Jack Harvey on the 2026 Indy 500 and his 2nd season with Fox Sports
IndyCar insider Zion Brown interviews Fox broadcaster Jack Harvey, who will drive in the Indianapolis 500 for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
Video Transcript
Here on IndyStar TV, I'm Zion Brown live where we are at the annual IMS Hospitality Tasting Event, and I'm with Dreyer & Reinbold racer driver Jack Harvey.
How's it going, man?
I'm doing great.
How are you doing?
I'm good, I'm good.
I asked Conor this a moment ago.
Have you gotten the chance to eat anything here yet?
I did see the fried chicken when we left the stage, and then we came over to the car- and I saw the fried chicken and I'm thinking, "I'm gonna have to just sample it, of course," because- you know, I wanna make sure that the suite holders are getting good food.
So, you know, if there's any Maybe there's a chance that one fried chicken needs just a taster- so I'm here for it.
All right.
So, so you're here to give feedback on the food basically?
Yeah, that's it.
I mean, I've, I've, I've designated myself as the, you know, the, the food critic.
So I've- I had to try everything, yeah.
Well, for you, I want to ask, just going into this year where you when you and Conor will be in the car for the 500 with Dreyer & Reinbold, how excited are you just to Now that you know who your teammate will be- Yeah just to be g- getting out there in May?
Well, actually, I, I knew it was Conor a while ago.
Yeah.
It's nice that it's just kind of out there.
Right.
Mostly so that if I don't slip up on an interview And it was actually funny, we did the, Indy NXT race together in St. Pete, and I was trying I was like, "Man, I don't want to ask you, but I can feel it's brewing.
I'm just gonna say like, 'Hey, tell everybody now.'"
Like, it's, it's really cool.
Me and Conor were teammates in, 2013 when we raced in Europe.
That's actually where I met Conor.
And then, you know, obviously followed everything that he's done since then.
you know, we're good mates.
People don't know that about us maybe, but I think they should.
But, you know, we, we do a lot of, shared hobbies and things.
So I mean, it's gonna be really cool to share the team with him this year.
He was racing with Dreyer & Reinbold the year before, so there's kind of a, you know, reunion for him and, you know, a little bit of a continuation, I guess, for me there.
So I'm, I'm excited for what we can achieve together.
So at this point, we've, you know, we've got FOMO watching everyone else race every weekend.
So I, I would say for me and Conor, the thing we're most excited about is that open test, having a great test, and then just rolling straight into Indy 500 practice.
You talked about it, it's a different position for you and any of the other 500 only drivers where you haven't been in the seat so far.
For you, this is your, your second year doing this.
How do you prepare when you haven't been in the seat for the five or six races that lead into the 500 knowing that's kind of your one shot?
well, I mean, I did it last year.
Yeah.
You know, so I've actually, I've done this before.
It's not my first rodeo, as they say.
I think one thing that actually really helps in that department is that's normal for Dreyer & Reinbold too.
You know, so they're very dialed into when it's time to really start that ramp up in terms of pre-event preparation and things like that.
In terms Like, as far as the gym goes, I mean, I've been in the gym the whole off season, you know, kind of very much just stayed ready so that if an opportunity arises, that we can pounce and be on it.
that being said, one of my side, Well, not side, but one of my co-jobs for the year is actually working with, Fox Sports on all the IndyCar and Indy NXT, programs and races, and that's kept me pretty sharp in terms of like what's been going on, any changes with the car.
you know, just very much being immersed in the IndyCar paddock has been still really, really cool, and that's been, that's been a big advantage.
And I know that Conor's been to every race so far and, you know, he didn't need me to tell him to do that.
He's such a pro that I think that that feeling of being When you're connected, you feel more prepared, and I think he feels the same way.
You, you le- you led into my next question.
Now you're too on the Fox Sports broadcast, how have you kind of seen yourself get more comfortable in that position?
I know last year you started- You got the thing right before the first race.
Yeah, yeah.
But this year you've had, you've had time to prepare and, and really get the flow of things.
How have you gotten more comfortable in that role?
I definitely feel like I've gotten more comfortable in that role.
When I watch the races back, they seem a bit more conversational, which is, I, I think always where strength of mine has been.
Yeah.
in terms of what was happening in the race, you know, I've, I've been an IndyCar fan for so long and been so lucky to have done so many 500s and so many, career starts in a race.
I, I, I kind of know what I'm seeing.
Yeah.
you know, so that's been, that's been fun to just kind of keep, keep that where it is and lift everything else around it, all with really the hope and the desire of delivering contributions to the race and to the show that people find interesting.
So, you know, any, any feedback people have or things they want to know and hear about, you know, I think still there's moments that I forget when something's cool because it's so normal for me.
So it's always really cool when the fans will say, "Hey, we want to hear about this," or, "What about this thing at this racetrack," et cetera.
So still learning, still learning a lot.
there was never any There still hasn't been any formal training- you know, to do this.
I, I know how to drive quickly, you know, with a steering wheel in hand and two pedals at my feet, but, you know, everything else is definitely, Well, it takes effort, you know, like, to be honest with you, and I said it to Fox when I signed that, you know, I want to, I want to win the race and I want to be the best on pit lane as a reporter.
So, you know, clear, clear goals that we're trying to achieve, but we're gonna work hard to do it.
What part of broadcasting and reporting do you feel like you've grown the most in over the last year?
Well, to be honest, Kevin Lee's such a great storyteller.
So is Will Buxton.
Probably not just getting to Like, I could get to my message very quickly.
you know, and if we're short on time, obviously I can still do that.
But I feel like those two have been able to help me really build out a little bit of a story, you know, set the scene, deliver the message, and then kind of like bow out.
So, you know, between them and, you know, James and Townsend and Georgia, Jamie Little, you know, I've just been surrounded by so many great people.
Kind of whether I Whether you mean to or not, like, you I learn so much from all of them.
They all have really unique and different, skills.
So I've, I've just tried to be as well-rounded as I can.
But I would say the, the storytelling side, maybe the human interest side is probably the area that's come up a bit more.
What'd you think of Arlington?
Oh, I thought it was awesome, man.
I think there's so many things that you could say about Arlington.
for how smooth the weekend was, how well prepared it was, it You would never have known it was the first time that we've ever raced there.
I thought everybody involved in promoting the race did absolutely fantastic.
I thought the race itself was great.
you know, different strategies working out at the end, and that's, that's all I think we can really ever hope for.
There were some really great overtaking zones on track.
And best thing honestly is I think it's lifted the bar for any new event coming into the series, but also lifts the bar of existing events.
So just we, we need that soft reset sometimes, and I think Arlington actually did it in a fantastic way.
Well, Jack, thank you so much for your time.
Yeah, thank you.
Best of luck in May.
Appreciate it.
Cheers.
Jack Harvey, Zion Brown here on IndyStar TV.
