Motorsports reporter Cavin leaves Star to work for race series he covered

After nearly three decades with The Indianapolis Star, motorsports reporter Curt Cavin is leaving the newspaper to join the organization he wrote about most often. Cavin will officially become the IndyCar Series vice president of communications Oct. 24.

“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,” CJ O'Donnell, Hulman Motorsports chief marketing officer, said Friday in a written statement. “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 will be responsible for gaining the series more national media coverage and expanding editorial content published through IndyCar.com and social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

“I can't wait to bring my multimedia experience covering motorsports and other national sporting events to the talented team already in place at the Verizon IndyCar Series,” Cavin said in a statement. “I am looking forward to building upon the momentum generated by the series this year.”

A Franklin College graduate, Cavin joined The Indianapolis Star in 1987. He wrote two books for the Star commemorating the Indianapolis 500’s centennial. According to the Star, he's covered every Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the last 29 Indianapolis 500s

For the past nine years, he’s also hosted a motorsports radio show with Kevin Lee on WFNI-AM 1070.

In March 2015, the Star’s parent company, Gannett Co. Inc., signed a controversial deal with the IndyCar Series that some saw as ethically questionable.

The deal was lauded by IndyCar and USA Today officials as a way to get the open-wheel series more coverage and provide the newspaper’s journalists with enhanced access.

As part of the deal, USA Today, which is also owned by Virginia-based Gannett, agreed to write pre- and post-race stories for every IndyCar race and produce special sections about the sport and its drivers. The news organization also agreed to expand its coverage of IndyCar on USAToday.com. In return, IndyCar promised to give USA Today and other Gannett reporters preferred access to series officials, team owners and drivers, and track owners.

IndyCar also promised to give USA Today advertising sales representatives access to its series and team sponsors.

USA Today and IndyCar insisted that series officials would have no sway over what is written by USA Today or other Gannett newspapers because of the deal.