FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 9th, 2019

NBC SPORTS PRESENTS FIRST-EVER NTT INDYCAR RACE ON NBC THIS SATURDAY AT 3 P.M. ET WITH INDYCAR GRAND PRIX AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Live Practice from Indianapolis Begins This Friday at 9 a.m. ET on NBC Sports Gold’s INDYCAR Pass

“Must Be May” – NBC Sports to Present 100+ Hours of NTT IndyCar Series Coverage This Month

NBC Sports Gold INDYCAR Pass to Stream 60 Hours in May; Price Discounted This Month to $39.99, Includes Practices, Qualifying, and Indy Lights

Drive Like Andretti Documentary on Racing Legend Mario Andretti Premieres May 11 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC; Watch Part 1 of Drive Like Andretti

Dale Jr. Download Featuring 2018 Indianapolis 500 Champion Will Power Airs Friday at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN Following INDYCAR Grand Prix Qualifying

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 9, 2019 – NBC Sports kicks off more than 100 hours of INDYCAR coverage in May this weekend with live coverage of the INDYCAR Grand Prix from Indianapolis Motor Speedway this Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, marking the first-ever NTT INDYCAR race to be broadcast on NBC.

NBC Sports’ unprecedented month-long coverage from Indianapolis includes extensive practice, qualifying and race programming across NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, and NBC Sports Gold’s INDYCAR Pass.

This week’s live coverage from Indianapolis begins Friday at 9 a.m. ET with Practice 1 exclusively on NBC Sports Gold’s INDYCAR Pass, followed by Practice 2 at 12:30 p.m. ET. Coverage continues with qualifying live on NBCSN and INDYCAR Pass on Friday at 4:30 p.m. ET. INDYCAR Pass will stream warm-up on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. ET prior to race coverage on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

2017 series champion Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) leads the driver standings (166 pts) heading into the Month of May in Indianapolis. Newgarden boasts three podiums in his four starts, including a win at the season-opening race in St. Petersburg on March 10 and a second-place finish at Long Beach on April 14. Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport), who won last month’s Long Beach Grand Prix, sits in second place in the standings (138 pts) followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon (133 pts).

2018 Indianapolis 500 champion and 2018 INDYCAR Grand Prix winner Will Power (Team Penske) currently sits in sixth place in the driver standings (93 pts). Earlier this week, Power was a guest on the Dale Jr. Download, which will air this Friday at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN immediately following INDYCAR Grand Prix qualifying.

NBC Sports’ lead INDYCAR broadcast team of Leigh Diffey (play-by-play), Townsend Bell (analyst), and Paul Tracy (analyst) will have the call of the INDYCAR Grand Prix, including coverage on NBC Sports Gold’s INDYCAR Pass. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee, Kelli Stavast and Robin Miller will provide reports from the pits.

In addition, INDYCAR Pass will stream live Indy Lights race coverage on Friday at 1:30 p.m. ET and Saturday at 1:15 p.m. ET. Jake Query, Anders Krohn and Katie Hargitt will call the action.

Following is this weekend’s coverage schedule on NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold:

Date Coverage Network* Time (ET)
Fri., May 10 INDYCAR Grand Prix – Practice 1 NBC Sports Gold 9:10 a.m.
  INDYCAR Grand Prix – Practice 2 NBC Sports Gold 12:30 p.m.
  Indy Lights – Grand Prix Race 1 NBC Sports Gold 1:30 p.m.
  IMSA Prototype Challenge Mid-Ohio NBCSN 3:30 p.m.
  INDYCAR Grand Prix – Qualifying NBC Sports Gold/NBCSN 4:30 p.m.
  Dale Jr. Download – Will Power NBCSN 6 p.m.
Sat., May 11 INDYCAR Grand Prix – Warmup NBC Sports Gold 11:15 a.m.
  Indy Lights – Grand Prix Race 2 NBC Sports Gold 1:15 p.m.
  Drive Like Andretti NBC 2 p.m.
  INDYCAR Pre-Race NBC 3 p.m.
  INDYCAR Grand Prix NBC 3:30 p.m.
Mon., May 13 INDYCAR Grand Prix (Encore) NBCSN 2 p.m.

 

*all coverage on NBC/NBCSN streams on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app

 

DRIVE LIKE ANDRETTI DOCUMENTARY ON RACING LEGEND MARIO ANDRETTI PREMIERES MAY 11 AT 2 P.M. ET ON NBC; WATCH PART 1 OF DRIVE LIKE ANDRETTI

Drive Like Andretti – NBC Sports’ new film that celebrates the life of Mario Andretti and details his first-person account as a refugee, immigrant, cultural icon and racing legend – premieres this Saturday, May 11, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, leading into NTT IndyCar Series coverage of the INDYCAR Grand Prix at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

Drive Like Andretti follows Andretti – the only driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500, and a Formula 1 World Championship – as he recounts his improbable journey, beginning as a war refugee in Italy and concluding as the most famous racecar driver on Earth.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH PART 1 OF DRIVE LIKE ANDRETTI

Part 1 of Drive Like Andretti – “Deus ex Machina – God From Machine” – is live now on NBCSports.com and the Motorsports on NBC YouTube channel. Part 1 touches upon Andretti’s impact across racing and American culture, and includes interviews with LudacrisIce-TJay LenoDale Earnhardt Jr., NASA Apollo 10 astronaut Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, and journalist A.J. Baime. Click here for more info.

