Here's the 17-race lineup for the 2018 IndyCar Series Scott Horner/IndyStar
INDIANAPOLIS -- Former WISH-TV sports reporter and current daytime and weekends “SportsCenter” anchor Nicole Briscoe has been tapped by ESPN to host the telecast for the 102nd Indianapolis 500. As the telecast host, Briscoe, who recently signed a multiyear extension to stay with ESPN, will anchor the one-hour prerace show and bring viewers back from breaks during the race.
This is a happy homecoming that was a long time in coming, Briscoe told IndyStar on Wednesday. She has been clamoring for a crack at hosting ESPN’s 500 coverage for years, and this May, she’ll get her chance.
The longtime motor sports reporter got her first taste of the magic of Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2004 when she covered 500 rookie orientation for WISH.
She had never covered racing and didn’t know much about it. But that didn’t stop the Roscoe, Ill., native from falling in love almost immediately.
“How could you not?” said Briscoe, the wife of Ryan Briscoe, a former IndyCar driver and two-time top-five finisher at the 500. “It’s the history and the brick by brick of more than 100 years of competition and what led us to this. The race is about seeing how far technology can go and how far the human body can go and where they meet in the middle on the track. All of that drew me in.”
Here's how IndyStar's Jim Ayello sees the IndyCar landscape as the 2018 season gets closer. Wochit
Briscoe hopes to use her relationships with the 500 community in the coming months. She said she is especially looking forward to sitting down with some drivers and discussing what they want to see in the broadcast.
They’re the experts, she said after years of watching races with her husband, and she will be curious to find out how this year's drivers want their signature event to be portrayed. Of course, Briscoe added, she’s not looking to reinvent the wheel -- but simply hoping to convey her passion for it.
“What I want is for my genuine enthusiasm and genuine love for that event to shine through the lens and goes home to people watching," Briscoe said. "Not everyone has a chance to be there and experience what I did back in 2004 at the hallowed ground of Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indy 500. But just just because you’re not there doesn’t mean I can’t make you feel like you are and make you feel the same love and passion for it.”
That task will be made easier with a plethora of compelling storylines already beginning to take shape.
If Danica Patrick, whom Briscoe went to high school with, lands a ride, that will obviously be a massive May story, Briscoe said. It will be fascinating to see Patrick wrap up her career at the place that helped put her on the map.
A tour of IndyCar's 2018 race dates. Stephen Beard/IndyStar
Of course, Helio Castroneves’ pursuit of his fourth victory will be top of mind, as will Marco Andretti’s latest attempt to halt the Andretti curse, she said. But you can never really predict the drama that will unfold.
“Who would have picked Alex Rossi to win the 500?” Briscoe said. “If you say you did, you’re lying. But that’s the thing about Indy. It chooses you. And you just have to be prepared for it."
What she can be prepared for, she said, is another fantastic race.
“The product, at the end of the day always speaks for itself,” Briscoe said. “And that product hasn’t been an issue for IndyCar or at Indy -- particularly the past three or four years, which have been unspeakably awesome. There just aren’t enough words to describe how great it’s been.
“I really cannot wait to be back and part of the 500.”
Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Instagram: @jimayello.
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