Briscoe coming 'back home again' to host ABC's Indy 500 broadcast

By Paul Kelly, IMS.com | Published: Jan 18, 2018

Nicole Briscoe

ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor Nicole Briscoe will add a new duty this May – hosting ABC’s telecast of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil on May 27.

Briscoe, a native of Roscoe, Illinois, will anchor the one-hour prerace show and bring viewers back from in-race breaks during ABC’s 54th consecutive telecast of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” from Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I feel like this homecoming is a long time coming,” Briscoe said. “The Speedway has played such an important role in my life, professionally and personally. I cannot wait to be back and part of the ‘500.’”

Briscoe, who recently signed a multiyear extension with ESPN, has many ties to the Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis area. She was part of ESPN’s coverage of NASCAR as a host and reporter from when she joined the network in 2008, including at the Big Machine Brickyard 400.

She was first exposed to auto racing while covering the Indianapolis 500 and other IMS events as a sports reporter for WISH-TV in Indianapolis from 2004-06, her first on-air sports position. She also worked as a pit reporter for the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network on the Indy 500 race broadcast.

After hosting a motorsports news program on SPEED Channel for two years, she joined ESPN in 2008 as Nicole Manske, prior to her 2009 marriage to Indianapolis 500 and Indy car veteran driver Ryan Briscoe.

For ESPN, Nicole Briscoe was host of the prerace “NASCAR Countdown” program from 2011-14 and served as a host and reporter for the news program “NASCAR Now” from 2008-14, before ESPN’s coverage of live NASCAR races ended after the 2014 season. In addition to her primary “SportsCenter” role, she also has contributed to ESPN’s Major League Baseball and X Games coverage and has hosted some of the network’s other studio programs.

“Nicole brings a unique personality and presence to ‘SportsCenter’ and anything else she does for us,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president and executive editor, Studio Production. “That will include the Indianapolis 500. She has a reverence for the event and its history, and we look forward to having her as part of our coverage.”