Indy Car Homestead TV rating

UPDATE This year's ESPN2 rating of 0.7 on ESPN2 isn't bad since last years TV rating on ABC was a 0.8/2 share. It represents a drop from last year of 12.5% but that would be expected when going from network TV to cable TV.

03/29/07 ESPN2's flag-to-flag coverage of the XM Radio Satellite Radio Indy 300 on March 24 at Homestead Miami Speedway earned a .7 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, making it the highest-rated IndyCar Series race ever on ESPN2.

The race was the fourth-highest IndyCar Series cable rating since 2000 and the highest cable rating since June 2005.

This weekend, coverage of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg moves to ESPN. The first street race of the season presents a different challenge to the crew who will call the race.

"From a technical standpoint, the tall buildings in St. Petersburg cast shadows on the race track and the cars are going from bright sunshine to shade then back to sunshine," said Marty Reid, who will call the April 1 race along with Scott Goodyear. "Our guys have to work really hard on shading the cameras, and our video guys make sure the picture doesn't suddenly go to black. The buildings also interfere with in-car radio systems so just like the race teams we have to make sure we have strong repeaters so we can hear all the way around the track."

ESPN's telecast of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. (ET).