IndyCar Hires Reporter Curt Cavin As Vice President Of Communications
IndyCar made a surprising executive hire on Friday, naming Indianapolis Star reporter Curt Cavin as the league’s new Vice President of Communications.
IndyCar teams aren’t the only groups adding parts this off-season; the league is making pick-ups as well, announcing Friday that it had hired Curt Cavin as the Vice President of Communications.
It’s a different addition if only because Cavin doesn’t come from the motorsports world or even the business world – he’s a soon to be former sportswriter with the Indianapolis Star.
Cavin has written for the Star since 1987 and run a racing blog on its website since 2001. He and NBCSN pit reporter Kevin Lee currently co-host the “Trackside” radio show for Indianapolis’s WFNI 1070 AM.
Here’s what IndyCar chief marketing officer C.J. O’Donnell had to say about choosing Cavin as the league’s newest executive:
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Curt is already a leading voice on the Verizon IndyCar Series and the best candidate to share the speed, excitement and drama of the sport. Curt will enhance our ability to share the compelling stories of our drivers and thrilling action on track. His skills and experience will complement the efforts of our strong existing communications team and will further the progress the series has seen in the past three seasons.
Cavin’s new job will have him working with Director of Communications Mike Kitchel and league digital and social media manager Brian Simpson. According to Friday’s press release, his role is to advance national coverage of IndyCar, as well as expand content published on the organization’s official website and its social media platforms.
If you’re a race fan, this hire is interesting because it’s so outside the box. Many executives in motorsports come to those positions through experience in the league – whether it’s as drivers, owners, team managers or other employees – rather than from covering it.
Cavin has been around the league a long time and obviously has the respect of its top personnel if they’re offering him a position. But how will he take to shifting from objectively reporting on the world of IndyCar to working on behalf of the company?
In a sports world where fans are so used to ex-athletes making their way over to the broadcast side of the business, it will be intriguing to see someone else headed in the other direction. Fans will have to wait and see how Cavin’s decades of experience as a media member translate into telling the stories of IndyCar from the league’s mouth itself.
Cavin’s first day working for IndyCar will be Monday, Oct. 24.
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