Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Bob Jenkins, the man who was the voice of the Indy 500 for five decades, passed away on Monday, August 9, after a battle with cancer. He was 73.
Jenkins was born on Sept. 4, 1947, in Richmond, Indiana, but grew up in Liberty. He was a lifelong Hoosier who was a racing fan from a young age.
"I always have been and am now a race fan who got lucky. I did not put myself on a pedestal just because I had a high-profile job on radio or television. That does not make me better," he told the Indy Star in May. "All I want to be remembered as is a race fan who got a job in radio or TV. And for some reason, people liked me."
Jenkins was one of four TV play-by-play announcers for ABC during its 54 year history of broadcasting the Indy 500.
He could also be heard calling IndyCar and NASCAR races on ESPN and NBCSN before he became the Indianapolis Motor Speedway PA.
His voice was so famous that he appeared in several racing video games and even in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Jenkins survived a bout with colon cancer in the 1980s, but he only stepped away from racing in February when he announced that he had brain cancer.