Legendary IMS announcer dies at 84.

Just days after it reported the untimely deaths of two stalwart employees, Indianapolis Motor Speedway has had to add the name of James 'Jim' Phillippe to the list.

Phillipe was a familiar friendly voice to millions of Speedway spectators, as he performed his role as a member of the track's public address team from 1950. He died on Monday [15 December], aged 84, after a long illness.

Phillippe joined the legendary Tom Carnegie, a close friend, on the Speedway's public address starting with the 1950 Indianapolis 500, and helped deliver information, news and interviews with drivers and celebrities to the fans during every race at the track through the Brickyard 400 in August 2003.

An Indiana native, Phillippe was most well known during each month of May for his interviews with drivers immediately after their qualification runs - a programme he helped to develop. He also narrated pre-race ceremonies for the Indianapolis 500, delivering the stirring, inspirational tribute to all Armed Forces veterans on Race Day before the playing of Taps.

"Down where I am, it's a heartbreak area," Phillippe said about his post-qualifying interviews in 1999, "It's highly emotional. You see lots of tears of joy and lots of tears of sadness. A racing career depends on it."

Phillippe, a long-time professor at Butler University in Indianapolis, joined the Speedway public address team at the invitation of Carnegie, having announced part-time at WIRE radio in Indianapolis, where Carnegie was sports director.

"Throughout the 55-odd years that we worked together at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jim was noted for his boundless energy and boundless enthusiasm," Carnegie said on hearing of the death of his former colleague, "And he treated all those race drivers who tried to qualify and who did qualify as champions - he gave them
equal time on the public address system after their record runs or near-record runs or just average runs at the track.

"That's where we'll miss him a lot, on qualifying days. We'll miss him on race day, too. Jim was always pleasant, always up when it came to anything concerned with the famed 500.

"We were close friends. We talked together. We ate dinner together. We had families together for some 60 years. It was fun to be with Jim. Not only at the track but in everyday life.

"I'll miss Jim. He was always there. He was always the first one at the track and the last one to leave. He was always well prepared. You could always rely on him no matter what the weather, what time of day and so forth. So I'll miss him very much."

The Carnegie-Phillippe partnership lasted more than a half-century.

"We seem to blend real well," Phillippe said in 1999.

Phillippe received the Unsung Hero Award in May 2003 for his long-time service to the Speedway. Legendary Indianapolis 500 car owner Andy Granatelli presented the award to Phillippe during the public drivers' meeting for the Indianapolis 500.

"That was a great honour that he truly appreciated," Carnegie said.

It was one of many awards Phillippe received during his distinguished career as a teacher, broadcaster and announcer. Among other notable honours was induction into the Indiana Broadcasters Hall of Fame and receipt of the Butler Medal of Honour, the university's highest honour.

While Phillippe's voice was known by millions due to his tireless work at the Speedway, he also announced races at Walt Disney World Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport and Nazareth Speedway.