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Earlier this week, we learned that FOX is eyeing Will Buxton from F1 broadcasts for their IndyCar broadcast team. Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal reported in an article on Monday that Buxton was among several names being discussed as FOX tries to assemble their broadcast team less than two months before the season-opener at St. Petersburg.

Other names mentioned were Allen Bestwick, James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell. One name noticeably absent was Kevin Lee.

Reaction on social media was a mixed bag. No role was announced for Buxton if he were to join FOX. There was not any indication that Buxton was even interested in the job, but that didn’t stop fan reaction on social media. There few middle of the road opinions that I saw this week. Fans either loved the idea, or hated it. There was no in-between.

I am assuming that Buxton is being considered for either a pit-reporter as he has done for most of his F1 career, or as an analyst in the booth. I don’t believe Buxton has ever done play-by-play (lap-by-lap?), so I doubt he is in consideration for that role.

While there were few people that did not have strong opinions either way, one person that you can put into that camp is me.

I don’t hate Will Buxton, but I’ve never been a big fan either. There is something about his voice combined with an intense look on his face that makes ne a little uneasy – as if someone keeps trying to sell me something I don’t want.

Some of the comments against Buxton claimed that he was strictly an F1 guy, and he knew nothing about IndyCar. That’s not true. He has been on IndyCar broadcasts before and he has demonstrated, even on F1 broadcasts that he knows a lot about IndyCar. Not only does he know about the current series, he holds an encyclopedic knowledge about the sport going back more than 50 years. He may or may not be your cup of tea, but you can’t say he doesn’t know the sport. I’m sure NASCAR fans said the same thing about Leigh Diffey – that he was a NASCAR guy. From what I can tell, he’s done a pretty fair job on the NASCAR side of things.

While we are putting people in boxes, I’m not thrilled about the possibility of Allen Bestwick, if he is the one that gets what I’ll call the lead anchor role – that’s the role that Leigh Diffey and Paul Page held for so many years. Yes, I am guilty of putting him in the box of being a NASCAR guy, but I’m not really a huge fan of his broadcast style. There is just something about his style in the booth that comes off as a little too perfect. He is so smooth and polished, it almost comes off as disingenuous – almost like a game-show host – even though I don’t really think he is a phony. That being said, Bestwick is very professional and well-prepared. Anything negative I have to say about him is strictly a personal preference.

I mentioned Kevin Lee. The fact that his name was absent from this story and reading between the lines from his comment on Trackside the other night, it seems as if Kevin Lee will not be a part of the broadcast team. That was all but confirmed Wednesday night when Nathan Brown of The Indianapolis Star posted an article saying that Lee was most likely out. If that’s the case, I think that’s a shame. As the music is about to come to a stop, it appears Kevin Lee may be left standing without a chair. I would post a link to it, but I don’t subscribe to The Star. When I went back to link it, it denied my access.

I get it that FOX wants to carve their own path and not present a telecast that pretty much resembles what viewers have been watching for the past six years. FOX wants to freshen things up, and you don’t do that by importing the same on-air talent that NBC and NBCSN used for years.

But Kevin Lee was the one voice that I definitely wanted to migrate over to FOX from NBC. I’m perfectly happy if James Hinchcliffe is retained. He has a good personality and does a good job explaining certain facets of racing that the general public may not comprehend. If Townsend Bell doesn’t make it to FOX, that suits me just fine.

It would be a shame if Kevin Lee is cut out of the loop, however. He is extremely knowledgeable about the sport, and has a very upbeat and genuine on-air presence. Most of his professional life has been devoted to IndyCar. He is one of us, and I consider it almost a slap in the face to fans if Lee is not part of the broadcast. A the very least, I hope he can retain his role as a pit-reporter, but I was hoping he would be the lead booth anchor.

Nothing is official. The Nathan Brown article indicated that Bestwick was also out, and that Buxton would be the booth anchor, even though he had never held that role before. James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell sound like they will both retain their previous roles in the booth, which doesn’t thrill me.  Will Kevin Lee be in the pits, or has he been completely passed over? Could he be beaten out by an inexperienced Ryan Hunter-Reay, as the Star article suggests? Will Jamie Little have a presence on the IndyCar broadcast? There are a lot of questions that we will probably know the answers to soon, since the first practice at St. Petersburg will take place exactly seven weeks from today. Brown seems to think we may see an announcement as early as next week.

One thing is certain – the FOX IndyCar broadcasts will look a lot different than the product NBC gas given us for years. Is that a good thing? You tell me.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on January 10, 2025 at 4:02 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.