I recently found the 1987 Michigan 500 with Al Trautwig (?) as the announcer. He showed no signs of the most basic knowledge of racing. He was just there because he had name recognition for people who most likely wouldn’t watch anyway. So you’ve been a Superbowl broadcaster; big whoop! A motor race is far too different to use the same announcer.

I never got the impression that Jim McKay didn’t know what he was talking about. Maybe in his early years, but he later said the Indy 500 was second only to horse racing in terms of his favorite sports.

Rick Benjamin (Champ Car and USAR Hooters Pro Cup stock car racing) is also a top-notch commentator. He can announce anything and sound authoritative.

Apparently I’m seeing a different Vince Welch than everyone else is. I’ve never been impressed by him, and though Jack Arute has taken loads of criticism, I’d much rather have him on my broadcast team than Vince. I find him annoying; he’d much rather stay with the tin-tops like Mousy Marty.

Hell, since the SPEED F1 crew is that good (the best, IMO), why not put some IndyCar races on SPEED?

Personally, I never thought ABC’s old system of pairing one of their “star” broadcasters (McKay notably) with a knowledgeable goofball (Rodger Ward, Chris Economaki, Jackie Stewart, Sam Posey, Bobby Unser) was all that bad. I think McKay deserves credit, at least, for his excellent calling in the final laps of the 1982 Johncock-Mears duel.

I think the biggest marker that IndyCar has come a long way on television is that every single race is televised, and televised live. No tape delays, edited-out laps, or non-televised races that were prevalent into the 1980s.

The current ABC booth is like a bad SCTV sketch that stars the actual Marty Reid and Scott Goodyear instead of Joe Flaherty and Dave Thomas as Marty Reid and Scott Goodyear.

It was always fun to listen to Bobby Unser diss Sam Posey several times during every broadcast during the 80′s. I liked when Jackie Stewart was on the broadcasts before that, he brought a lot of knowledge.

Although I like the current NBCSN crew, they still have a long way to go. The Speed crew of Varsha, Hobbs, and Matchett that does the F1 races put on an absolute clinic every week. I have never heard a better race broadcasting crew. They are able to make even the most boring F1 races interesting by providing detailed information about the different strategies playing out without being boring or too technical.