Paul Page | |
|---|---|
 Page at the 2014Indianapolis 500 | |
| Born | (1945-11-25)November 25, 1945 (age 80) Evansville, Indiana, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Tulsa |
| Occupation | Announcer |
| Spouse | Sally Larvick |
| Children | 2 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  U.S. Army |
Paul Page (born November 25, 1945) is an American motorsports broadcaster who is best known for serving as theplay-by-play commentator for theIndianapolis 500 for a total of 50 years across radio and television. Page was the radioVoice of the 500 on theIndianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network from 1977 to 1987, and again from 2014 to 2015. He served the same role ontelevision in 1988–1998 and 2002–2004.
Page's broadcasting career started atWIBC in the late 1960s. He was the lead announcer forCART onNBC from 1979 to 1987, and then moved toABC/ESPN's coverage ofthe Indianapolis 500, CART and theIRL from 1988 to 2004. From 2006 to 2012, he was the lead announcer for theNHRA onESPN2. Page's autobiographyHello, I'm Paul Page: "It's Race Day in Indianapolis" is a popular read with history of the Indianapolis 500 and his personal connections over 50 years covering Indy.
Paul Page was born inEvansville, Indiana,[1] but grew up as an "army brat," moving several times, spending time inStuttgart, Germany,Fort Belvoir, andFort Sheridan.[1] Page's birth father separated from his mother when he was young. His mother remarried, at which time his surname changed from Henstridge to Page, the last name of his step-father.[1] Page went to twelve different schools from elementary to high school,[1] and he graduated high school inHighland Park, Illinois. He is married to fellow broadcaster Sally Larvick. He studied at theUniversity of Tulsa. He served six years in theU.S. Army.[2] Page's son Brian is a member ofBryan Herta Autosport.
Page's broadcasting career began atWAIV and WATI,[1] after which he moved toWIBC inIndianapolis, Indiana in 1968, where he was mentored bySid Collins.[1] On December 1, 1977, while doing ahelicoptertraffic report, Page was nearly killed in an accident, as the helicopter he was riding aboard crashed nearSpeedway Senior High School inSpeedway, Indiana.[3][4] Page suffered a compound fracture of his ankle, but soon returned to his duties.
Page's great-uncle wasHarry Geisel, aMajor League BaseballAL umpire.[1] Page first attended theIndianapolis 500 in1960.[1]
From 1974 to 1987, Page served on theIndianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network (IMSRN). He served as a pit reporter from 1974 to 1976, and as Chief Announcer from 1977 to 1987. Page was considered the hand-picked successor toSid Collins at the IMSRN. Page took over as chief announcer after Collins committed suicide.
Page left WIBC, and moved toNBC. He served as anchor of auto racing telecasts onNBC Sports from 1978 to 1987, covering Indy cars,NASCAR,Formula One, and theNHRA.[5] He also worked on NBC'sSportsworld, covering a variety of sports includingweightlifting,Olympics, and theAmerica's Cup.[6]
In the 1980s, Page was also a commentator for the motorsports showAmerican Sports Cavalcade on the cable networkTNN. While working for TNN, he coveredNHRA,World of Outlaws sprint car racing,AMA supercross,monster trucks,tractor pulls, andswamp buggy racing, among others.[7]
In the fall of 1987, Page switched to ABC Sports, and was their lead anchor for CART Indy car racing, including the Indianapolis 500. During this time, the three-man booth of Page,Bobby Unser, andSam Posey became a fixture of the Indy 500 telecasts. Page was the brainchild behind theDelta Force intros,[4] first introduced in 1988. The opening teases featuredAlan Silvestri's score from the filmThe Delta Force, with a montage of Indy films, video clips, and still images, narrated by Page. The intros, also known as the "Page Teases," became a popular fixture of the ABC telecasts of the Indy 500,Brickyard 400, and other Indy car races, through1998 and reprised again in2001.
During his time at ABC, Page also anchored NASCAR andIROC broadcasts. Parallel to his work at ABC, Page also worked at ESPN, primarily as the anchor for CART Indy car telecasts. When the IRL was founded in 1996, he started covering those events as well. His work on the Indianapolis 500 in 1989 and 1990 help earn theSports Emmy award for "Outstanding Live Sports Special." Other work on ABC/ESPN included AMA Supercross.
Page worked both CART and IRL events from 1996 to 1998, then for a brief time from 1999 to 2001 was shifted to CART events exclusively. He moved back to full-time covering the IRL/IndyCar for 2002 when ABC/ESPN dropped CART/Champ Car from its lineup.
Page's place on ABC's IRL/IndyCar coverage was taken byTodd Harris for the2005 season in a move that proved unpopular. Page was reassigned to cover other events for theESPN family of networks, most notably theX Games,NHRA, and the annualNathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. In 2006, Page shared announcing duties withMarty Reid forESPN's coverage ofNHRA Drag Racing, then took over NHRA full-time from 2007 to 2012.
In 2009, Page returned to theIMS Radio Network coverage of the2009 Indianapolis 500. He joined the booth as a guest analyst. It was Page's first Indy 500 race he covered since the2004 race.[8] He reprised the role in 2010–2013.
In December 2013, it was announced that Page would return to the role as the radioVoice of the 500. He replacedMike King for the 2014 and 2015 race, after King tendered his resignation.[9] Page also called the100th Indianapolis 500 broadcast in 2016, but handed over duties after the start to the next 'Voice of the 500', Mark Jaynes.[10] Page has returned to the broadcast in subsequent years, sitting in the booth multiple times as a guest analyst.
Page was one of the announcers along with former Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car driver Mike Dunn for theNHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series on ESPN and ESPN2.[11]
At the end of the 2012 season, he parted ways after nearly 25 years with ABC/ESPN. NHRA announced on February 6, 2013, that Dave Rieff, who was a pit reporter since ESPN began its NHRA coverage in 2001 and a staple of NHRA television for 17 years, would move into the anchor announcer position for the 2013 season. Former NHRA racer Mike Dunn joined Rieff in calling the action from the booth for his 12th year with ESPN as a color analyst for theNHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
Page gave the opening introduction to Papyrus'sIndyCar Racing andIndyCar Racing II video games, released in1993 and1995 respectively. Page also was selected to be the short-phrase commentator for theDestruction Derby 2 wrecking / racing video game of 1996.
In 2001, Page narrated scenes in the filmDriven, but was uncredited. In 2013, Page voiced the announcer character in the filmTurbo.
Page did some work callingSnocross races at theWinter X Games in the early 2000s.[12]
From 2005 until 2017, Page also announced the play-by-play for ESPN's coverage of theNathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest annually on July 4.
In 2006, Page was abull riding color commentator for thePRCA's Xtreme Bulls tour on ESPN alongside 8-time PRCA world champion bull riderDonnie Gay.
Page is a member of theIndianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. In 1989 and 1990, his work was awarded two Emmys for the coverage of the Indianapolis 500. He also was host / play by play in shows or series that garnered 13 other Emmys.
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{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| Preceded by | Radio voice of the Indianapolis 500 1977–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Television voice of the Indianapolis 500 1988–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Television voice of the Indianapolis 500 2002–2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Radio voice of the Indianapolis 500 2014–2015 | Succeeded by Mark Jaynes |
