FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 24th, 2019
NBC SPORTS INDIANAPOLIS 500 CONFERENCE CALL HIGHLIGHTS
“This is just so special for us, so significant for us to finally have a shot at calling ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.’” – Leigh Diffey
STAMFORD, Conn. – May 24, 2019 – NBC Sports’ Indianapolis 500 commentators Leigh Diffey (play-by-play), Townsend Bell (analyst)and Paul Tracy (analyst), Indy 500 host Mike Tirico, analyst and former INDYCAR driver Danica Patrick; and NBC Sports motorsports analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr., as well as executive producer Sam Flood, previewed the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on a national media conference call yesterday, Thursday, May 23.
The 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 will be the first ever on NBC. Coverage begins on Sunday, May 26, with eight hours of programming: a pre-race show on NBCSN at 9 am ET; race coverage at 11 am ET on NBC; and a post-race show at 4 pm ET on NBCSN.
For a complete transcript, click here. Following are highlights from the call:
Flood on Indy 500 coverage: “This is one of the greatest sporting events in the entire world and the center of the racing world comes to this event on this Sunday. The big statement to our team is that this isn’t just a race, it’s an event, and the number of people who will show up in person and the spectacle that is this racetrack with the zooney-looney crazy group of crowd from the Snake Pit to the stands to the fancy pants to the suites — it’s got everything.”
Tirico on hosting the Indy 500: “It is a personal thrill for me growing up watching this event over the years on ABC, people like Jim McKay hosting it, to have the honor to host this broadcast. For me, the chance to watch Leigh and Townsend and Paul work at the Grand Prix a couple of weeks ago and all their broadcast, their team, along with all the reporters, was outstanding; and for our pre-race show and my role, I get to be around Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr., and if you drop anyone anywhere in America and say, ‘Hey, can you name two drivers in auto racing in America who have been popular and who you know?’ They’re going to mention Dale Jr. and Danica, and I get the chance to watch the 500 with them and experience that with them. Couldn’t be luckier.”
Diffey on calling his first Indy 500: “Just a couple of days away, it still feels quite surreal that we have this amazing opportunity to bring you the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. For all of us who work on each and every regular-season round of the NTT IndyCar Series, this is just so special for us, so significant for us to finally have a shot at calling The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. We almost have to teach or tell ourselves, ‘Yes, it’s a round of the regular championship,’ but pass those thoughts for a moment because this is 200 laps in front of more than 300,000 people of just something that is, a word that’s used too often, but this truly is awesome.”
Bell on being a part of NBC Sports’ Indy 500 broadcast team: “I was absolutely thrilled when the announcement came out last year that NBC would be broadcasting the Indy 500. At the time a lot of great statements were made, grand statements were made about what NBC would bring to the table in terms of resources and promotion and investment, and this week and frankly the last couple of weeks have really been a moment of pride for me to see the company really follow through on what they said over a year ago…it’s really fun to see everything that the network is doing to promote this and to be a part of that team is an honor.
For me personally, I think back to the first time I came here as an 11-year-old and sitting in the grandstands and then getting to race here 10 times and now broadcasting, I’ve got to pinch myself.”
Tracy: “This is the beginning of a new era for INDYCAR. The commitment level, the production level, the commitment from the top brass at NBC, it’s second to none on this, and we hope to deliver the absolute best performance or best broadcast that this race has ever seen. We’re fully committed — like any race driver is going to be out there on Sunday to try to win this race, we want to win this race, this telecast for the fans.”
Patrick: “It’s an incredible team that’s been put together with talent in all areas. I mean, the incredible job from the truck to the on-camera talent that knows what they’re doing, and Leigh does such a fantastic job of transitioning through things, and Mike is going to just carry me the entire day, I’m sure, on Sunday. And then to all of the experience that Townsend and Paul have, and then to have Dale’s perspective from the NASCAR side of things, having never been here for the race, is — look, I’m not an expert at every different category, but NBC has covered an expert in every category, and so I’m honored to be a part of it.”
Earnhardt Jr. on attending his first Indy 500: “ I can’t wait to get to work with my buddy Rutledge Wood and see what the Indianapolis 500 is all about. It’s going to be a lot of emotion, a lot of energy. It’s going to be something like I’ve never witnessed before, and I can’t wait to have fun on Sunday during the show.”
Patrick on moving from the track to the booth: “Mike and I are just going to start to go over those things, what he’s seen and what he thinks and his experience and how that can help me and try and come up with some ways to connect with the audience. Sometimes they’ll be tuning in for that race only or might not even watch racing otherwise. Maybe it’s even their first time. I think that it’s important to connect the dots on a human level beyond just racing itself and the technical side of things and what we know so well. So we’re going to try and do that, and then also what I bring to the table is obviously that insight. I always love watching sports when they have an athlete that has recently retired that’s part of their broadcast because I believe them.”
Earnhardt Jr. on driving the Indy 500 pace car: “I’ll have that opportunity to sort of really get a close-up front view of the nervous energy that Paul talks about, and that — I will as a driver, past driver, sort of revert to those emotions and those feelings and be able to relate to what those guys are going through. They’ve dreamed about this day, and a lot of these guys have never won this race, and they’re imagining themselves going through that process and having that potential. So that will be a very emotional experience for me looking in the mirror as I’m driving the pace car. To look in the mirror and see the whole field right there behind me, the pressure that that’s going to give me, I’ll feel that intensity.”
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The 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 will be the first ever on NBC. Coverage begins on Sunday, May 26, with eight hours of programming: a pre-race show on NBCSN at 9 am ET; race coverage at 11 am ET on NBC; and a post-race show at 4 pm ET on NBCSN.
Time (ET) | Event | Network |
9 a.m. ET | Pre-race | NBCSN |
11 a.m. ET | Race | NBC |
4 p.m. ET | Post-race | NBCSN |
For more information on NBC Sports’ comprehensive coverage of the Indy 500, click here.