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New voice of Indy King takes over for Jenkins as anchor for May 30 race
Posted: Thursday May 13, 1999 12:39 AM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Millions of race fans have grown up listening to the radio broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 each Memorial Day weekend, perhaps dreaming of being the man calling one of the world's most famous sports events. One got his way. Now that Bob Jenkins has relinquished that job to become the anchor for ABC's live TV broadcast of the May 30 race, the radio job falls to Mike King. "It truly is an honor and the fulfillment of a career goal," said King, who is the anchor for broadcasts of other Indy Racing League events. Besides keeping track of the action and knowing the history of the race, the play-by-play man must work with a huge crew covering every part of the sprawling Indianapolis Motor Speedway grounds and the 2 1/2-mile oval. "The bottom line is that there are 11 on-air voices that are collectively the voice of the Indianapolis 500," King said. "I'm just the anchor of the event. "It's very much like conducting an orchestra. If you take away the people playing the instruments, the conductor is just a guy waving a stick." The 41-year-old King became anchor for the broadcasts of Indy Racing League events in January after serving as a pit and turn reporter with the Indy Racing Radio Network since 1995. He also plays host to the weekly IRRN program "Track Talk," a national show. King also has worked as a reporter during racing telecasts on CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, SpeedVision and Prime Sports Network. "I am, and always have been, a racing fan," King said. "Growing up in North Carolina, I cut my teeth on stock car racing, but have come to love the incredible excitement of open-wheel racing. "I hope I am able to communicate that to fans around the world."
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