If there was a form of motorsports on U.S. Myself and so many others have lost a dear and loyal friend. Our sport has lost a wonderful man and an iconic voice, but Bob Jenkins is unforgettable. Our thoughts are with Bob’s family and his many friends throughout the racing community and beyond.” "We will miss Bob’s kindness, his professionalism and his unique ability to bring us all closer to the track with his stories and insights. That legendary voice became the soundtrack for the Month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "His announcing career spanned nearly 50 years, and to an entire generation, the sound of Bob’s voice simply meant it was time to go racing. “Bob Jenkins had an incredible passion for racing and his enthusiasm, combined with his genuine love and knowledge of the sport, endeared him to motorsports fans all over the world," said Roger Penske, chairman, Penske Entertainment Corporation. His pairing with former stock car drivers Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons became one of the popular trios in motorsports broadcasting history. For more than 20 years, he was the lead voice of NASCAR races for ESPN and occasionally ABC, including the first seven Brickyard 400s at IMS. Jenkins was one of the first on-air employees of ESPN when it launched in 1979. Later, Page helped Jenkins start the USAC Radio Network. His friend Paul Page, a member of that broadcast team and an employee at rival WIBC, helped him land the job. Jenkins, who had attended Indiana dirt-track races with his father, landed his first position in motorsports in 1979 as the backstretch announcer on the IMS Radio Network. Indiana University graduate Jenkins turned his love of music into a job in radio, first as a news reporter at stations in Fort Wayne and Valparaiso and then at WIRE in Indianapolis as the co-anchor of a nationally syndicated farm news show “AgDay.” loA5JtHFbd- Indianapolis Motor Speedway August 9, 2021 While his voice on race day will be missed, his legacy at IMS will last forever. Indianapolis Motor Speedway fans consider themselves lucky to have Bob's voice ringing through the grandstands for decades. He came to the track last May while fighting his illness to receive the Robin Miller Award, where he made a brief, poignant acceptance speech and was warmly received by a large group of friends and admirers from the racing community and media.īob Jenkins considered himself an Indianapolis 500 fan who got lucky. Jenkins attended his first “500” in 1960 and said he had only missed two races since – in 1961 when he couldn’t get anyone to take him, and in 1965 when he was on a trip as a high school senior. 043 of a second remains the closest finish in the race’s 105-year history. “The checkered flag is out, Goodyear makes a move, Little Al wins by just a few tenths of a second, perhaps the closest finish in the history of the Indianapolis 500,” Jenkins said on radio, his baritone voice climbing a few octaves. In one form or another, Jenkins was connected to IMS for more than 40 years, and his most familiar call was the thrilling finish of the 1992 race between Al Unser Jr. #RIP my friend my thoughts and prayers to the family. Deeply said to hear the news of Bob Jenkins pass…I remember this pictures like was yesterday and We were joking around.
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