NBC Cams at Indy and more TV stuff:

NBC’s coverage of the Brickyard 400 from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway gets underway this Sunday with the “Discover Card Countdown to Green” pre-race show at 2:00pm/et followed by green flag racing from the Brickyard 400. TNT telecasts NASCAR Busch Series Racing from Indy [IRP], Saturday night at 8:00pm/et. “Daytona brought NASCAR racing to the fans,” said Bill Weber, NBC pre-race host and lead pit reporter. “The Brickyard brought fans to NASCAR racing, simply by the name Indianapolis and the history associated with this track. Usually it’s about the race, but on this weekend, it’s about the place.” “For a lot of people, Daytona is the biggest race, but you’d be surprised at the number of drivers who would tell you the Brickyard 400 is the biggest prize,” analyst Wally Dallenbach said. “To me and to a lot of other drivers who remember growing up here or in this track’s shadow, a win at the Brickyard is on the top of their list.” NBC Sports will deploy 79 cameras including cameras unique to Indianapolis Motor Speedway: Squash-Cam, Wall-Cams and the “Eye-Full Tower Cam.” An extra bank of 11 monitors will be added to the NBC Sports production truck to accommodate the additional cameras for the Brickyard 400. “Squash-Cam” is a lipstick-size camera buried in the grass just inside Turn 1. The camera often shows a car moving over or extremely close to the camera lens to give the audience the feeling of being “squashed,” especially on starts and restarts. “Wall-Cam” is a lipstick-size camera embedded inside the outside wall of Turn 2 and Turn 4. The cameras shoot cars in Turns 1 and 3 respectively and give the viewer the sense of speed of the cars when they drive past the cameras. The “Eye-Full Tower-Cam” is a robotic camera atop the scoring pylon 92-feet in the air overlooking the infield and providing viewers a sense of the magnificent spectacle of Indianapolis Motor Speedway with its “Canyon of Fans” in the grandstands on either side of the racetrack’s frontstretch.(NBC PR)(7-31-2003)