Race fans across the state eagerly anticipate the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 27. For those who want to witness some of the track’s history and be a small part of it, opportunities to volunteer will be available.
When Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian Donald Davidson visited the Red Room of the Bartholomew County Public Library on Thursday, he urged everyone who might be interested to apply and join the yellow-shirted volunteers.
“There’s great camaraderie among them,” Davidson said. “They need more people because for some reason, the ticket sales for this year’s race is way ahead of last year’s. If you want to be at the track on off days, we’ll find a place for you and work with any kind of schedule.”
The gig pays $8 an hour, but it comes with all-access credentials.
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“When you’re taking a break, you can go down into the garages, and it’s not just for the 500,” Davidson said. “They need yellow shirts for all the events at the track.”
Davidson also is an invaluable asset for the speedway as the only official track historian in motor sports. He has attended every 500 since 1964 and has co-hosted a talk show on WFNI 1070, “The Talk of Gasoline Alley,” leading up to each year’s race during May.
The show also runs prior to NASCAR’s annual Brickyard 400 race. Davidson spends each program taking phone calls or answering e-mails from fans.
At each of his 28 presentations leading up to the 500, Davidson has given away pairs of tickets to both 500 qualifications and the Indy Grand Prix race. At each stop, people could win tickets if they knew that the only woman in the 2016 Indy field had the surname of Mann or that Danica Patrick, slated to run her final race in this year’s Indy 500, had the top average finish of anyone in the history of the race.
The most important and interesting part of each of Davidson’s presentations is his interaction with fans because a question about any of the people involved with the track in the past can prompt a 20-minute discourse on that person.
Davidson encouraged people interested in the history of the Speedway to regularly visit the museum located on its grounds, which has begun to feature legendary drivers in featured exhibits. It currently features an exhibit spotlighting the Unser family.
Someone in the audience asked about Davidson’s memories of four-time 500 winner Al Unser Sr. and his brother Bobby.
“Al and Bobby live right across the street from each other in New Mexico, where they have the Unser Family Racing Museum,” he said. “To get from each other’s houses, they cross Central Avenue, where Route 66 is. Al and Bobby couldn’t be any more different in temperament. Al is in the running for one of the greatest Indy drivers of all-time, with a record 11 top-three 500 finishes, and he’s a really down-to-earth guy.”
