INDYCAR: Legendary Indy 500 Announcer Tom Carnegie Dies

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Legendary Indy 500 Announcer Tom Carnegie Dies

Carnegie, who passed away Friday in a hospice in Indianapolis at age 91, spent 60 years (1946-2006) as the Speedway’s chief public address announcer.

Robin Miller | Posted February 11, 2011 Indianapolis, IN

Tom Carnegie, left, interviews Mario Andretti, right, in 1984. Carnegie was THE voice of the Indianapolis 500 for many generations of fans. (IMS)

Long before there was computer timing and scoring, video screens and live television coverage, there was Tom Carnegie.

When time trials at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway drew the second largest crowd to any sporting event in North America, it was Carnegie who whipped them into a frenzy while describing a qualifying run.

That great booming voice declaring it was “A new track record, It’s Even Faster or You Won’t Believe It,” resonated all around the track and Carnegie’s dramatic delivery became as famous as many of the stars he talked about.

“I believe Tom Carnegie did more than any other human being to build the crowds for qualifying,” said IMS historian Donald Davidson. “Because of his delivery, that voice, his showmanship and that sense of theatre, he would electrify the place.

“It was thrilling no matter how many times you heard it.”

Carnegie, who passed away Friday in a hospice in Indianapolis at age 91, spent 60 years (1946-2006) as the Speedway’s chief public address announcer.

From Freddie Agabashian to Mario Andretti to Arie Luyendyk, from dirt cars to roadsters to rear-engine, he put his stamp on the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” with a commanding voice that captured the drama.

“Tom was one of those perpetual icons,” said Andretti, whose pole positions runs in the ‘60s quickly made him a household name in Carnegie’s vernacular. “He goes hand-in-hand with Sid Collins and they left their blueprints forever at the Speedway.

“No fan who ever attended qualifying will ever forget Tom Carnegie’s voice.”

A local radio reporter, Carnegie was hired after Tony Hulman refurbished the Speedway following World War II.

And his presence really took off in the ‘60s and ‘70s when Parnelli Jones, A.J. Foyt, Jim Clark, Bobby Unser, Tom Sneva and Andretti elevated the speeds from 150 to 200 MPH.

“It didn’t happen overnight but he developed a style and pretty soon he had the place in the palm of his hand,” said Davidson.

Those were the days when the place was packed for pole day and everyone waited on Tom’s report because that the only means of communication.

“The car would cross the line in qualifying and the elapsed time would come up and then somebody figured out the speed with a Monroe calculator and gave it to Tom,” recalled Davidson.

“That all took a while and as the driver was entering Turn 3, Tom would finally call out the speed. He never liked the computers because they speeded up the process.”

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