Andretti: “The first time I heard the word Indianapolis was actually in Italy. The movie was To Please A Lady with Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck about a driver going through the ranks who reached Indianapolis. That captured my imagination. That became my favorite movie of all time.”

Ice-T on Andretti: “We’re always going to reach for the extremes in hip-hop, so when someone says Andretti, that means it’s because he’s the best. If you’ve got to ‘Drive Like Andretti,’ you win. And you do it over and over and over again. And then when you’re done, you go win some more.”

Ludacris on Andretti: “The same way a lot of rappers would use Jordan or Muhammad Ali, they may say Andretti because his name is synonymous with all things fast.”

Earnhardt Jr. on Andretti: “He could get in anything and not only be fast, but win.”

 

NBC SPORTS GOLD’S INDYCAR PASS TO LIVE STREAM 60+ HOURS OF COVERAGE THIS MONTH

NBC Sports Gold’s INDYCAR Pass will present 60+ hours of INDYCAR practice, qualifying, and full-event replays this month, as well as Indy Lights races, all surrounding the INDYCAR Grand Prix on May 11 and the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge on May 26. The price for “INDYCAR Pass” has been reduced this month only to $39.99, a $15 discount. Click here to purchase now.

INDYCAR Pass live streaming coverage begins with INDYCAR Grand Prix practice and qualifying sessions on Fri., May 10, at 9 a.m. ET, exclusively for subscribers.

Later this month, INDYCAR Pass will live stream Indy 500 practices and qualifying, most of it exclusively, beginning with a seven-hour practice session on Tues., May 14, at 11 a.m. ET. In all, INDYCAR Pass will exclusively live stream 29.5 hours of Indy 500 practice coverage between May 14-18.

In conjunction with NBCSN, INDYCAR Pass will also provide coverage of Indy 500 Carb Day, the IPL Festival Parade, and the Indy 500 Victory Banquet. Click here for more info.

 

NBC SPORTS’ LEAD INDYCAR COMMENTARY TEAM OF LEIGH DIFFEY, TOWNSEND BELL AND PAUL TRACY TO CALL THE 103RD INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRESENTED BY GAINBRIDGE

Leigh Diffey (play-by-play), Townsend Bell (analyst) and Paul Tracy (analyst) will call NBC Sports’ inaugural Indianapolis 500 broadcast on NBC, which will feature a total of 14 commentators, the most-ever for NBC Sports’ coverage of INDYCAR. Bell and Tracy have combined to make 19 career Indy 500 starts. Tracy was the runner-up in the 2002 Indy 500, while Bell registered a career-best fourth-place Indy 500 finish in 2009. Diffey, who will call his first Indy 500 this May for NBC, has called many of motorsports’ most prestigious events, including the F1 Monaco Grand Prix, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

NBC Sports’ comprehensive Indy 500 commentary team includes host Mike Tirico and former INDYCAR and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick (studio analyst). Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rutledge Wood will provide on-site reports from in and around Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Krista Voda will also host pre- and post-race festivities.

Marty Snider, Kelli Stavast, Kevin Lee and Jon Beekhuis will serve as pit reporters for NBC Sports’ Indianapolis 500 coverage, along with INDYCAR Insider Robin Miller and reporter Dillon Welch. Click here for more info.

 

2019 INDYCAR SEASON ON NBC AND NBCSN

NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series began earlier this year with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the first of 17 races to air on NBC and NBCSN during the season.

The 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500, set for Sunday, May 26, 2019, will be the first ever on NBC. The Indy 500 will also be included in NBC Sports’ Championship Season marketing campaign, which touts numerous high-profile championship events that are presented across NBC Sports platforms from May to July, including the Triple Crown, The PLAYERS, Premier League Championship Sunday, French Open, Stanley Cup Final, Tour de France, and The Open Championship.

INDYCAR coverage on NBC will begin with the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday, May 11. Following the Indy 500, NBC will present the Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader on the weekend of June 1-2, followed by races at Road America on Sunday, June 23 and Mid-Ohio on Sunday, July 28. The 2019 NTT IndyCar Series championship will be decided on NBC, with the season’s penultimate race in Portland on Sunday, Sept. 1, followed by season finale at Laguna Seca on Sunday, Sept. 22. Click here for more information.

–NBC SPORTS–