This weekend’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park is the first of 10 IZOD IndyCar Series races to be aired this season on NBC Sports Network, formerly Versus. Apart from one change on pit road with Townsend Bell coming in to replace Lindy Thackston, the team remains intact with Bob Jenkins, Jon Beekhuis and Wally Dallenbach in the booth; Marty Snider and Kevin Lee accompanying Bell in the pits; and Robin Miller as reporter.
Leading in to their race-day coverage on Sunday will be the first episode of INDYCAR 36 at 1:30 p.m. ET, which features Tony Kanaan and his KV Racing Technology team. Produced by IMS Productions, the show will follow drivers around for 36 hours during race weekends. It’s the third of NBCSN’s all-access ’36’ programs to debut, following hockey’s NHL 36 and boxing’s Fight Night 36.
NBCSN will also air Saturday morning’s qualifying rounds on same-day tape at 4 p.m. ET and this weekend’s Firestone Indy Lights race on Thursday, April 5 at 5 p.m. ET.
A lot of INDYCAR fans have been anxious to see what NBC’s rebranding of Versus will mean in terms of coverage. Personally, while we’ve gotten used to NBCSN’s look in the last few months — different color palette, cleaner lines, and peacocks everywhere — I’m keen on seeing how that’s going to translate over to racing.
Here’s their ad for Sunday’s race:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
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