As an Indiana native, Eric Shanks can't remember exactly when the rite of passage began of traveling to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His first Indianapolis 500 memory is of the 1985 race, Danny Sullivan's "Spin and Win" 1985 victory, when Shanks was around 14 and had fully embraced the way his home state played such a role in American culture.
"I think everybody takes pride in there being a spotlight on this part of the country," Shanks said. "The Pacers are only in the playoffs when they are in the playoffs, the Colts aren't always in. But this is a guarantee every year."
When he became CEO of Fox Sports in 2010, Shanks had a wish list of events he wanted for the network. Always at the top was the Indianapolis 500, a property Fox Sports finally landed this year . The network is in its first year of a new broadcast deal with IndyCar and on Sunday televises its first Indy 500.
Shanks from the start has vowed the production will be the biggest of the year for Fox Sports - a lofty promise for a network that also carries the Super Bowl and the World Series, among other major sporting events.
"We are going to blow the doors off of Indy. We're going to bring everything that Fox has to bear," he said.