Q: When does IMS plan on redoing the paddock penthouse press area? See the picture below for the reason I am asking.
I have had seats in the paddock press penthouse for years. There is no room to put a cooler under the seat, due to the bar going across the front of the folding chair. If you can get the cooler under the folding chair, you can’t get into it. The cooler has to be in front of your seat and it takes up room for people trying to walk by.
Scott Roales
DB: Your question is exactly why I love hearing from our fans. There are many times when we make changes, and then we learn the subtle challenges that something as simple as a putting new folding chairs in a location can create.
There are likely not any significant upgrades to the Paddock Press Box seats in the near future; however, I am going to ask the team to look into helping solve the cooler-under-the-seat issue. I can’t promise we’ll get it fixed in time for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500, but we will definitely explore it and get a fix on the list.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention and sorry for the inconvenience the seat bar causes those with coolers and those trying to pass along the rows!
Q: Here’s a question about what was once a small but very neat race day tradition. I attended my first 500 in 1966. From then until I’m not sure when, the lettered grandstands flew flags from the roof that delineated them by the letter of the grandstand. I can’t remember how far up the main straight they went but I definitely remember A, B, E and P (for Paddock). It was these flags that got me, as a 10-year-old kid, interested in the history of IMS. That interest continues now as I’m almost 70. Do you know why the flags no longer fly, when was the last year they did, and what are the chances of bringing them back, maybe to spark the interest of another 10-year-old kid?
Dave Miller, Tampa, FL
DB: One of the main things that makes IMS and the Indianapolis 500 so special is its history and its traditions. It’s 500 miles, the 33 fastest qualifiers, “Back Home Again in Indiana,” honoring men and women who serve our country and have paid the ultimate sacrifices for our freedoms, a yard of bricks, a bottle of milk, etc.
And then there are many other “traditions” and things that make the race important to each of us individually – where we park, where we sit, what is in our coolers, etc.
The flags on top of the grandstand are one of those traditions. It used to be that the flags were only up when IMS was “open” for racing. Recently, we put the flags up at the beginning of the season and take them down after our last race of the year.
I do also recall the flags that denoted the stands themselves, but I do not know the last year they were put up over the respective stands. And, transparently, I am not sure this is something we would do again – however, we will look into it.
Thanks for reminding us of another unique thing IMS did to help fans navigate the facility that is not organized in the order the grandstands were constructed, so they do not move alphabetically! For example, starting from Turn 4 toward Turn 2 we have NW Vista, J Stand, H Stand, C Stand, Paddock, B Stand, A Stand, E Stand, SW Vista, S Vista, G Stand, & SE Vista. Our gates are the same – based on when they were opened.
Q: On the north end of the track, there used to be a big board that showed the top 10 positions and average speed. That went away several years ago, leaving us on the north end no quick way to see the top 10 (we have to wait for the positions to scroll through the screen). Any chance something is installed on the north end to show positions like that old sign did?
DJ Odom, Anderson, IN
DB: This is on our list. We definitely want to get some type of replacement on the north and south ends of the track where the old 1960s-era “carousels” were constructed. Those carousels had massive light bulbs on each side of them that showed the top 10 running order, laps completed, and MPH average. Over time, they became so outdated that the timing and scoring technology could not be used to keep the boards updated and they were beyond repair.
We continue to look at ways to either (a) speed up the scoring scroll on our current video boards or (b) just show the top 10 a majority of the time on race day to help our fans quickly see the leaderboard. We know however, this is not the same as immediately glancing up at the carousel and having the instant answer.
Thanks for asking. As I noted, this is definitely something on our radar and something that is particularly helpful for fans on the north and south sides of the racetrack.
Q: Thank you for the many upgrades at IMS including more video screens. One amenity that has gone backwards is race scanners. It has now been three seasons without over the air programming after IndyCar and Race Electronics cut ties. Many fans still use scanners, even with the IndyCar app, and manually programming frequencies for 33 cars, radio and television is tedious and time consuming. If this service is available on NASCAR weekends, why can’t we have over the air programming at the greatest race in the world?
Lee, Minneapolis, MN
DB: We still are uncertain why Racing Electronics will not support the Indianapolis 500. They do great work and offer a great product for fans, but we have not been able to get them to return to IMS and they have not provided a real reason for this. My speculation is that since they were purchased in 2018 by ISC (now NASCAR) that they have focused on their core business and supporting their events – including Charlotte on the same day as the Indianapolis 500.
We will continue to ask and push to see if we can get them to return. Otherwise, you, me, and many others will be left programming our scanners manually! At least we aren’t alone in our channel editing and at least all the teams don’t change frequencies every year!
Thanks for the question. Sorry my answer is not better!