What are your greatest challenges managing the Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 year after year?
The Month of May is packed with tradition and pre-race activities. Do you think all this pre-race ceremony will change as tastes and times change?
I think what makes the Indianapolis 500 so special is the way that, pre-race, especially on Memorial Day weekend, it celebrates our country and those people who serve it. I really don’t think the major elements of the 500 pre-race will change. I think that’s what makes the race so special.
What’s your measure of success: ticket sales, fans enjoying the day, or the competition of the race?
We do a survey after every 500 to make sure those numbers are going in the right direction and that the vast majority of people have a great experience and want to bring other people back. That’s the measure of success.
What do you believe keeps bringing people back to the 500?
I think the thing that brings them back is more than a motor race. It’s the food, the big reunion, the festival. All of those things wrapped into one—you just happen to have a race. That’s why people come back. The race happens, but it’s really about the other things that are wrapped around the race. The people you sit with in the grandstands and the friends you make when you’re here. The pride that you have, especially if you’re from Indiana.
It’s clear you enjoy being among the fans. How do they inspire you?
The passion the fans have for the 500, the memories they have because of it—those are the things that fire me up. I love to hear the stories of how they fell in love with it. I love to interact with the fans who’ve come for the first time. It’s those stories I hear that keep me going.
What’s your routine on race day?
It begins the day before on Saturday morning when I wake up, and I really don’t go to sleep again until well into Sunday night after the race activities are over. My race day becomes a 36-hour day. It starts with the parade. Saturday night at midnight, there’s a group of campers who have been coming here for a long time. I go out and greet them at midnight and welcome them back to Indiana. Race day, I make sure the stage is set up for the Snake Pit and anything else I can help with, and then the race begins.
What’s something that would surprise people to learn about you?
I’m trying to learn Spanish. Any time I’m in the car, I’m trying to learn Spanish. I would like to be able to communicate more than just in English. The other thing that’s surprising to me is that this year’s race will be my 50th Indy 500.
Is there a place that you and your wife, Beth, like to go to relax or have a good meal?
We love to go out on Main Street in Speedway and eat somewhere. It’s in the shadows of the Speedway. That’s generally where we go to relax. We also love to hike.
