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INDIANAPOLIS — Jake Query, a veteran of Indianapolis sports radio, will join The Fan morning show as co-host with Kevin Bowen on their new show “Kevin & Query” starting Monday.
For nearly nine years, Query was one half of Indianapolis’ afternoon drive-time Fox Sports radio show “Query & Schultz.” In January of 2020, the show was canceled as part of massive corporate layoffs by iHeartMedia.
Since then Query, 49, has continued his role as a turn announcer for IndyCar and launched a weekly show with Derek Schultz on ISC Sports Network, which he will continue.
But being back on daily sports radio for Query, he said, is like being home again. And Emmis Communications, the company which owns The Fan, was where he wanted to be.
“When I was assessing where I wanted to end up, it really was the place I had my eye on as the place that would be the best fit for me personally and professionally,” he said. “I have a lot of respect for the company itself and for them to have the trust in me? I’m humbled by that.”
Bowen announced Query as his new co-host on The Fan Wednesday morning. Emmis then released his hiring.
“Jake is an Indianapolis sports lifer and a gifted storyteller,” David Wood, vice president of programming for Emmis Indianapolis, said in a statement. “It was clear that Kevin and Jake had an instant and interesting chemistry when they did several shows together. … They are going to give Indy sports fans a consistently fun and informative show.”
While Query’s program with Schultz was an afternoon one, “Kevin & Query” will air 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on WFNI, 93.5 and 107.5-FM. Query has done morning shows before on WIBC and said he is looking forward to the thrill.
“There is an excitement in doing morning radio, seeing the city come alive, seeing the sun rise,” he said. “You are part of the start of people’s days. You are one of the people that helps wake them up and helps them keep going.”
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More: ‘Query & Schultz’ sports talk show is back with all its oddities…but on TV
Love of the city
Query was born in Indianapolis, went to North Central High and was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 2020.
He remembers as a kid his parents driving him downtown on Sunday nights to get ice cream and see the progress of the building of the Hoosier Dome. They would go to Market Square Arena, visit city landmarks and go to Monument Circle as his parents told him the history of it all.
“Now it’s full circle and I’m on the circle and I look out and I think about all the kids,” he said. “Now it’s my turn along with Kevin. I hope they can hear the same lessons about the city. I hope they can enjoy that part of it.”
After graduating high school in 1991, Query attended IU and majored in English. Since then he worked at WRTV, Fox Sports Midwest and WIBC before joining WNDE with Schultz in 2011.
He began his radio career with IndyCar in 2007 and has called 220 races and 15 Indy 500s.
Query has seen a lot in his nearly 30 years covering sports in Indy. He followed Peyton Manning’s career from his first training camp to his last. He was on the road following Manning’s home and away games during his prime.
Manning would often turn to Query at press gatherings and offer him the first question. After a loss in Dallas, Manning told him: “Jake, see the problem is, you’re too impatient when we lose.”
Query was there for the sale of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the death of Dan Wheldon and Justin Wilson, the rise and fall of Tom Crean, the hiring of Jeff Brohm, the Chuck Pagano-Ryan Grigson era and the many stories of Paul George.
“I like sports and I like talking about sports but I like the things it affords me,” he said. “For me, the biggest thing honestly, there were so many times over the last year and half I saw situations or stories or organizations or people that I thought needed a platform and to not be able to facilitate that for those people for me was disappointing. People need a voice. Now I can help be that voice for them.”
After all, he said, they were there for him when he needed them most.
Massive heart attack, new perspective
“I’m coming off the most bizarre 22 months of my life,” Query said. “Truth be told, I got the chance to realize what is most important in my life and I want to do what I can for the people of Indy.”
Nine months after Query lost his job at iHeart, he suffered a massive heart attack in October 2020.
“When I had a heart attack, everything was put in perspective,” he said. “One thing that needed no further solidification was my love for the city of Indianapolis. To be given the privilege to again speak to and with people from all corners and backgrounds of this town means the world to me.”
The people of Indianapolis reached out and supported Query as he recovered.
“People I have never met. That touched me,” he said. “I wouldn’t be a good sports radio host in any city but Indianapolis. Because the very fiber that makes me who I am is this city and the people who are listening.”
The Fan’s morning show was hosted by Jeff Rickard and former Colts lineman Joe Staysniak. When Rickard left for a job at Boston’s WEEI earlier this year, Bowen joined as Staysniak’s co-host.
But in August, Staysniak left the show with no explanation after more than two decades with Emmis.
More: Former Colts lineman ‘Big Joe’ Staysniak no longer with The Fan morning radio show
“Big Joe Staysniak is no longer with Emmis and The Fan,” Emmis told IndyStar at the time. “We would like to thank Big Joe for his many contributions to Emmis since he joined WIBC in 1998.”
Emmis began a search for a replacement co-host, including auditioning multiple people on air. Query said he hopes to complement Bowen’s personality.
“I think Kevin knows, and I’m the first to admit, I don’t generally get over involved in the lateral footwork of the backup Colts long snappers,” Query said. “He’s in the trenches. He’s in the nuances of those things. Kevin knows sports as well as anybody.”
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.
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