IndyCar Series on ABC

Overview

ABC's involvement with what is now the IndyCar Series began in 1965, when the network aired the Indianapolis 500 as part of its Wide World of Sports anthology. It continued broadcasting the 500 every year through 2019. By the late 1980s, ABC was covering many of the CART PPG IndyCar World Series races that accompanied the Indy 500. In late 1987, Paul Page moved from NBC Sports to join Bobby Unser and Sam Posey in the broadcast booth, creating a trio widely remembered in American auto racing broadcasting.

Page brought energy and his well-known Indy 500 openings set to the Delta Force theme, Unser offered blunt commentary, and Posey provided a distinctive, artistic take on the sport. Their work on the 1989 and 1990 Indy 500s earned ABC Sports Emmys for Outstanding Live Sports Special. At that time, Jack Arute, Gary Gerould, and Dr. Jerry Punch served as pit reporters. All six men also regularly appeared on ABC's coverage of the International Race of Champions and NASCAR Winston Cup.

In 1996, Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George led a group of breakaway owners to form the Indy Racing League, with the 500 as its centerpiece. ABC began adding IRL races to its schedule while continuing to broadcast CART Championship races through 2001. From the IRL's start in 1996 until 2008, ESPN and ESPN2 also carried several IndyCar Series races, but then lost the cable rights to Versus. ABC and ESPN were the series' exclusive television partners from 2000 to 2008.

On August 10, 2011, ESPN renewed ABC's broadcast agreement with the league through 2018. Under that deal, ABC typically aired five races per season, sometimes six. In 2014, ABC marked its 50th consecutive broadcast of the Indianapolis 500. The network's first prime time IndyCar race was the 2013 Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.

For the 2017 Indianapolis 500, ABC introduced a Race Strategist feature offering predictive analysis and first-person visor cam views from drivers Graham Rahal and Josef Newgarden. Some fans, unhappy with the quality of ABC's telecasts, used the backronym Always Bad Coverage to criticize them.

On-air staff

Allen Bestwick served as lap-by-lap commentator, with former IndyCar drivers Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever as color commentators. Former driver Jon Beekhuis and Rick DeBruhl reported from the pits. The on-air staff for ABC's coverage of USAC, CART, Champ Car, IRL, and INDYCAR-sanctioned races from 1965 through 2018 included lap-by-lap commentators such as Paul Page, Bob Jenkins, Jim McKay, Keith Jackson, Chris Schenkel, and Al Michaels. Color commentators included Bobby Unser, Sam Posey, Jackie Stewart, Danny Sullivan, Arie Luyendyk, Tom Sneva, and Rodger Ward. Pit reporters included Jack Arute, Gary Gerould, Dr. Jerry Punch, Chris Economaki, and Bill Flemming. Other on-air personnel included Nicole Briscoe, Lindsay Czarniak, Brent Musburger, and David Letterman.