Early career Bob Jenkins was born in
Richmond, Indiana, and grew up in the nearby town of
Liberty. He graduated from Short High School in 1965 and
Indiana University Bloomington in 1969. A music aficionado, Jenkins wanted to be a
radio disc jockey, but instead found work as a radio news reporter. During this timeframe, Jenkins befriended
Paul Page, who worked at
1070 WIBC-AM. Page helped Jenkins get his start in motorsports broadcasting, inviting him to serve as a pit reporter for Indy car races on the radio, as well as on television. For several years, Jenkins was co-anchor for nationally syndicated farm news show,
AgDay.
ESPN and ABC Jenkins was one of the first anchors on
ESPN when it debuted in 1979, Many were ridiculing the race and the Indy Racing League for struggling to fill the field to the traditional 33 cars. At the end of the 2003 season, Jenkins was released from ABC/ESPN.
Post ABC/ESPN After being released from ABC/ESPN in 2003, Jenkins joined the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway staff in various roles including public address announcer and designated
emcee of various events and press gatherings (such as the Victory Banquet, Last Row Party, and press conferences). The 2003 Brickyard 400 was his first foray as part of the P.A. team. In 2004, he had a short stint as an announcer for
Champ Car on
Spike TV but was soon fired by the production company. He joined
SPEED and was an anchor for
Speed News for a little over one year. Jenkins has also been a contributor to
WIBC radio in Indianapolis, and the communications director for the Premier Racing Association. In 2006, Jenkins was the chief announcer of the
IMS Radio Network for the
U.S. Grand Prix, and in 2007, called
Indy Pro Series broadcasts on
ESPN2. He anchored the 2007
Brickyard 400 on the radio, his first NASCAR race call since November 2000. For 2007–2008, he returned to the
IMS Radio Network for the Indy 500, reporting from the turn two position. In 2008, Jenkins returned to the ESPN booth for two IndyCar races, the
Edmonton Indy and the
Gold Coast Indy 300 at
Surfers Paradise. Regular play-by-play announcer
Marty Reid was unable to broadcast due to scheduling conflicts.
Versus/NBCSN In 2009, the IndyCar Series started a new television contract with
Versus. Jenkins was signed as the chief announcer, and returned to Indy car racing full-time for the first time since 2001. He opted out of reprising his turn two role on the radio network, but recorded segments for air on the radio broadcast, as all three living "Voices of the 500" (
Page, Jenkins, and
King) participated in the broadcast. Jenkins worked for Versus in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, Versus was bought by
NBC Sports Group, becoming
NBCSN. NBC inherited the IndyCar rights and hired Jenkins to continue as lead announcer for IndyCar on NBC. During the month of May, and on race day at the Indianapolis 500 (which ESPN/ABC still had the rights to), he continued his part-time work on the public address announcing team. Jenkins was involved in NBCSN's practice and qualifying coverage at Indy. In 2012, he announced he would retire at the end of the season, in part due to his wife Pam, who had terminal cancer. She died shortly after the season ended. For 2013, he worked on the public address system for both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the
USAC Silver Crown Series. Jenkins made a one-time return to NBCSN in a substitute role during Indy 500 Carb Day coverage, as primary announcer
Leigh Diffey was covering the
Monaco Grand Prix for NBC. Jenkins, still at the Speedway for the public address system, also narrated some vignettes for NBC's NASCAR coverage on both weekday programs and race weekends. In 2019, Jenkins and
Dan Wheldon were inducted into the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. ==Indianapolis 500 broadcasting duties==