Versus Networks' Indycar Series Coverage Hits a Home Run

Network is commited to extensive promotion of the series

04.06.09 - I.Canady - With the Opening of the Major League Baseball season and the Start of the Indycar Series Season Opener on the same day, my mind can only think about the warm spring days that lie ahead and finally the proper format and long-overdue coverage of the greatest racing series on the planet.

The Indycar Series has long suffered from lack of promotion, marketing and exposure through its long affiliation with ABC/ESPN. Don't get me wrong, I have always watched the races on these networks, but to me, they have lacked the depth and passion that has kept me hooked on Indycar Series racing for over 40 years.

Living in Indy and awaiting the start of the IndyCar season, is like a rite of spring passage. Every year the winter seems to get longer and after the Super Bowl, then the Daytona 500, my thoughts immediately turn to spring and the IndyCar Series.

I have eagerly awaited the debut of the IndyCar Series on Versus Network since is was announced earlier this year. One of the problems i've always had with ABC/ESPN coverage of the racing series is the overall lack of commitment to the fans in respect to the races. Such as, short pre-race and post-race coverage, un-timely commercial interruptions and lack of any other IndyCar Series racing programming.

But, At the Beginning of the Versus Network coverage, Lead Announcer, Bob Jenkins laid out the framework of coverage for each event that the network has commited to and additonal programming associated with the Indy Racing League and its supporting series, the Firestone Indy Lights Series.

The Season Opening event on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fl, featured familiar network open-wheel fare, In-car cameras, side-by-side commericials and very-nice aerial coverage. But it also contained new items on the menu, like extended pre-race coverage and interviews, new IndyCar Series drivers' commercials, nice set of announcers that blended very-well with the coverage, excellent Versus Network IndyCar Series graphics package and an overall underlying feeling of excitement from the network.

It is very refreshing to know that the fans will be able to watch each event in its entirety along with the appropriate pre and post-race coverage associated with each event. Finally , The IndyCar Series and Open-wheel may have found a (too early to say permanent?) home that will not only do justice to the greatest racing series on the planet, but open the door for the fans to enjoy unparalled coverage that we only get to taste once a year in Open wheel that being The Indy 500.

Briscoe Gives Team Penske Season-Opening Victory

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Indycar.com - Race 1 - Tabbed an IndyCar Series title contender, Ryan Briscoe didn't wish to quash the pre-season predictions. Sure there would be pressure to perform early in the diverse 17-race schedule, but the North Carolina-residing Aussie counted it as motivation.

In the late-afternoon sun of a perfect spring day along Tampa Bay, Briscoe held up under the heat … under the pressure of the season opener and multiple challengers over the final 14 laps on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street course.

Briscoe gave Team Penske its 30th IndyCar Series victory in the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg as he held off Ryan Hunter-Reay by 0.4619 of a second at the checkered flag of 100 laps of physical and mental stress. A sweat-soaked firesuit and blistered palms attested to that, though an unfailing wide smile emerged once unmasked.

"I wanted to come in carrying off the experience I gained last year and try to kick the season off gaining points and trying to go for this championship," said Briscoe, who on previous St. Pete visits finished 23rd and 14th."This is our first race of the season and it's such a great feeling to kick it off with a race win. The conditions were tough; it was very tricky on restarts. The tires would get very cold and it would be very slippery. It was a challenge to keep it between the white lines and off the wall. I had some strong challenges from behind, but my car was very strong today and I was able to hold them off."

Briscoe, who started fourth on the 22-car grid, overtook race leader Justin Wilson in Turn 1 just after a Lap 86 restart. Briscoe withstood pressure on restarts after two more full-course cautions in the final 14 laps to record his third victory in 37 starts over parts of five seasons in the series - his second full season with the Roger Penske-led team.

"At the end there, we had some restarts and I was able to get Justin Wilson down on the inside," Briscoe said. "I had a great car with Team Penske today. Roger Penske calls my strategy and it was just absolutely perfect."

Hunter-Reay, who completed a deal four days earlier with Vision Racing to drive the No. 21 car, gave the fifth-year team its best finish. Wilson, starting second in the No. 19 Sonny's Bar-B-Q car, gave Dale Coyne Racing its best IndyCar Series finish (third). Wilson led a field- and career-high 52 laps.

"It was a good, clean race for us," said Hunter-Reay, who won at Watkins Glen in '08 with Rahal Letterman Racing and started 14th here. "Late in the race, I was thinking long term with points. You couldn't step a foot off line without jeopardizing your car, so I kept it in line for the team. It's been a long week for everyone on the team and everyone who worked on getting it here deserves the credit."

Dario Franchitti, the 2007 IndyCar Series champion who was making his IndyCar Series points-paying race debut with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, finished fourth. Teammate and reigning IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon exited the race on Lap 80 when the No. 9 car made contact with Hideki Mutoh's No. 27 Formula Dream car in Turn 1. Last year on this course, a broken half shaft resulted in Dixon's only non-race finish.

The top five finishers represented five different teams.