Comments on: A Look Back At Sunday

By: redd

redd — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:59:56 +0000

I wonder how old the PA system is at IMS?

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:09:12 +0000

The north chute hasn’t appeared full in several years from our sears in J. We compared our pictured from Sunday to those of past years and it the north chute was about the same as in recent years. Turn 3 had significantly more empty seats. What I found shocking was the huge number of empty seats I. The tower terrace. I’m not talking pre-race either. I’m talking about the drop of the green.

By: Travis R

Travis R — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:41:18 +0000

Awesome, thanks for the info, Rick – I appreciate it!

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:50:30 +0000

Travis,
I have attended 17 500′s (with some gaps in there, my first was 1983/Sneva). I have sat in several locations, but Stand A is my personal favorite by far. I love Stand A (view of most of the front straight and most of turn 1, directly across from the first 3 pits and pit out (so great view of the pit action as well), plus large jumbo tron screen across the way to follow the action and best of all, Stand A is covered!! Great for rain delays (God forbid) and to avoid getting roasted in the sun. Even this past Sunday with all the heat, Stand A was not that bad since it is shaded and there is usually a breeze blowing through. I absolutely love the view of the pits as well. Also be careful because teh first several rows of Stand A are not under the overhang so they are not shaded and they are too low (makes 1/2 the track not visible). We are in row NN which is plenty high enough to see all of the track. I would think you would want to be at least row CC or higher to see the track and be in the shade. I also love Stand A for the hour before the race, the first two rows are placed on the grid right in front of Stand A. One thing that I thought was really neat this year is that I was watching Roger Penske standing on the track for the 1/2 hour before the drivers get in the car. During this time, they always have active military troops circle the track in the back of pickup trucks as a salute to Memorial day. During the 10 minutes or so of the trucks leaving the pits and going on th track, the whole crowd usually stands and applauds. It’s always a special moment. Anyhow, I noticed the Captain during this time, and he walked over closer to the pit wall and cheered and clapped with his hands over his head for every truck that went by with soldiers in the back (there are probably at least 30 trucks so it takes a while).

Anyhow, I thought that was a really cool thing to see Roger do.

I know people are passionate about their seats in different stands for a variety of reasons, but I personally love Stand A. The only draw back to my seats in Stand A is that you cannot see the top of the scoring pylon due to the roof. You can see positions 33-13 on the pylon, but from my row you can’t see the top of the pylon for rows 1-12. However the jumbotron always cycles through positions 1-33; so you can look at that but it is not as convenient as just glancing at the pylon.

By: Oilpressure

Oilpressure — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:12:17 +0000

You’re right! I had completely forgotten about the Army Major that botched the lyrics of “America the Beautiful”.

Instead of singing “…God shed his grace on thee” as it is written; she sang “…God shed his grace on ME”. It sounded just a tad bit egocentric. – GP

By: Travis R

Travis R — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 11:47:49 +0000

Rick,

How did you like your seats in Stand A? My friends and I were in Stand J, and even though we like those, we thought it would be fun to try to get down to Turn 1, so I’m curious as to how you like them (and if you’ve ever sat anywhere else). Are the stands full in that area? Do you get a decent view of the pits?

Thanks!
Travis

By: Travis R

Travis R — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 11:46:04 +0000

Great thoughts, as always, George!

I was in Stand J, and all the PA problems were going on there, as well. I was also confused by the pre-Taps “commercial.” When the PA was working, it seemed like it was louder than I remember. I did rent a track scan, which was nice.

Nonetheless, my friends that came down from Minnesota and I had a great time, and we thought the race was really good, even though none of us picked Dario to win.

By: Ryan Johnson

Ryan Johnson — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:05:01 +0000

The invocation was my biggest disappointment with the pre-race ceremonies. Reverend Daniel Buechlein always brings tears to my eyes with his emotional prayer, but my professor recently told me that Daniel is in poor health and probably doesn’t have much time left. May everyone keep him in your prayers. I thought the race was pretty good (difficult to follow in person) and I only wished TK and Dario had enough ethanol to battle it out to the end. One thing that did catch my attention that I haven’t seen mentioned was the attendance. I sat in the SW Vista and it was (nearly) sold out in that area of the track. However, I could see some bare spots in the North end. Did that have to do with the heat? It was quite confusing because normally (at least to me) the North Chute is always full. However, pretty much no complaints from me. . .I had a great time like always!

By: H.B. Donnelly

H.B. Donnelly — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:03:09 +0000

George, I noticed all of those same issues with the PA system in Stand B, and I was wondering if the crackling was just in that one spot. As much as I like to poke fun at the Purdue Band (being a former member of Indiana University’s band), I felt bad that “On the Banks of the Wabash” and their portion of “Back Home Again…” were made to sound so awful. Also, is it too much to ask to get people who can actually sing to perform some of those songs? Jim Nabors is the only one in the whole bunch who sounded good…Florence is warbly, the army Major girl had her words wrong and sang like one of those people who barely make the top 40 in American Idol, and I initially thought Jewel couldn’t be heard because she might’ve been singing outside of human aural range — when she actually could be heard, it still sounded terrible.

I probably should’ve mentioned at the top of this comment that I tend to be critical of anthem singers and audio issued really get on my nerves.

Oh, and please tell me you took photos of ABC’s compound! As a TV type myself, I’d totally like to see what they bring to the race!

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 02:33:06 +0000

I was in Stand A and I didn’t notice any issues with the PA during the ceremonies. One thing I always do during pre-race ceremonies is listen to the PA through headphones. Next year, you might consider doing that. I always thinbk in general the PA is hard to hear on its own. If you tune into 101.1 FM at the track you can pick up the audio feed of the PA. I always listen to that until the parade laps and then I switch to WIBC for the radio newtork coverage.