Columnist Tim Graham: LV race won’t be televised here until Sunday

Tim Graham

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1997 | 9:39 a.m.

Gentlemen, start your waiting.

For those who want to watch Saturday night's Las Vegas 500K at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway but are not willing to purchase a ticket and weave through traffic like Mario Andretti to get there, you will have to hold your horsepower.

ABC (KTNV Channel 13) won't broadcast the Indy Racing League's season finale live. With the race being held at night in the Pacific time zone, IRL and network officials opted to show the race on tape-delay Sunday at 3 p.m. to maximize its audience.

Exactly how bright that decision is remains uncertain. Instead of competing against baseball playoff games from both the American and National Leagues, the race will go head to head with the NFL.

"For the fans, it doesn't do us much good," said KTNV sports director Ron Futrell, an auto racing enthusiast who has become the LVMS television guru.

"I never like anything tape-delayed. In my opinion, with so many 24-hour sports channels out there, what I'd like to see ABC do is give it to (ESPN or ESPN2) to show it live."

Such a move would make sense. ABC is ESPN's parent company.

And auto racing is a proven commodity on cable. NASCAR routinely draws high ratings on TBS and TNN even when shown live at night.

But the IRL is not a major player like NASCAR. That's why it can't sell out the LVMS and is given the same broadcast consideration as day-old bread: It will be stale, but if there's nothing else available it won't kill you.

"It's safe to say that if this was NASCAR, it wouldn't be tape-delayed," Futrell said. "The Brickyard 400 is the only NASCAR race that is tape-delayed, but that's still the same day and only on the West Coast. Hopefully, ABC will change that soon."

In an attempt to bring some sort of live coverage to Las Vegas, Futrell will anchor a one-hour show from the LVMS infield Saturday at 5 p.m. Noted motor sports analyst Derek Daly will co-host.

The special will re-air Sunday at 2 p.m., prior to ABC's tape-delayed broadcast. It will take an inside look at the event with features, remotes and interviews with the drivers before they climb behind the wheel.

"We're just going to report what's going on," said Futrell, noting that the audio will be simulcast on KNUU 970-AM. "With having Derek Daly involved on the show, you have great credentials. There's no better expert in Las Vegas."

Daly, an Irishman, is an accomplished Formula One and Indy car driver, but he may be an even better TV analyst. He came to the valley after last year's inaugural Las Vegas 500K and founded the Derek Daly SpeedCentre at LVMS. The SpeedCentre provides driving instruction to aspiring professional drivers.

Static

* PENNANT FEVER: The entire Major League Baseball championship series slate airs live on KBAD 920-AM. CBS Radio Sports handles the action with John Rooney and Jeff Torborg calling the American League and Gary Cohen, Jim Hunter and Jerry Coleman handling the National League. The World Series moves to KENO 1460-AM.

* BASEBALL SCHMASEBALL: The football blowout beat the baseball nailbiter. "Monday Night Football," with the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos, won its ratings war against dramatic Game 5 of the American League divisional series between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians. The two squared off on ABC (KTNV Channel 13) and Fox (KVVU Channel 5), respectively. "MNF" drew a 15.2 overnight rating and 23 share, while the playoff game garnered an 11.6 and an 18. Each ratings point equals 970,000 homes, or one percent of all homes with a television. The share represents the percentage of televisions in use at that time.

* PBR ME: TNN (Prime Cable Channel 29) carries this weekend's action from the Professional Bull Riders Bud Light Cup World Championships from the MGM Grand Garden. The event, which starts Friday and runs through Sunday, virtually is sold out. TNN's coverage runs live Saturday from 7-9 p.m. and Sunday from 4-6:30 p.m. Las Vegan Pam Minick is a member of TNN's broadcast team along with Don Gay and Dan Miller.

* SPINNING THE DIAL: Sport magazine recently conducted a poll of athletes from the three major sports, asking them what sports news organization they felt is most credible. The results: ESPN (60 percent), HBO (20 percent), CNN (10 percent), HBO and Sports Illustrated (five percent each). ... HBO (Prime Cable Channel 54) replays Lennox Lewis' first-round knockout of Andrew Golota Saturday at 11 p.m. Arturo Gatti's entertaining fifth-round stoppage of Gabe Rueles on the undercard also airs.