FOX Sports' Indy 500 Director Mitch Riggin on the Tech and Storytelling for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing

The broadcaster is drawing on lessons learned in its first year of covering the race

Heading into FOX Sports' second Indianapolis 500, Lead Director Mitch Riggin discusses what changes have been made, the camera arsenal he's deploying, and the challenge of cutting a race he likens to following four footballs at once. Check out SVG's full coverage of the 2026 Indy 500 HERE.

This is your second Indy 500 with FOX. How does the production feel different?

Last year, a lot of us didn't know what we didn't know. Now at least I know what I don't know, and that's a big advantage. There are simple things, like laying out a monitor wall. I don't get all my cameras up until Friday, so just knowing to anticipate that helps. I have 22 operated cameras, plus all my in-car cameras - basically, 30 paths - and each in-car has three or four cars. So you're talking more than 70 cameras; then I add another 25 to 30 operated cameras.

With that many feeds, how do you keep track of everything on race day?

I renumbered the cameras this year so I can immediately find what I need. On race day, when you've got a hundred cameras and the cars are on the track, you have to know where to look immediately.

You grew up in Indianapolis. What does this event mean to you personally?

I grew up here until I was 13, so it was pretty cool. As a kid, I always came out; I never went to the race, but I always went to practice and qualifying. [Now] I actually came out a day early just to go to the museum because they just updated it. I saw some kids on a field trip, and it brought it all back.

Looking back at year one, what went well?

Our implementation of technology. FOX Sports President Eric Shanks grew up in Indy, so this is a passion project for him. He has been great - it's Hey, what do we need? - so he has enabled us to throw a lot of tech at this, adding the ghost car, the Mario Kart, the drones. The drones, to me, were some of the biggest things we were able to do.

A lot of your crew came from other sports. How steep was the learning curve?

A lot of us in this truck hadn't done much auto racing before. I'd done none. I've been with FOX since 1997, first as a technician and then directing in the early 2000s, so I know the FOX attitude, as we call it. For me, it was learning how to cut auto racing. FOX has always been good at eventizing things, and I think we did that well in the 500. Now it's about getting to the nitty-gritty, incorporating things at the right time and knowing what's going on at the track.

How would you describe that challenge to someone outside the sport?

Somebody once equated it to doing a football game with four footballs. You're following one, it's cool, and then all of a sudden there are four footballs on the field - this one's going for a first down, this one's second, this one's a running situation. Trying to plan for that is what auto racing is like.

Let's talk cameras. What's changed with the in-car package?

I had only 16 paths last year. This year, we're doing 17 cars, and I have dual paths on all 17. The plan is to keep the top roll-hoop camera up on one path and mess around with the other. Sometimes, those roll-hoop cameras go down because they get broken, so we adapt. On the other path, we can choose from a driver's-eye view and more.

One of the new looks is the Top Gun camera. What is it?

It's a little different from the driver's-face camera. With the old camera, you could see the driver's helmet. Our new look lets you see a bit of the steering wheel and off the sides of the windows. I lowered it and made it more straight-on, so you can actually see what the driver is doing. We got nominated for an engineering award for it, and we'll find out tomorrow if we win.

What else is new in the camera arsenal?

I'm doing another one we call the Buckeye camera. On the car, [there is a fuel port] called the Buckeye, so we may rename [the camera]. Eric joked, We're calling it the Buckeye camera in Indiana. I've got six cars with it. It's on the outside, looking backward, so, on the ovals, you'll see some cool fan shots: how close they get to the wall, passes on the outside. I've got six driver's eyes, six Buckeyes, and five face cameras recording at all times. That's 34. In certain situations we rotate around, especially at the start.

You leaned heavily on drones in year one. What's the plan this time?

We're adding a drone, so we'll have three plus the helicopter. We've broken the track into three parts, plus the pits and some color. The drones give a more cinematic look. This is such a high-speed race that it's more about racing coverage. Down the back stretch, when the cars are coming at you, it really gives you a sense of speed. We named them Buzz, Dart, and Drone.

How low can you actually fly them around moving cars?

I've worked with the drivers and IndyCar on this. I talked to [driver] Pato O'Ward and several others, and they're fine with it. I always do it in practice. Last year, after the helicopters flew around, I got permission during the parade lap to drop the drones about 6 ft. off the ground - the cars are coming right at you, going slow, three wide. There's a lot of coordination: helicopters come in, drones go down, helicopters go out, drones come back up.

How do you manage the safety side?

Safety is the number-one thing. When I first used a lot of drones in the UFL, I'd always say, If I ask you to do something that's not safe, I can't see where you are. You can. Please don't do it; I'll understand. Same thing here. Even though a couple of drivers said the aeroscreen would protect them, they said, We don't want to go there.

What about specialty cameras aroun

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