Fox IndyCar producer Pam Miller talks Tim Cindric’s inclusion in the booth

Fox is ramping up its IndyCar coverage by including people who are actively involved on teams.

Tim Cindric is Team Penske’s president of IndyCar operations and chief strategist for Josef Newgarden. He’s now signed on with Fox as a guest broadcaster for an Indy NXT race on May 4.

We’ve seen active athletes, coaches, and executives across many sports tabbed for studio show guest spots, recurring media roles, and sometimes even full game or event broadcasts. But Fox has often been a pioneer there, and they’ve particularly done that in NASCAR, the network’s other premier motorsport.

Over there, Fox started using active drivers and other active industry figures as Xfinity Series guest commentators in 2015. They then launched a “Drivers Only” broadcast for that series in 2017, a concept they’ve continued to use occasionally. The general idea of bringing active figures into the booth has been an emphasis for them on Xfinity Series coverage. And now, they’re taking that to IndyCar NXT races.

Why Pam Miller brought active figures into the booth

Legendary producer Pam Miller is a key figure in using active racing figures on broadcasts. For decades, Miller has been a vital part of Fox’s NASCAR coverage across live events, studio shows, and documentaries. Notably, she was their race producer for the Xfinity Series from 2015-23, and is now their lead producer for IndyCar coverage. She told Awful Announcing this week that there’s tremendous value to having active figures on race broadcasts given their knowledge of and passion for the series.

“They have an insight into things that happen on the track and off that all of us can aspire to have,” Miller said. “But they’ve lived it, they’ve experienced it. They are trying to figure it out and strategize every day, every minute. These guys live and eat and drink and sleep it.”

Miller said that the figures’ active sports participation gives them a unique insight.

“It’s like a peek into the series that people haven’t seen before that I think would really help the fan base gain a knowledge of the sport that they might not get somewhere else. Whether it’s a driver, a strategist, an engineer, everybody has a perspective that people are trying to learn. People want information. And these are the guys that are the gatekeepers to it.”

When Fox’s Xfinity coverage first started using active racing figures, Miller said it wasn’t guaranteed that they would become as big a component of their coverage as they have. But she was optimistic from the start that those figures had something to offer Fox, and she thought it was a valuable experience for them as well.

“I think we had all seen the potential in these drivers. And it was a great way to collaborate with them, to show them what TV was like for them to show us what their perspective was on coverage from the cockpit, things they like to do or don’t like to do. It was just the things that we could all meet in the middle on and try to make better. And that’s what that turned into this collaboration.”

What broadcasting while an active driver meant to Clint Bowyer

Clint Bowyer was one of those early driver analysts, who’s now in the Cup Series booth for Fox (a role he’s held since retiring as an active driver following the 2020 season). He also spoke to Awful Announcing this week and said his broadcast work while still racing offered him valuable perspective.

“It gave me several different new vantage points to look at our sport, to look at myself, look at the way that things are leveraged through TV to a viewer. I got a chance to do those broadcasts, come back, look at social media, get the vibe, get the feel of what people liked, what they didn’t like.”

In Bowyer’s mind, that early broadcasting work impacted his whole approach to racing.

“That kind of helped form the direction of the way I looked at the sport, whether it was a sponsor in my Cup car or a team owner or the sanctioning body with NASCAR. It just gave me a whole different lens to look through and think about the overall impact of all things NASCAR.”

He said it also stood out from many of the other opportunities and obligations he had as a driver for how enjoyable and educational it was.

“First and foremost, it was fun. All the time we do appearances as race car drivers, every single week, whether it’s a sponsor, engagement, dinner the night before or pit road or a new fan you’ve never talked to before, you’re telling them and selling them the sport you know, so they’ll hopefully come back and buy another ticket some other day.

“That being said, when I got up there in the booth, I obviously formed some different opinions on exactly what that was, because you’re not always talking to the same person. And these opportunities are what kind of shaped my opinion on the way NASCAR is looked at a little differently than it did behind the wheel.”

Interestingly, that first “Drivers Only” broadcast featured Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, and Joey Logano in the main booth. Bowyer and Harvick are now in Fox’s main NASCAR Cup Series booth. Logano’s still racing, but has been a regular guest analyst on Xfinity broadcasts and is now a regular guest analyst on Truck Series broadcasts. He’s expressed interest in post-career broadcast work, too. But Bowyer said going from racing to broadcasting is a transition that requires putting in the work, especially regarding how to work with the rest of the production team to get insights across.

“Your eyes are wide open. You think it’s just so easy. You get up there and you’re like, ‘I’m just going to go out and call a race, no different than if I’m sitting in the grandstands shooting the breeze with four or five of my peers. That’s what we’ve done our whole lives, what we grew up doing.

