Not the first time ABC screwed up an Indy 500 finish

"Just wear your damn mask..." (jimal) 05/27/2014 at 07:22 • Filed to: Indianapolis 500, Tips

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ABC's decision to show the finish of Sunday's Indianapolis 500 in split screen with the drivers' significant others has drawn some criticism from fans and media types for not focusing on what was a dramatic race between Ryan Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves that was ultimately settled in favor of Hunter-Reay in the second closest finish in 500 history. Sunday's coverage of the race didn't bother me nearly as much as how they botched the closest finish.

After leading 160 of the first 189 laps, the fuel pump in Michael Andretti's car failed on Lap 189 of the 1992 Indianapolis 500. The late caution set up a 7-lap dash to the finish between Al Unser, Jr. and Scott Goodyear. Lap after lap Goodyear drafted Unser's car, looking for a mistake or any sort of opening to make his move. On the 200th lap, he had his opportunity. Unser's Valvoline Galmer pushed slightly into Turn 4, costing him precious momentum and allowing Goodyear to make a run to the yard of bricks in his Mackenzie Lola. The live ABC broadcast captured every second of this intense battle, as well as the emotion of the driver's respective spouses. As the drivers hurtled down the straight to the finish line, Goodyear went low, came alongside Unser and...

(Skip ahead to 4:40 to avoid the drama and see what happened)

ABC cut to the flag stand, where the finish for the live TV audience saw the flagman waving the checkered flags and another man holding a sign, but no cars!

As Sam Posey declared, "I believe that's the closest finish in Indy history!" a 21 year old me sat in my living room in disbelief. How could they screw this up? Did they have another view? Fuuuuck...

Years later, thanks to the Internet, I finally saw what is still the closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history (.043 second). And on Sunday I got to see the second closest finish live on TV. It may have been in split screen, but it could have been much, much worse.

Z_Stig > Just wear your damn mask... 05/27/2014 at 09:20

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Yea, that was pretty disappointing. I'm sick of watching motorsports on American television. Too many commericials, directors who cut away from on-track action to focus on the WAGs, and the most part, poor coverage of events.

I can't watch the Blancpain GT Series on their live Youtube feed because North America has been geo-blocked. CBS Sports has the coverage, but please do yourself a favor, and don't subject yourself to that shitty excuse of coverage.

Mosqvich > Just wear your damn mask... 05/27/2014 at 09:56

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I'm not even a huge race fan, but all I could think was "why are they showing this guy's girlfriend?" Are they trying to get female viewers? It was very odd indeed. I just wanted to see the race. Save the family etc... for after the work is done.