works for TNT.

As most NASCAR fans know, Larry McReynolds is one of the hardest working guys on TV. He continues with SPEED hosting NASCAR Performance and appearing on the Trackside program. McReynolds will once again be with the TNT team from the infield appearing on the pre-race show and providing race strategy and a crew chief perspective.

Sadler and Hammond are back at 5PM for final Nationwide Series practice before Joy and his team return with the featured TV of the night. Sprint Cup Series qualifying from under the lights at CMS begins at 7PM ET.

There is no Race Hub on SPEED Thursday, but there is a late night version of NASCAR Now airing at 1:30AM Eastern, 10:30PM Pacific time.

Here are some other TV/media notes:

Eric Shanks, a 38 year-old TV veteran and current VP at DirecTV has been named the new president of FOX Sports. Ed Goren, the 65 year-old former president, will move up to the Vice Chairman role and help Chairman David Hill with larger projects. Many remember Shanks as being the originator of the NFL Red Zone on DirecTV. He also worked at FOX and CBS in sports production roles.

Driver Tim Brown was on Sirius Wednesday and said that SPEED was going to be airing the Madhouse TV series that was seen on The History Channel. SPEED responded to TDP with the information that some talks have been ongoing with History, but at this time there has been no agreement reached and there is nothing to report.

TNT recently announced a new million dollar challenge that will take place over the network's six races. Coordinated through the NASCAR.com website, viewers can take a guess at the top ten finishing drivers in each race and if anyone matches all ten there is a million dollar prize waiting for them. Not a bad contest for the slow and traditionally rather sleepy TNT races.

Friday's TV will feature the big Speed Street celebration in downtown Charlotte. This is where Trackside has visited for years. That show airs at 7PM and leads into the big World of Outlaws race also on SPEED. The downtown Charlotte venue is memorable for Elliott Sadler's stage dive and for the panel getting rather tongue-tied with the appearance of singer Kellie Pickler.

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