“But when you get up there, you’re trying to make sure that it’s impactful. And you see a camera shot, you’re like, ‘Whoa, whoa, move that over just a little bit more, you need to see this.’ Because that’s what that driver is waiting on. He’s waiting on a mistake here, or he’s pressuring him so hopefully he slips up and makes a mistake, and he can pounce on it.”

For Bowyer, the key part of what interests him about broadcasting is being able to work with production and announcing teams to add insights for fans.

“I can take this camera shot and show you something else that’s a little more in-depth, add a couple more layers to it. It makes a broadcast more exciting and entertaining, because it’s like, ‘I didn’t really realize that, I thought it was just cars going around the track.'”

How the Xfinity active-figure broadcasts evolved, and what that means for IndyCar NXT

The broadcasts with active figures in the Xfinity Series changed somewhat over time. Miller said those changes came from both the production crews and the broadcasters, with both figuring out what worked as the approach went on.

“I think they learned a lot more than I think they thought they would, and we learned a lot more than what we thought. And I think we also gave a peek into what their personalities were like, and how they communicated, and how they saw a race, and what they were looking for. And it taught us to look for different things.”

Miller said she’s optimistic this IndyCar NXT broadcast with Cindric will do the same.

“I think that’s the hope here, that we give people a peek behind the personalities, that they learn more about them by listening to them for an hour or however long the show is. And also they help teach us and the audience about nuances and things that maybe people haven’t thought of yet or maybe haven’t seen in a long time, or where things might be headed.”

Cindric has quite the racing history, serving as the overall president of Team Penske from 2006 to this January. He’s been involved with over 400 victories and 31 championships across various IndyCar [including 10 Indy 500 titles], NASCAR, and other series. He now leads their IndyCar operations. Miller said he’s an ideal fit for NXT broadcasts given his experience finding and developing promising young racers and his top-level strategy work with Newgarden.

“When it comes to strategy insight for a series like NXT, scouting, Tim Cindric is the gold standard, right? He’s the guy that’s won more Indy 500s [than anyone], he’s the guy that’s looking for talent. He’s the guy that’s insightful, and he’s got a different perspective that I think will be really unique for the fans to see in a different form. And everybody can learn from him being in the room for 10 seconds. So I think he’s going to help educate the fans and bring a different angle to it.”

As with the Xfinity broadcasts, Miller said she thinks the production team will be able to learn from Cindric, he’ll be able to learn from them, and viewers can learn from those connections.

“That’s where the great part of this whole collaborative idea comes from: we’re all learning from each other. That worked in Xfinity. And I think for IndyCar, it’ll be a great way for fans to learn more about not only the personalities, but the cars, the up-and-comers, the strategies, all those things that maybe they haven’t had that exact insight into before.”

How do you get active figures comfortable in the booth?

One key lesson from those previous broadcasts? Miller said that ensuring the guest analysts can focus on their specialties rather than getting bogged down in stats is key.

“The one thing that stood out right away with Xfinity was, ‘Don’t let the guys get hung up on statistics.’ They don’t need to know every single lap statistic or driver statistic. They need to be them. And so how do you empower them to be them? Watch what’s on the track. Talk to us in the truck so we can get the shots.

“You want to explain it? Encourage them to be them, to be conversational. Don’t worry about things like how many laps did that guy actually lead at that moment 10 years ago. No, just be you, and tell us what you’re seeing. Don’t worry about the nuts and bolts of things, we have people to do that.”

Miller thinks the extensive experience on the Xfinity side should be handy for this approach on the IndyCar side.

“It’s about how we can support them and just get them comfortable in that moment and in that environment,” she said. “I think that’s really what we’ve all learned in this journey over the last 10 to 11 years.”

Miller said another critical part of this is having the right regular broadcasters in place. For Fox’s IndyCar NXT coverage, it will be play-by-play voice Kevin Lee and analyst Jack Harvey working with Cindric, and the connections both have to him should be helpful.

“There’s a little familiarity there, right?” Miller said. “Jack’s been in the paddock. He’s been one of those guys that was being scouted and has a unique perspective. …And Kevin’s a comfortable voice that’s been there for a long time. They’re used to talking to him. I think that it should be a pretty easy conversation between them. And I would think that with Kevin’s experience of how to navigate the broadcast, I would think it should be a pretty easy transition.”

For Miller, featuring active figures like Cindric in the booth is just part of the overall cooperative approach she’s trying to bring to Fox’s IndyCar coverage in its first year.

“I think that’s really what the first step has been, the spirit of collaboration with everybody,” she said. “It’s working with the drivers and the teams, trying to get that feeling to the fans where they are starting to understand the strategy, understand the personalities, understand what’s happening in an entertaining way. I think so far it’s going well.”

She said they’re eager to keep tweaking their approach going forward to provide the best possible experience for fans.

“We’re trying to keep that evolving, and each week it should evolve. It should be different each week. We should add things each week, different personalities each week.”