A moment with @IndyAndy52 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway…
- Andy started at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1989 and took over the grounds crew in 1995.
- Andy works at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway year around. As of today, he hasn’t had a day off in a month. He is very excited for Tuesday.
- It takes one whole day to clean the track (stands, infield, turn three, the whole shebang). One of the ways the Indianapolis Motor Speedway gives back to the community is through non-profit opportunities at the track. One of those opportunities is track clean up. Non-profits can earn thousands of dollars by helping clean up the track. Some nonprofit groups end up not finishing their section because they don’t bring enough people. You need at least 30 people to thoroughly clean your area and not get worn out. The waiting list for the track cleanup program is four years.
- Yes, the sweeper truck is air conditioned.
- Yes, he will be in the sweeper truck all day, hopefully never needing to be on the track. If he is on the track, it’s usually not good news for someone in the race.
- He’s almost been hit by a race car or two while in the sweeper truck. It’s pretty scary, but fortunately, he’s been lucky. When things of that nature happen though, the race car driver is not so lucky. The driver gets black flagged. The black flag is given to drivers that break a rule of some sort, like not slowing down and hitting a sweeper truck. 😉 It can also be given to a driver is they are dropping pieces of their car on the race track, their car is smoking, or if they are driving recklessly.
- Because of the heat this race day, someone will be out in Turn Three with a hose spraying people down. No, you do not need to flash the groundskeeper to get sprayed.
In case you are wondering, Naptown Buzz spoke with @IndyAndy52 at exactly 5:33am, and Mel not only forgot to press record, she also forgot to take the recorder out of the bag. Hence, this lovely article. Who needs sleep?
