Townsend Bell will wear two hats May 23 – his race helmet in the final Verizon IndyCar Series practice session on Coors Light Carb Day and then his stylish Robert Graham driver cap in the NBCSN broadcast booth.
NBCSN’s Carb Day coverage begins at 11 a.m. (ET).
“It’s going to be fast and furious as everybody tries to refine their final race set-up for the big show on Sunday,” said Bell, who’s driving the No. 6 entry for KV Racing Technology. “That one-hour show is really important if you’re a fan to get a sense of how you do in traffic. Because running around by yourself at Indy is one thing, but in a freight train of 20 cars there’s just a vicious turbulent air.
“I’m looking forward to doing the practice and then jumping up with my friends in the booth to cover the pit stop competition and, you know, hopefully kind of do a deep dive into everything.”
May 23 – NBCSN televises the Verizon IndyCar Series final practice at 11 a.m. (ET), followed by the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Freedom 100 and the Tag Heuer Pit Stop Competition. Chief announcer Bob Varsha will be joined in the booth by Wally Dallenbach and Bell following the final practice. Kevin Lee is chief announcer of the Freedom 100 with analyst Anders Krohn.
NBC Sports Live Extra will provide streaming video of Carb Day activity. NBCSN also will televise the IPL 500 Festival Parade at 5 p.m. (ET) May 24.
May 25 -- ABC telecasts the race live (11 a.m. ET). Allen Bestwick is the chief announcer, with Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever Jr. the analysts.
Radio/web: All Verizon IndyCar Series sessions are broadcast on IMS Radio Network affiliates, XM 209 and Sirius 213, www.indycar.com and INDYCAR 14 app (both in conjunction with real-time Timing & Scoring). Paul Page is the chief announcer.
Twitter: @IMS, @IndyCar, #Indy500
Weather forecast: Sunny; high in middle 70s
Race laps: 200 in counter-clockwise direction on 2.5-mile oval
Start: Three-wide rolling start. … Single-file restarts
Tires: Firestone has supplied a new-for-2014 left and right tire compound to provide “a touch more” grip along with a new construction of the left-rear for more rear security.
Pit box dimensions: 47 x 14 feet
Race day fuel: 130 U.S. gallons of E85 ... Verizon IndyCar Series cars carry 18.5 U.S. gallons
Verizon P1 Award: Ed Carpenter won the pole for the second consecutive year with a four-lap average speed of 231.067 mph in the Fast Nine Shootout on May 18 in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka car. James Hinchcliffe and Will Power join Carpenter on the front row.
2013: Tony Kanaan won the race from the 12th starting position in his 12th Indianapolis 500 start with a race-record 187.433 mph average speed. There were a race-record 68 lead changes among 14 drivers. Rookie Carlos Munoz was runner-up.
Notable: Coors Light Carb Day also features concerts by Sammy Hagar and The Wabos and Sublime With Rome. ... On Race Day, Jim Nabors will sing “Back Home Again (in Indiana)” for the final time. … Martina McBride will perform “America The Beautiful.” … The average speed of the 33-car field of 229.698 mph is the fastest in Indy 500 history. … There are four American-born drivers on the first three rows for the race. Five other countries represented. … Five different Verizon IndyCar Series teams are represented on the first three rows. … There are six former Indy 500 winners in the starting field: Kanaan (2013), Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009), Scott Dixon (2008), Juan Pablo Montoya (2000), Buddy Lazier (1996) and Jacques Villeneuve (1995). The record for most former winners is 10 (1992) and the fewest, other than the inaugural race in 1911, is zero (1912). … There are seven rookies in the starting field: Kurt Busch, James Davison, Jack Hawksworth, Carlos Huertos, Sage Karam, Martin Plowman and Mikhail Aleshin. Last year there were four rookies. … Karam is the youngest competitor, who will be 19 years, 2 months, 20 days on Race Day. He's the fourth-youngest to contest the Indy 500. A.J. Foyt IV, who turned 19 on Race Day in 2003, is the youngest.