Nearly half a million people will descend upon the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 — the longest running auto race in the United States.
For the past 48 years, ABC has been telecasting the race, and each year it tries to add something new to enhance the production. This year ABC will cover every angle of the race with more than 80 cameras, including some never-before-seen shots. Rich Feinberg, ESPN’s vice president of motorsports, and analyst Scott Goodyear discussed the race coverage and Indy 500 favorites via a conference call.
What new technical advances are being used this year at Indy?
Feinberg » “‘Batcam,’ a camera that runs on a cable over pit road and the front stretch and can move at more than 80 mph. It provides some amazing views that only this camera can get from its very special angle. For racing, it is only used at Indy, and the camera gives viewers some outstanding shots from the pits, as well as the front shoot from turn four through the start-finish line and into turn one.”
| Indianapolis 500 | ||||
| When » | Sunday, noon | |||
| Where » | Indianapolis Motor | Speedway | ||
| TV » | ABC | |||
How are the on-board car cameras going to be used?
Feinberg » “We have 12 of the 33 cars set up with four on-board cameras per car. Our goal is to make use of dual-path technology for the first time in an IndyCar Series telecast. It will permit a number of different views coming from each car. We will be able to show drivers’ faces during the race. We should get some great shots that have never been seen before from these angles. By the way, that is 48 cameras on cars alone. That is more cameras ever used on board cars in television history.”
Who are the race favorites?
Goodyear » “We know that Team Penske has won all four of the races thus far this season, and you can’t overlook Will Power, who has three race wins this year. His partner Helio Castroneves has won the Indy 500 three times, making him the favorite. But at Indy, the Andretti Autosport boys are running really well. James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay and my personal dark-horse favorite Marco Andretti are all going to challenge for the checkered flag. This is a wide-open race, and any one of a dozen drivers has a legitimate chance to win it.”
Examiner columnist Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this!, on washingtonexaminer.com.
