WIBC Radio To Broadcast 'Fantasy 500' On Sunday, April 4

indy500.com ^ | Eric Powell

[Samwise]

When listeners tune their radio dial to WIBC-AM 1070 in Indianapolis on Sunday, April 4, many will do a double-take on the race broadcast they’re hearing: Ray Harroun just passed Al Unser Jr. for the lead? Tom Sneva just let Mauri Rose by and is coming into the pits?

What’s going on here?

It is the inaugural “Fantasy 500,” sponsored by Bill Estes Chevrolet in Indianapolis and presented by the American Dairy Association.

The brainchild of WIBC on-air personality Dave Wilson, the Bill Estes Fantasy 500 pits the greatest drivers from multiple eras of Indianapolis 500 history against one another in an imaginary 500-mile classic at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, created through a combination of live race calls by current members of the IMS Radio Network with pieces of prior race broadcasts over the decades.

The Bill Estes Fantasy 500 broadcast on WIBC will have the complete “feel” of Race Day at Indianapolis, with a two-hour pre-race show beginning at 8 a.m. (EST) with Wilson and fellow WIBC personalities Jeff Pigeon and Terri Stacy, and Fantasy 500 traffic reports from “Big John” Gillis.

A one-hour pre-race show begins at 10 a.m., followed by a three-hour race broadcast, led by current “Voice of the 500” and IMS Radio Network lead announcer Mike King. Wilson and IMS historian Donald Davidson will play host to a two-hour post-race show beginning at 2 p.m.

The 33-car Fantasy 500 starting field features notable winners of the Indianapolis 500 along with skilled and popular drivers who came close to winning “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on several occasions.

Winners in the field range from inaugural champion Ray Harroun to Helio Castroneves, the most recent back-to-back winner in 2001-02. All three four-time winners – A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears – and the five three-time Indy 500 champions – Louis Meyer, Wilbur Shaw, Mauri Rose, Johnny Rutherford and Bobby Unser – are part of the fantasy field.

Beloved drivers who never won at Indianapolis but will compete in the Fantasy 500 include Rex Mays, Duke Nalon, Eddie Sachs, Lloyd Ruby and Michael Andretti, among others.

Besides legendary drivers, familiar names from the IMS Radio Network’s past broadcasts will be heard, such as Sid Collins, Lou Palmer, Bob Jenkins and others.

In addition to WIBC-AM 1070, the broadcast will be available exclusively on the World Wide Web at www.WIBC.com, with live timing and scoring plus photos of events taking place during the race.

Who will win this race among champions that spans 94 years of Indianapolis Motor Speedway tradition? Only Wilson and a few others will know until April 4.

[Samwise]

Hubby is looking forward to listening to this on Sunday.

[Samwise]

Bumping for race fans.

[Support Free Republic]

Donate Here By Secure Server

[Lokibob]

I wonder if they will have A.J. Foyt in Granatellis turbine STP car. One year, one car and they blew the doors off everybody else.

That is my bet.

[CrazyIvan]

I was there. It was so cool to have a pack of cars go screaming by and them have this one whoosh by them!

[CrazyIvan]

OOPS! I meant "and then"

[GeronL]

Niche Programming... thats some niche

[Samwise]

I dunno what they'll have, but it ought to be fun. If I had a racing ping list, I'd ping some folks.

[Samwise]

Just curious, are you related to MadIvan? :^)

[Glenn]

One year, one car and they blew the doors off everybody else.

And they lost.

[Lokibob]

They led 171 laps, the engine failed at 197 laps when a bearing failed (3 laps short of the full 500 miles). All this in the first year of a new engine.

My point is, if USAC had not changed the rules to forbid the turbine engine, what would the indy 500 be today? An A.J. Foyt in a modern turbine car would be (IMHO) unbeatable.

[CrazyIvan]

Nope, never met the man. People do get us confused sometimes. He's the eloquent one.

[Deadeye Division]

http://www.wibc.com/fantasy500/final.html

[Samwise]

Thank you so much for the link. I just sent it to Hubby.

He listened to it Sunday morning until it was rained out.... Of course, it was rained out. It's not the 500 without rain. That was a clever way to let them broadcast the basketball game. Anyway, I searched WIBC yesterday and couldn't find the results, so I appreciate you supplying them.