IndyCar rides planned ahead of Wabash College panel (Update)
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| Mark Miles a Wabash graduate |
The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 is coming soon to all those race lovers out there. Along with that, came a premature look at this year’s race with four Wabash alumni and a former Crawfordsville resident who are all involved in the race.
“IndyCar & the Liberal Arts" was presented by the Wabash student newspaper, The Bachelor.
The panel consisted of Mark Miles ’76, President and CEO of Hulman and Company, the parent to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Verizon IndyCar series, Curt Cavin (father of Quinn ’19) longtime sports writer for The Indianapolis Star, sponsors and brothers Jonathan II ’97 and David ’98 Byrd of the Jonathan Byrd’s restaurant and hospitality empire, and their driver Conor Daly, two-time Indianapolis 500 starter. The panel was moderated by Chris Denari ’83, TV voice for the Indiana Pacers and longtime turn 4 announcer for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.
Miles started off with saying, “First, I just want to say how great it is to be here, I don’t get back enough." Miles, the Byrd brothers and Daly all attended Wabash at one point or another, while Cavin spent some time in Crawfordsville while growing up. Cavin has been covering IndyCar for more than two decades and talked about the changes media has been going through between twitter, facebook, etc.
Denari, who recently was inducted into the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame, led the way through the conversation as the Wabash grads and Crawfordsville residents looked forward to May 29 and what that will entail.
04/11/16 The Wabash College (In Indiana) student newspaper, The Bachelor, is hosting it's IndyCar & the Liberal Arts panel at 7:30 p.m. tonight and this afternoon — weather permitting — an IndyCar two-seater is scheduled to give rides to the public in Crawfordsville.
Wabash won the 100th Running Campus Challenge, a social media engagement contest through the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the 100th running of the Indy 500 and now Speedway officials will bring the two-seating to Crawfordsville today to give rides from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Check-in will be at the Lane Place and the start/finish line will be on Pike Street. Those interested in riding must be 18-years of age or older, under 6-foot-5 and under 250 pounds.
The IndyCar panel will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Ball Theater and is free and open to the public.
The panel will consist of Mark Miles, President and CEO of Hulman and Company and 1976 graduate of Wabash, Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star, sponsors and brothers Jonathan and David Byrd — both graduates of Wabash — of the Jonathan Byrd's restaurant and hospitality empire, and their driver Conor Daly, 2-time Indianapolis 500 starter.
The panel will be moderated by Chris Denari, TV voice for the Indiana Pacers and longtime Turn 4 announcer for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network, who graduated from Wabash in 1983.
Miles is in his fourth year as President and CEO of Hulman & Company, previously serving seven years as the President and CEO of the not-for-profit Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. Miles served as Chairman of the Board of the host committee for Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.
David Byrd currently serves as Vice President and Director of Operations for Byrd Hotel Group, based out of Arizona, and a business development consultant for Jonathan Byrd's Hospitality and Restaurant Group, Indiana. David is a founder of Academia Church of Goodyear, AZ and involved as a TV host on the Total Christian Television Network.
Jonathan II lives in Greenwood and works on the business development side of the Jonathan Byrd's Hospitality and Restaurant Group. Along with his brother, David, he purchased ESPN Radio affiliate WXLW 950 AM in 2005.
Cavin, though he did not go to Wabash, lived in Crawfordsville when he was growing up. He has been covered just about everything the Indianapolis sports market has to offer but has covered IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for more than two decades.
Daly ran two races in last year's Verizon IndyCar Series season, including the 99th Indianapolis 500 last May. He is the son of former Formula One driver Derek Daly and will drive the Byrd-sponsored Honda for Dale Coyne Racing this year for the full 2016 season.
Denari, a member of the College's 1982 Division III National Championship basketball team, has announced for the Pacers on Fox Sports Indiana since 2006. Denari has a long history at Butler University, spending 17 years as the radio play-by-play announcer for the basketball team as well as serving as an Assistant Athletic Director and Director of Sports Marketing.