Highlights From ESPN on ABC Indianapolis 500 Media Conference Call

EDITOR’S NOTE: A replay of the ESPN on ABC Indianapolis 500 media conference call is available online at www.espnmediazone.com/ccc

ESPN on ABC will have live high definition coverage of the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 Sunday, May 25, at noon ET. The telecast is presented by GoDaddy.com. ESPN Senior Vice President and Executive Producer Jed Drake and the members of the telecast booth – lead announcer Marty Reid and analysts Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever – participated in a media conference call today. Some highlight quotes:

ESPN SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JED DRAKE

What is the significance of the Indianapolis 500 to ESPN?

This is a spectacle that in a world of events that we are fortunate enough to cover, sets itself above just about any other event that we do in terms of its grandeur, in terms of its history, in terms of the sheer speed at which these cars fly around on a track of this size. It is an event that we look at on our calendar every year, we admire it and we plan for it. We have a wonderful confluence of reunification, a next generation of drivers and the inevitable and omnipresent story of Danica Patrick. When you take all of those factors, throw them into the history and heritage of this race, and the heritage of the coverage on ABC, I do believe that in a world of hyperbole, this one is not hyperbolic – it’s going to be a great spectacle and we are very much looking forward to televising it.

RACE ANALYST SCOTT GOODYEAR

Do you have to be careful about overdoing the Danica storyline?

If she was not worthy of it, I think one would need to be careful. She goes into turn one at 230 mph and does not take her foot off. There’s a very small amount of population that would be able to do that with all the training. She’s out there not only competing against but beating the guys so I think she deserves all the stuff she gets on the air. I’m sure that knowing drivers as they are, there are some that realize that this is a great thing for the sport. There are probably some that are a little jealous of the attention that she gets. I think they all realize that Danica is good for their sport, which is their business. Anytime that we can increase the awareness of our business, I think it’s terrific. 

LEAD ANNOUNCER MARTY REID

What effect has the unification of open wheel racing had on the Indy 500?

The significance of the first time since 1996 when open wheel racing will finally race at Indianapolis with the 33 fastest drivers from North American that converged under one banner. It truly is the next step in the building process. We saw all the things that tore this sport apart, and now all of a sudden since February we’re seeing domino after domino fall into place.

RACE ANALYST EDDIE CHEEVER

How different is the overall quality of the cars with the merger?

With the arrival of the new teams, you have a whole new DNA into IndyCar racing, and it’s a DNA that was absent for a long time. I don’t think the quality of the first three teams has changed that much – the Penskes, the Ganassis and the Andretti Greens have always been bumping up the bar, but over the whole, if you look at the whole grid, it’s a strong grid. It’s got a lot of international input that wasn’t there before, and I think we’ve achieved a point in time where IndyCar racing is now ready to propel itself into a level where it has not been for the past 30 years, not the last 10 or the last 20 – it’s in a position to really go into places where it has never gone before.     

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