NBC Sports Network will put the spotlight on IndyCar’s rising Americans at Pocono

Graham Rahal

Leigh Diffey may be Australian, but he understands why IndyCar Racing's popularity in America needs an infusion of young American driving talent, as it's getting at the moment from Graham Rahal.

"There's a resurgence of young American drivers, which is very intoxicating," said Diffey, who will be the lap-by-lap announcer for the NBC Sports Network during Sunday's ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway, a race that marks the third consecutive summer that open-wheel racing will be on display at Long Pond.

"When you add legendary names to it like Rahal and Andretti and fresh new faces and stars like [Josef] Newgarden and Sage Karam, it's terrific. There are so many positives. It's difficult to put your finger on just one."

IndyCar still languishes behind NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series when it comes to TV ratings, but there has been an uptick that Graham Rahal, the 26-year-old son of racing legend Bobby Rahal, might have spurred.

Rahal has surged into second place in the point standings after winning two races and finishing in the top three six times this year. He's coming off a win in the last IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio earlier this month and enters Sunday's race just nine points behind series leader and last year's Pocono winner, Juan Pablo Montoya.

"Of course, Americans gravitate toward American names and some of these guys have been stars for a long time," Diffey said. "I called the race at Iowa where, for the first time in 14 years, we had a race with the top four positions filled by American drivers. The North American IndyCar community had been starved for that.

"People have been asking: Where's the next Jimmy Vasser, where's the next Michael Andretti, where's the next American hero? Well, here they are. When you get names like Rahals and Andrettis winning and doing well, it really resonates with the audience."

A Marco Andretti win would certainly resonate in the Lehigh Valley, one of the few places where IndyCar remains more popular than NASCAR, largely because of the Andretti name.

Andretti, seventh in the series standings, hasn't won a race since Iowa in 2011. He has been fast at Pocono, winning the pole in the circuit's return to the so-called "Tricky Triangle" in 2013, but he has been hit with misfortune in his backyard.

In 2013, he ran out of fuel. Last year, he suffered a pit road penalty for excessive speed.

Andretti and his former Nazareth neighbor Sage Karam, who is running his first Verizon IndyCar series event at Pocono after finishing second in an IndyLights race two years ago, will be spotlighted during NBC's race coverage.

"This is a wonderful platform for both of them to perform," Diffey said. "Sage is full of youthful exuberance. He's driving like a young man with something to prove.

"Marco, more often than not, is in the wrong place at the wrong time. There should have been many more victories. His results don't underscore his talent. Perhaps in the way we've seen Graham Rahal turn things after five or six meager seasons, I think it might be just around the corner for Marco as well."

From a broadcasting viewpoint, if either Karam or Andretti or both are in contention late at Pocono, it will make for a dramatic day and possibly a spike in viewership.

"Having two good young Americans with a back story of them growing up across the street from one another, it's an easy anchor point and a very enjoyable anchor point for us to elevate during the course of our broadcast," Diffey said. "Everybody loves racing at home, right? Let's hope it gives those two young guys some extra zing."

Diffey will need some extra zing to get through what will be an extremely busy Sunday for him. He will be getting up at 3 in the morning and heading to the NBC Sports Group's International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn., to call the Formula One race, the Belgian Grand Prix. That's set to air at 7:30 a.m.

Immediately on that race's conclusion, Diffey and race analyst Steve Matchett will be whisked away to the Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., where they'll take the short flight to Pocono.

Both Diffey and Matchett, who will be joined on the IndyCar coverage by former driver Paul Tracy, are scheduled to arrive at Long Pond about an hour before the pre-race coverage begins at 2 p.m. The race itself is set for a 2:37 p.m. start.

Diffey has never been to Pocono before, so his task will be to quickly get the feel of the unique, 21/2-mile tri-oval nestled in the middle of the mountains.

"I've had the good fortune of working on world championships for a long time and I have seen a majority of the racetracks around the world, but I have never been to Pocono and I am excited about it," he said. "I can't wait to get there. I can't wait to see it in the flesh.

"It's always exciting to go to a place for the first time, especially a place that you've heard so much about. I thrive on things that are exciting, and Pocono provides exciting racing whether it's NASCAR or IndyCar."

Diffey, who also has done NASCAR Xfinity Series races, will be busy, but he loves what he's doing as the NBC Sports Network attempts to become synonymous with all racing brands.

"We're already making very good strides," Diffey said. "We call ourselves the home of motor sports, which is a branding thing, but we know that we are. For the first time ever, NBC will be the network to crown the champions in Formula One, NASCAR and IndyCar.

"With the demise of the Speed Channel, there was a lot of confusion about where you go for motorsports. Do we have every form of motorsports? No. But we have the majority and we have the blue-chip categories. We're all vehemently proud of that." The Morning Call