Oilpressure

Did you happen to catch the Detroit Lions thrashing of the Dallas Cowboys on FOX this past Sunday? I will admit I did not. I was so disgusted from watching the Titans lose to the Colts, I took on other projects around the house. After watching my Tennessee Vols squeak by Florida in overtime, the night before; and then the anemic outing by the Titans – I decided I had seen enough football for the weekend.

If you did happen to catch the game, which was mostly a national telecast since it was the late game – you may have seen an in-game live promo about how the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 was coming to FOX next May. Broadcaster Kevin Burkhardt, who is teamed with Tom Brady, handled the promo that was complete with video of Josef Newgarden crossing the yard of bricks. It didn’t stop there. There was also a shot of Jerry Jones and Roger Penske announcing the Dallas race for 2026. Tom Brady even chimed in with how he likes to go fast.

Burkhardt sounded genuinely excited about the 500, and even threw in that the entire series would be available exclusively on FOX beginning next spring. It was a well-done 45-second promo. I’m sure we will be seeing others as the NFL season wears on. Market studies have shown that the NFL and IndyCar share a lot of the same demographic profile. It’s just that the NFL has a lot more of that profile. But this was a good start.

It was so good, that many people shared it on social media. One of those was Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press (AP). Most are familiar with her, as she is the longtime motorsports beat-writer for the AP. She posted it on Twitter, and it generated many comments, that were mostly positive.

One comment asked who would be calling the race. Fryer gave a quick response, and as you can see – yours truly had a follow-up question that went unanswered.

My question is…does she know this as a fact, or is this just speculation on her part? If this is fact, I’m not in love with the lineup.

I’ve made it clear for several months now that Kevin Lee is my first choice for lead booth announcer. I think he has paid his dues moving from radio to TV more than a decade ago. He has been the best pit reporter through all that time, and when given multiple chances in the booth – he has made the transition flawlessly. While he has done IMSA, boat shows and stick & ball sports; we all know that IndyCar is his true love. He is one of us. Those who listen to him on Trackside each week, know this.

I don’t have any major gripes with Allen Bestwick, but I have always considered him a NASCAR guy. Even when he replaced Marty Reid for the IndyCar races on ABC in 2014, I felt that he was a NASCAR guy that happened to be calling IndyCar races. He has a nice soothing voice, but it can almost a little too soothing – or maybe it was just because he was paired with the sleep-inducing Eddie Cheever and Scott Goodyear, that he seemed a little on the boring side. He does a fine job on the PA at IMS, alongside Dave Calabro who just recently retired from Channel 13 in Indianapolis after 32 years. Will he still be on the PA? If not and Bestwick is indeed going to FOX, it’ll be a whole new crew on the PA next May, but I digress…

I am totally fine if James Hinchcliffe is in the booth, as Fryer said. He was one of those that I was hoping to make the transition over to FOX. Kevin Lee and statistician Russ Thompson were the other two.

Russ Thompson has been in the booth for IndyCar races since the mid-80s. He is an absolute gem. He is to the series, as Donald Davidson is to the Indianapolis 500 – without the British accent. Russ has a decided southern accent, being born and raised in the Nashville area.

While I’m not excited if Bestwick is indeed the main booth anchor – I don’t have a huge problem with it, so long as Kevin Lee comes along as a pit reporter. But what I do have a problem with, is if Townsend Bell is brought over to join the booth. James Hinchcliffe has credibility. He has won IndyCar races. He sat on the pole at the Indianapolis 500. He has been bumped from the Indianapolis 500, and he almost lost his life in practice for the Indianapolis 500. He has definitely seen the highs and lows of this sport, and has the means to articulate them all very well.

Townsend Bell has never won an IndyCar race. He never sat on the pole. He has never stepped on an IndyCar podium. He was, however, fired by car-owner Pat Patrick nine races into his only fulltime IndyCar season, for poor performance and tearing up equipment. Yet, he talks down to Hinchcliffe on the telecasts as if he is the master, and Hinch is the student.

I don’t know if Bell actually owns a home at Thermal Club, or if he just frequents the track – but I felt like I was watching a three-day infomercial for a time share, the way Bell was gushing over the place and the people who live there during the Thermal exhibition weekend telecasts. It’s as if he can’t wait to tell us all about his extravagant lifestyle, when he isn’t arrogantly telling us all how to drive an Indy car. Losing Townsend Bell was one of the few benefits I saw as a result of the network change, but now Jenna Fryer is telling us we will be getting more of him.

In hoping against hope, I’m going to assume nothing is official until we see it carved in stone through a FOX press-release. Jenna Fryer is usually dead-on accurate. If she reports it, I’ll take it to the bank. But this brief tweet from her could have been pure speculation and nothing more. I guess we will just wait and see.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on October 16, 2024 at 4:03 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.