The
Indianapolis 500 has been
broadcast by
ABC since 1965. It is currently one of the longest-running relationships between a sporting event and television network.
[1] In
2014, ABC celebrated fifty years televising the 500, not including the years 1961 through 1964 when brief filmed highlights were broadcast the following weekend on
Wide World of Sports.
[1]
From
1965 to
1970, ABC televised a combination of
filmed and/or
taped recorded highlights of the race the following Saturday on
Wide World of Sports. The 1965 and 1966 presentations were in
black-and-white, while all subsequent presentations have been in
color. From
1971 to
1985, the Indianapolis 500 was shown on a same-day
tape delay basis. Races were edited to a two or three hour broadcast, and shown in
prime time. Starting in
1986, the race has been shown
livein "flag-to-flag" coverage. In the Indianapolis market, the live telecast is
blacked out and shown tape delayed to encourage live attendance. Since 2007, the race has been aired in high definition, and has been produced through the
ESPN on ABCarrangement.
The current television voice of the Indy 500 is Allen Bestwick, who was named to the role on January 2, 2014. From 2006-2013,
Marty Reid called the race, but was released on September 29, 2013.
[2] Past television anchors include
Chris Schenkel,
Jim McKay,
Keith Jackson,
Jim Lampley,
Paul Page,
Bob Jenkins, and
Todd Harris. Other longtime fixtures of the broadcast include
Jack Arute,
Sam Posey,
Bobby Unser, and
Dr. Jerry Punch.
On August 10, 2011, ABC extended their exclusive contract to carry the Indianapolis 500 through 2018.[3] Starting in 2014, the contract also includes live coverage of the Grand Prix of IndianapolisINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jeff Gordon will finally get a chance to lead the Indianapolis 500 field across the yard of bricks.
He'll even get to do his version of The Double.
On Wednesday, the five-time Brickyard 400 champion was named this year's Indianapolis 500 pace car driver, setting up a busy Memorial Day weekend for the NASCAR star.
Gordon and his family will arrive in Indy the night before the race, get to the track early May 24 to enjoy the festivities, then hop in the pace car for a few laps before heading to Charlotte where he will compete in the Coca-Cola 600 later that night. Actually, it was so complex Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles described it a "logistical nightmare."
With the help of engine manufacturer Chevrolet and some flexible scheduling, Gordon's support team found a way to work out the details and give him another special moment on his farewell tour. Gordon, a long-time ambassador for Chevy, is retiring at the end of this season.
"To me, doing the Double has never been anything that I seriously thought about," he said, standing near the Corvette Z06 that will take the 33-car starting field to the green flag. "Do I wish I had the opportunity to race in the Indianapolis 500? Absolutely. It just wasn't meant to be."
Gordon grew up in nearby Pittsboro, Indiana, and won the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indy in 1994.
Since then, he has won four more times and will return in July for what could be his final race at the track as the defending champion. Only one driver, Jimmie Johnson, has ever won back-to-back Brickyards and the first of those, in 2008, came on a race day plagued by tire problems and competition cautions.
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher is the only other driver to win five times on Indy's famous speedway
"There's always something special when I drive in this track, whether we're testing, whether we're here to race, there's something so special to me," Gordon said. "I think it goes back to that childhood I have, the memories I have of watching the Indy 500, being here live for the Indy 500. That was the first real motorsports race that I ever watched from TV, was the Indy 500. It's the one I watched every year."
Getting the pace-car gig is still exciting for Gordon, who took an extra lap while shaking down the car as reporters watched and then nearly blew the surprise before Jim Campbell, the U.S. vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports for Chevrolet, actually got the words out of his mouth.
"I'm just hoping you don't take an extra lap on race day," Boles joked.
And even though Gordon will get one chance to become the first driver with six career wins at Indy, he has more immediate goals, staying competitive in the Sprint Cup series, getting enough information from this week's three-day test session to stay in contention in July's Brickyard 400 and getting the 500 drivers off to a clean start.
"This ranks right up there with the five Brickyards," Gordon said. "My next goal is not to mess anything up."
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