Without the storytellers, all of that action \u2014 the excitement that drives not just the race, but the entire season \u2014 would be lost.<\/p>\n
Georgia Henneberry<\/a> and Al Arena<\/a> don\u2019t let that happen.<\/p>\n \u201cMy job,\u201d said Henneberry, a Fox Sports reporter who covers the NTT IndyCar Series, \u201cis to connect the fans to the sport during the race.\u201d<\/p>\n As a photographer, Arena said she showcases not just four-wheel racing, but also the personal and emotional side of the sport \u2014 the atmosphere, the feelings.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re covering stories of people,\u201d Henneberry added, \u201cand really just trying to bridge the gap between the viewer at home and what\u2019s going on between our whole paddock.\u201d<\/p>\n During the 2025 Grand Prix of Long Beach, nearly 200,000 people converged on the city\u2019s downtown<\/a>. But another half a million people<\/a> attended the race through their TVs and Fox\u2019s coverage. And even more people caught up with the race through photos and videos on social media \u2014 even weeks after the last bit of grandstands were taken away from<\/a> along Shoreline Drive and the final barrier was removed from Ocean Boulevard.<\/p>\n It will be much the same this year.<\/p>\n For Arena and Henneberry, their own stories drove them to motorsports in different ways.<\/p>\n A St. Louis native, Henneberry was once on a track herself, winning karting championships.<\/p>\n Her mom barrel raced horses in local rodeos, but when Henneberry was 12, she saw a NASCAR race.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I want to do,\u201d a young Henneberry said. \u201cI want to be a NASCAR driver.\u201d<\/p>\n The next day, her mom took her to get fitted for karting.<\/p>\n But racing is an expensive sport, and when her family couldn\u2019t afford to continue to pour money into it, Henneberry pivoted, finding new avenues to get trackside \u2014 and get paid to do so.<\/p>\n Henneberry, 28, parlayed her race career into a communications degree from Indiana University, from there working for IndyCar for three seasons as a host and reporter for its big-screen programs. She joined NBC Sports\u2019 broadcast team in 2024, moving over to Fox Sports a year later.<\/p>\n For Arena, the photography came first. She\u2019s witty and competitive \u2014 and while she never thought she\u2019d be a racer, she enjoyed watching the sport. So while studying at the now-shuttered Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, Arena hoisted her camera and went out to shoot what was then Formula Drift in its infancy.<\/p>\n Those first photos, she said, were terrible.<\/p>\n But she kept shooting, kept working \u2014 and then the clients came.<\/p>\n Now, the Lake Forest resident runs Ignite Media, overseeing a team of photographers with clients in IndyCar, IMSA and Porsche Carrera Cup. And she still likes to shoot her \u201csiren song,\u201d Formula Drift.<\/p>\n Both Arena and Henneberry are constantly on the road \u2014 or in airports. Henneberry travels to all of the IndyCar races for Fox Sports; Arena goes to the vast majority of the races her company is contracted for, although she does skip a few so, as she put it, \u201cMy child doesn\u2019t forget what I look like.\u201d<\/p>\n Arena and Henneberry are both mothers who said it\u2019s a privilege to juggle their jobs and parenthood.<\/p>\n Henneberry is a relatively new mom, and her son often tags along to races, she said. And that certainly changes the pace of race day.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the moment you wake up, you\u2019re mom, and then you try to get ready for work, and then you\u2019re a reporter,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then the second you get back to where you\u2019re staying, you\u2019re mom again, with the weight of the workload that is to be a professional.\u201d<\/p>\n For Arena, there\u2019s a lot of pride that comes with getting to bring her 7-year-old daughter along when the Grand Prix comes to Long Beach, letting her see exactly what it is she does when she\u2019s gone so much.<\/p>\n \u201cShe can see me working and see that it\u2019s a really fun job, and I love it so much,\u201d Arena said. \u201cBut also, I\u2019m working so we can have money so that we can do things.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a job that\u2019s not mundane.<\/p>\n Arena has gotten better at anticipating where an out-of-control car will crash.<\/p>\n But she also has to navigate the unpredictability of a small industry, one where clients can come and go.<\/p>\n \u201cOne year, you can have this banner, amazing year. I\u2019m unstoppable; I have so much work,\u201d said Arena, who is originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan. \u201cAnd then the next year you\u2019re like, \u2018I will do anything for $200.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s that ebb and flow that can be a little intimidating and scary,\u201d she added, \u201cand give you that giant pit in your stomach that you\u2019re like, \u2018Well, I could do something else. I don\u2019t know how to do anything else, but I could do something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n But the unpredictability of a race weekend \u2014 now, that is something else entirely.<\/p>\n Arena is often at the same tracks, so she\u2019s in constant search of a new spot, a different angle to shoot the cars. Doing this, in a way, manufactures change.<\/p>\n For Henneberry, meanwhile, a lot goes into preparing for a race. She studies the storylines of the season, the stats from the previous race. She joins production calls where she gets her assignments for the weekend, which drivers and cars she will cover.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a saying: \u201cIf you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans.\u201d That saying exists for a reason.<\/p>\n And Henneberry is OK with that. That unpredictability, she said, is one of her favorite parts.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of adrenaline that goes up and down that pit lane,\u201d Henneberry said, \u201cbut the reporters are right in that mix because as soon as something happens, it\u2019s like, OK, all hands on deck; we\u2019ve got to figure out what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Because of her own racing experience, Henneberry can put herself in the mindset of the people she covers in those high-intensity, high-adrenaline moments.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that go on behind the helmet that are really intense,\u201d she said. \u201cSo maybe I just can understand a little bit more, put myself in their shoes a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, I\u2019ve never raced the Indy 500,\u201d she added. \u201cI\u2019ve never done that, but whether you\u2019re racing a go-kart or racing in IndyCar, at that moment, you feel like it\u2019s the biggest thing you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Henneberry said, she\u2019s constantly learning in her role.<\/p>\n Learning and piecing the stories together.<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"Al](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/LPT-L-GPLB-STORYTELLERS-0419-01.jpeg\")
Al Arena is a motorsports photographer and founder of Ignite Media, who has shot several racing circuits, including the NTT IndyCar Series. (Photo courtesy of Al Arena)<\/p>\n![\"Georgia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/LPT-L-GPLB-STORYTELLERS-0419-03-rotated-1.jpg\")
Georgia Henneberry reports on the NTT INDYCAR Series for Fox Sports. (Photo courtesy of Fox Sports)<\/p>\n