The Five Greatest Indy 500 Broadcasters Of All-Time

1. Bobby Unser

A legend on the track, Bobby Unser came from a winning pedigree, a part of a family of racers. He would carry that success with him into the broadcast booth, covering the Indy 500 with ABC from 1987 to 1997.

Unser is a three-time champion of the Indianapolis 500, while the last of these in 1981 proved controversial and was contested over many months due to an infraction following a pit stop. He was a multi-time USAC National Driving Champion, and would take that championship winning pedigree to TV. He would cover open wheel racing and occasional NASCAR telecasts for ESPN and ABC, and would receive praise following the 1989 edition of NASCAR’s all-star race, where he pointed out a fistfight underway between the crews of Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace.

The 1989 Indianapolis 500 was arguably his strongest performance in covering the race, along with that from ABC as a whole. The race received a National Sports Emmy for “Outstanding Live Sports Special”, and honors were shared among the entire booth, including Paul Page and Sam Posey. The full race from 1989 can be seen here.

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