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The Benefits of Living near the Racing Capitol of the World

I have been a Hoosier for going on 19 years now, moving from Texas when I was young boy. One of the first memories I have from Indiana is of my father taking me to the Indy 500 the year we moved up here. And even though I fell asleep during the race, I still remember watching Buddy Lazier win the 80th Indy 500 very vividly. Ever since that race I have been hooked on IndyCar racing more than any other, and I have found that there’s a huge advantage to living close to Racing Capitol of the world; local programing.


Now days nearly all radio stations provide podcasts to their listeners. This really allows people from around the country and world to enjoy what used to be local broadcasting. I’m sure all that make the annual pilgrimage to Indianapolis every May know about the first radio program I will discuss, The Talk of Gasoline Alley.

The Talk of Gasoline Alley as been a staple in May for nearly 50 years. The show is hosted by IMS historian Donald Davidson, who really knows everything, or at least everything that needs to be known about the 500, the motor speedway, and the drivers that raced there. The show has new episodes many nights during the month of May and during the weeks of the Brickyard 400 on 1070 the Fan or 107.5 FM here in Indianapolis. The show began as a quiz show. Listeners would call in and try to stump Donald. Soon the show evolved into a show where callers would call in and simply ask nostalgic questions of particular drivers, specific Indy 500 races, or even car manufacturers. I still remember listening to Donald on the radio after my first 500 sitting in traffic for what seemed like days. To this day it is by far one of my favorite parts of the month of May. This show can be enjoyed all year round and I would highly recommend visiting the 1070 podcast page and listen to some of the old episodes sometime while at work or on the morning drive.

Click HERE to head to The Talk of Gasoline Alley podcast page right now.

The next local show that I would highly recommend is Trackside. This show is also on 1070 the Fan or 107.5 here in Indianapolis or can be streamed on their webpage or on iHeart radio… This show is on year round, but the schedule often varies based on the local sports teams schedules so I would suggest checking out there website to see updated schedules. Trackside is hosted by Curt Cavin (of the Indianpolis Star) and Kevin Lee (of just about everything, NBCSN, Pacers Basketball, etc). The show in my opinion is THE IndyCar news show. They often have great guests and talk everything IndyCar, with a little sportscar and NASCAR for good measure. The only downside to this show is that it isn’t on more than once a week! If you haven’t listened to this show before I would recommend checking it out and listen live if you can; they often have twitter, email, and sometimes listener call ins that make the show interesting and always entertaining. This is one of the few shows where, much to my fiance’s dismay, will take the long way home to continue listening.

Click HERE to listen to some older Trackside shows and see their upcoming schedule.

Although I am a relatively new listener to History of the Indy 500 on 93.1 WIBC here in Indianapolis I really enjoy it. This was a show that I found while searching online for more podcasts to quench my Indy thirst last may. The podcasts are a must listen while taking road trips or sitting at a desk all day.  The shows are broken down into several parts where they pay tribute to certain drivers, or specific years at Indianapolis.

The link I provide has a wealth of Indy 500 history on it. It has interviews of drivers and unique stories of the 500 that you may have not ever known. You can visit this page by clicking HERE.

The final show I will highlight in this blog will be One On One with Mark Montieth. This show airs every Wednesday night and a rebroadcast every Sunday on 1070 The Fan and 107.5 here in Indianapolis. Now this isn’t strictly an IndyCar show. Mark hosts an hour long question and answer session with people who are related in some way to Indiana. This often times are Purdue or IU basketball legends or Pro Athletes that have played on the Colts or Pacers. Mark does do interviews with a good number of Indy racers or people in the auto racing industry. Right now my favorite interview I’ve heard within the last year was with Mario Andretti. His interview was actually split into two episodes. Mario discussed his childhood and the story of him and his brother Aldo getting into racing; it was truly fascinating! All of these episodes are also available as podcasts on 1070’s website, but the issue I have had is there isn’t a great way to search for them other than just going back page-by-page through the archives. If you do take the time, the rewards are great interviews with Al Unser Jr, Ed Carpenter, Parnelli Jones, and many more!

HERE is the link to the One On One with Mark Montieth page.

Well there you have it! What I would say is a couple hundred hours worth of podcasts and local programing from here in Indianapolis that is Indy 500 and IMS related. I hope you enjoy browsing through all the history I know I have spent many days at work listening to these. I’m sure there are a number of good shows that I have left out, these are just the ones that I really enjoy and listen to on a regular basis. If anyone has suggestions of other shows, either local to Indianapolis, or even around the world, leave a link in the comments section so we can check it out!

3/13/14 – Parker Hall

Full Disclosure: We are not getting paid by any company that we “advertised” links for within this blog. These are local podcasts and radio shows that I enjoy and wanted to share for your entertainment.